Boston dedicates small portion of opioid settlement funds to grieving families

In an unusual move, Boston will give some of the opioid settlement money it receives to families coping with an overdose death.

Boston plans to create a $250,000 annual fund using a small portion of the more than $22 million the city expects to receive through 2038 from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. Families will be able to apply to the fund for help with funeral costs, legal expenses or child care.

This is the first concrete plan the city has announced for how it will spend funds from settlements involving multiple companies over their alleged roles in the rise of opioid use and fatal overdoses.

“This is one of the first things we want to put out there,” said Boston Public Health Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, “to acknowledge grief and harms that have been caused by this opioid crisis and to so many families who have lost loved ones.”

The $250,000 is just 4% of the city’s first-year settlement payment, which totaled $6 million. But family assistance was the top priority for more than 600 Boston residents and addiction services providers who responded to a survey about settlement spending or attended listening sessions. Boston reported 352 opioid-related deaths in 2022 alone.

Cheryl Juaire, who founded the statewide parent bereavement group Team Sharing, said the dollars will have an impact.

“These families have lost everything,” Juaire said. “They’ve spent their life savings trying to save  their child, and then have to pay for a funeral with money they don’t even have. On top of that, they may be grandparents raising grandchildren. It’s one big financial burden on a grieving heart.”

Juaire worked on the details of a national fund for families who lost someone to a fatal overdose. Applying for relief from that fund is a complex and often tedious process. Boston plans to hire an independent organization to develop eligibility criteria and review applications for the fund it will establish. The city aims to begin paying families in early summer.

Groups tracking the use of opioid settlement payments nationwide said they don’t know of another municipality giving some of the money to bereaved families. Jonathan Stoltman, director of the Opioid Policy Institute, said it can be hard to determine who is eligible and more deserving than others. Stoltman said most communities are choosing to use the money for treatment and other services that will prevent more grieving.

“The boat is on fire,” Stoltman said. “We need lifeboats now.”

Ojikutu said Boston’s second priority for settlement fund spending is housing for people managing an addiction and recovery. She expects to announce a plan in the coming months. It’s unclear how much money will be used for housing.

Addiction experts are frustrated because Boston has more than $6 million sitting in the bank right now.

“I would strongly urge that those funds be moved out as quickly as possible and that whatever roadblocks are holding up the distribution be removed as soon as possible,” said Dr. Miriam Komaromy, medical director at the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Ojikutu said she also wants to put the money to use quickly.

“But we’ll also be deliberative and make sure that we’re doing the right things with the money.” she said.