§ 4774. Opioid Abatement Special Fund

(a)(1) There is created the Opioid Abatement Special Fund, a special fund established and managed pursuant to 32 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 7, subchapter 5 and administered by the Department of Health. The Opioid Abatement Special Fund shall consist of all abatement account fund monies disbursed to the Department from the national abatement account fund, the national opioid abatement trust, the supplemental opioid abatement fund, or any other settlement funds that must be utilized exclusively for opioid prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services.

(2) The Department shall submit a spending plan to the General Assembly, informed by the recommendations of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 4772 of this subchapter, annually on or before January 15 and once funding is appropriated by the General Assembly from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund, the Department shall request to have the funds formally released from the national abatement account fund, the national opioid abatement trust, the supplemental opioid abatement fund, or any other settlement funds that must be utilized exclusively for opioid prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services. The Department shall disburse monies from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund pursuant to 32 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 7, subchapter 3.

(3) Disbursements from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund shall supplement and not supplant or replace any existing or future local, State, or federal government funding for infrastructure, programs, supports, and resources, including health insurance benefits, federal grant funding, and Medicaid and Medicare funds.

(b) Expenditures from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund shall be used for the following opioid prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and evaluation activities:

(1) preventing overdose deaths and other harms;

(2) treatment of opioid use disorder;

(3) support for individuals in treatment and recovery and their families;

(4) connecting individuals who need help to the help needed;

(5) addressing the needs of criminal justice-involved persons;

(6) addressing the needs of pregnant or parenting individuals and their families, including babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome;

(7) preventing overprescribing and ensuring appropriate prescribing and dispensing of opioids;

(8) preventing the misuse of opioids;

(9) educating law enforcement and other first responders regarding appropriate practices and precautions when dealing with fentanyl or other drugs and providing wellness and support services for first responders and others who experience secondary trauma associated with opioid-related emergency events;

(10) supporting efforts to provide leadership, planning, coordination, facilitation, training, and technical assistance to abate the opioid epidemic;

(11) researching opioid abatement;

(12) implementing other evidence-based or evidence-informed programs or strategies that support prevention, harm reduction, treatment, or recovery of opioid use disorder and any co-occurring substance use or mental health disorder; and

(13) the cost of the administrative, technical, and legal assistance provided to the Advisory Committee by the Department of Health.

(c) Priority for expenditures from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund shall be aimed at reducing overdose deaths, including the following:

(1) promoting the appropriate use of naloxone and other U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to reverse opioid overdoses, specifically:

(A) expanding training for first responders, schools, community support groups, families; and

(B) increasing distribution to individuals who are uninsured or whose health insurance does not cover the needed goods and services;

(2) increasing access to medication-assisted treatment and other opioid-related treatment, specifically:

(A) increasing distribution of medication-assisted treatment to individuals who are uninsured or whose health insurance does not cover the needed goods and services;

(B) providing education to school-based and youth-focused programs that discourage or prevent misuse, including how to access opioid use disorder treatment;

(C) providing medication-assisted education and awareness training to health care providers, emergency medical technicians, law enforcement, and other first responders; and

(D) providing treatment and recovery support services, such as residential and inpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient therapy or counseling, and recovery housing that allows or integrates medication and other support services;

(3) assisting pregnant and postpartum individuals, specifically:

(A) enhancing services for expanding screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) services to non-Medicaid eligible or uninsured pregnant individuals;

(B) expanding comprehensive evidence-based or evidence-informed treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatment, for individuals with co-occurring opioid use disorder and other substance or mental health disorders for up to 12 months postpartum; and

(C) providing comprehensive wraparound services to pregnant and postpartum individuals with opioid use disorder, including housing, transportation, job placement, training, and child care;

(4) expanding treatment for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), specifically:

(A) expanding comprehensive evidence-based or evidence-informed recovery support for babies with NAS;

(B) expanding services for better continuum of care to address infant needs and support the parent-child relationship; and

(C) expanding long-term treatment and services for medical monitoring of babies with NAS and their families;

(5) expanding the availability of warm handoff programs and recovery services, specifically:

(A) expanding services such as navigators and on-call teams to begin medication-assisted treatment in hospital emergency departments;

(B) expanding warm handoff services to transition to recovery services;

(C) broadening the scope of recovery services to include co-occurring substance use disorder or mental health conditions;

(D) providing comprehensive wraparound services to individuals in recovery, including housing, transportation, job placement, training, and child care; and

(E) hiring additional workers to facilitate the expansions listed in this subdivision (5);

(6) treating incarcerated populations, specifically:

(A) providing evidence-based or evidence-informed treatment and recovery support, including medication-assisted treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder or co-occurring substance use or mental health disorders while transitioning out of the criminal justice system; and

(B) increasing funding for correctional facilities to provide treatment and recovery support to inmates with opioid use disorder;

(7) supporting prevention programs, specifically:

(A) funding for media campaigns to prevent opioid misuse;

(B) funding for evidence-based or evidence-informed prevention in schools;

(C) funding for health care provider education and outreach regarding best prescribing practices for opioids consistent with current Department of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including providers at hospitals;

(D) funding for community drug disposal programs; and

(E) funding and training for first responders to participate in pre- arrest diversion programs, post-overdose response teams, or similar strategies that connect at-risk individuals to mental health services and supports;

(8) expanding syringe service programs, specifically providing comprehensive syringe services programs with more wraparound services, including linkages to opioid use disorder treatment, access to sterile syringes, and linkages to care and treatment of infectious diseases; and

(9) facilitating evidence-based or evidence-informed data collection and research analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of the abatement strategies within Vermont. (Added 2021, No. 118 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 16, 2022; amended 2023, No. 22, § 13, eff. May 25, 2023.)