As millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds pile up in Delaware County, officials are looking at an opportunity to reverse the opioid crisis, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

Residents were asked at a town hall Thursday how the funds should be spent.   About 50 were in attendance.

It’s estimated that 11,700 people in Delaware County have a drug use disorder.

In 2022, 5,000 people in Pennsylvania died from drug overdoses.

Over the next 18 years, the county will receive annual payments totaling $63 million as a result of settlement agreements with multiple drug companies for claims they fueled the national opioid crisis.

Prevention education and opioid treatment, traditionally under-resourced, were two suggested ways the funds could be used, as well as providing help to the children of addicts and grandparents who have to pick up the pieces.

“I’m excited by what I see here. I’m excited by the roundtable ideas to bring parents, grandparents, people involved in this fight, the medical community, the law enforcement people that are out there to bring us together as one to help the people that are truly suffering,” said JoAnn White-Kimpel of Springfield.

She believes the money would be best utilized in providing people with extended treatment.

Read more expansion of opioid treatment as an option for settlement funds at WHYY.