Tom D’Amore, founder of D’Amore Law Group, and Kristin Burke, special projects supervisor in Washington County’s Behavioral Health Division, were recently featured in the Portland Business Journal discussing how the county is using its opioid settlement funds to help residents combat addiction.
Tom represented nine Oregon counties, including Washington County, Clackamas County, and Lane County, in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, fighting to hold all those responsible for the opioid crisis fully accountable and provide relief to Oregon communities ravaged by the epidemic. As a result of the litigation, over the next 18 years, Oregon will receive nearly $600 million from national settlements against opioid manufacturers and distributors to address the addiction crisis.
“It’s nice to see a settlement where the funds are actually getting put to the use they were intended,” said Tom.
Washington County has so far received $4.2 million, which the county board is putting toward creating a comprehensive substance use treatment program, said Kristin Burke. The county is projecting it will receive $29 million, including funds flowing separately to three cities in the county, Cornelius, Tigard and Hillsboro.
The project, named the Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment (CATT), will be a comprehensive substance use treatment center for adults, offering a wide array of supportive services. This initiative will provide rapid access to multiple types of substance use treatment, ranging from sobering, assessment and triage, withdrawal management (detox), residential and outpatient treatment, transition services, and health services, when it begins offering services in 2025. It encompasses two buildings—located in Beaverton and Hillsboro —with a combined cost of $63 million.
The county started developing the project in 2019, and with funds from the opioid settlement, filling in the gaps in the treatment continuum. Additionally, the county is utilizing funding from Measure 110 to add 86 new treatment beds and establish a peer drop-in center.
Washington County’s suit is among the more than 3,000 initiated by counties, states, and tribal governments, which were consolidated into a federal multi-district litigation.
“The judge saw very early on that this should settle, and he was really working hard to get the cases settled on a global basis,” Tom said. “We didn’t know it would take five years. The fact 3,300 cities and counties came together was quite an accomplishment. Yes, we wish there were more dollars coming.
