April 18, 2023 Minutes

Weld Regional Opioid Council Meeting

Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, Room 103
1555 North 17th Avenue, Greeley CO 80631
April 18, 2023 @ 9:00 am to 10:00 am

Council Members in Attendance:  David Angelo – Firestone Police Department; Eric Aakko – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Kim Emil – Town of Windsor Government; Mike Zeller – Greeley Police Department; Scott James – Weld County Board of County Commissioners; Jamie Ulrich – Weld County Department of Human Services; Zo Stieber Hubbard – Town of Fort Lupton; Matt Turner – Weld County Sheriff’s Office; Rick Brandt – Evans Police Department

Non-Council Members in Attendance:  Bruce Barker – Weld County Attorney; Holly Smith – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Jenny Wallace – North Range Behavioral Health; Lesley Brooks – North Colorado Health Alliance; MJ Jorgensen – North Colorado Health Alliance; Chris Cross – Town of Fort Lupton; Rafael Gutierrez – Greeley Police Department; Mike Knee – Weld County Sheriff’s Office; Tom Nissen – Ault Police Department; Allyce Torres – North Range Behavioral Health; Heidi Williams – Colorado Office of the Attorney General; Jane Wilson – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Melanie Cyphers - Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Cindy Kronauge - Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Libby McEvoy - Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Ashley Weesner – City of Greeley; Matthew Fisher

Minutes

1. Review and Approve Minutes and Agenda
   • Kim Emil moved to approve the minutes of the 01/17/2023 meeting. Matt Turner seconded the motion. Zo Stieber Hubbard moved to approve the agenda for the 04/18/2023 meeting. Kim Emil seconded the motion. Minutes for 1/17/2023 meeting and agenda for 04/18/2023 meeting were approved with no changes.
2. Update from Heidi Williams with Colorado Attorney General's Office
   • Team consists of Heidi Williams (Director of Opioid Response), Jamie Feld (Deputy Director), Jack Patterson (Program Assistant), Robyn Steuer (Grants Coordinator), and Mindy Baumgardner (Rural Outreach Specialist).
   • Settled with 5 more companies – 3 pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, & Walmart), and 2 manufacturers (teva and Allergan). Brings total to about $750 million for the state of Colorado over the next 18 years. There are a few other companies that may trickle in.
   • Supposed to get 312 local governments to sign on to the participation forms. Down to only missing 4.
   • Breakdown of Colorado Opioid Settlement Funds Distribution:
     • 20% to local governments
     • 60% to 19 opioid regions
       • A lot of local governments decided to send their 20% to their region. Have about 70 local government getting their 20%, everyone else is routing theirs to the region.
     • 10% to infrastructure fund
       • Just closed out first round of infrastructure share. Reopening next round on May 1st. Region can apply, local government participating in MOU can apply, and state agency can apply.
     • 10% direct allocation to state government
       • Getting ready to release an Innovation Grant in May. Will be available for any organization to work on any new/innovative ideas.
   • Can view dashboard at any time using this link: https://coag.gov/opioids/dashboard/
     • See how much money regions are getting, view 2 year plan, etc.
     • Will start reporting expenditures in March 2024.
   • Expenditure reporting due March 15th of every year.
   • Approved purposes for this money: prevention, harm reduction, treatment, criminal justice, recovery, and community leadership. In MOU it is stated you can’t spend more than 10% on administrative costs.
   • 2023 state opioid response priorities:
     • Regional Learning Forums – call on the first Thursday of every month
     • Opioid and Fentanyl Prevention Campaign (Vendor SE2 has been selected)
     • Infrastructure Grants
     • Support for Tribes – there are 2 federally recognized tribes that are getting funds as well.
     • Innovation Grants
   • If anyone needs any resources, there is a resource page on the COAG website: http://coag.gov/opioid-response-resources/
   • Save the date: August 16-18 in Montrose. Aim to have at least 2-3 representatives from each region.
     • Settlement funds (set aside in miscellaneous / training) can be used for council members that may be interested in attending the conference.
     • If interested in attending the conference, email Eric or Tanya.
   • Don't have additional settlement fund information quite yet but should soon.
3. Voting to Replace Council Members
   • The Council acknowledged the replacement of Robb Miller with Michael Pirraglia for the Weld County District Attorney’s Office and Chief Joel Smith with Chief Thomas Nissen for the North County law enforcement agency on the council. Council contact list will be updated.
4. Evaluation Metrics/Progress
   • Overview on evaluation metrics and progress presented by Libby McEvoy with the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment
     • Goal is to do more outcome evaluation for the activities that have been outlined in the 2-year workplan
       • Short-term outcome evaluation: Work with partners according to activities (i.e. number of incarcerated patients treated with MAT each quarter, number of estimated people reached with media campaign, etc.)
       • Mid- to long-term outcome evaluation: Opioid overdose death rates (available yearly via CDPHE CoHID database) and opioid overdose emergency department visits and hospitalizations (available yearly via CDPHE CoHID database; may be able to obtain more frequently).
     • For appropriate activities, WCDPHE can assist in developing an evaluation tool to assess implementation of a program or activity, a plan to capture qualitative data, and an outreach assessment to ensure programs, policies or services are reaching the right audiences.
     • WCDPHE would like to meet briefly with partners to discuss the feasibility of tracking short-term outcomes. This will ensure that appropriate data are collected, and a sustainable workflow is achieved. Once WCDPHE has met with partners, an evaluation plan will be provided.
5. Additional Funds
   • There are some additional funding opportunities, and the council will need to start thinking about ways the council would like to use these new funds.
     • Can apply on behalf of partners that may have good ideas as well. Survey some partners and see what other needs may be out in the community. If money is not spent, it will roll over into the next year.
6. Fiscal and Cooperative Agreement Update
   • Fiscal agent is on the verge of getting the funds out.
7. Overview of "Best Practice Principles"
   • 5 principles for the use of funds from the Opioid Litigation (put together by John Hopkins University):
     • Spend money to save lives
     • Use evidence to guide spending
     • Invest in youth prevention
     • Focus on racial equity
     • Develop a fair and transparent process for deciding where to spend the funding
8. Adjourn
   • Motion by Kim Emil to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Zo Stieber Hubbard. Meeting adjourned at 9:41am.

Next Meeting:  Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at 9:00am at the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment and available virtually through Microsoft Teams.