Stanislaus will receive $51 million from opioid court settlements. How to spend it?
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- Total $51.3M settlement; remaining payments run through 2038.
- Funds aim to expand drug court, treatment access and community services.
- BHRS outlined Phase I investments: prevention, START hub, naloxone, data.
Stanislaus County expects to receive more than $50 million in funds from settlement of state lawsuits against drug manufacturers and pharmacy chains tied to the nation’s opioid crisis.
County supervisors approved some recommendations Tuesday for spending the money on services and other efforts to reduce local impacts of opioid addiction, though additional details are still in the planning stage.
In May 2023, the Board of Supervisors designated more than $25 million in settlement funds from the court cases against Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Mallinckrodt PLC to county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services for allowable “opioid abatement activities,” a county staff report said.
The county later was notified it would receive $24.6 million from court settlements with Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, McKinsey and Endo. The settlement funds will total $51.3 million.
Stanislaus received $18.6 million in settlement payments through last year and expects $16.2 million in payments between this year and 2030. The remainder will be paid through 2038.
California has an agreement with counties that half of the settlement funds should support high-impact activities such as expanding access to substance use treatment facilities, new treatment programs, residential treatment, outpatient services, criminal justice diversion programs, harm-reduction services, prevention efforts for vulnerable youth and distribution of naloxone to reverse overdoses.
The opioid crisis in Stanislaus County peaked in 2023 with 213 fatal drug overdoses, most of them attributed to illegal fentanyl poisonings or overdoses. Fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid, is sold illegally on the streets. The alarming number of drug fatalities dropped in 2024 and 2025.
Ruben Imperial, director of BHRS, outlined a plan for Phase I investments of settlement funds, including prevention programs, access to treatment and court diversion programs.
The county will increase the budget of the grassroots Opioid Safety Coalition from $200,000 to slightly over $1 million and appoint a manager for the coalition, which consists of people from local agencies, education, health care groups, treatment providers and families touched by opioid tragedies.
The coalition has worked year-round on education campaigns and awareness activities such as the empty-chair display at Vintage Faire Mall, in memory of people who died from overdoses. The larger prevention focus will include more data collection and surveillance, awareness campaigns and events and distribution of naloxone kits and test strips.
Another county effort will aim to improve treatment access through a centralized hub called START (Stanislaus Triage Access, Recovery and Treatment), providing same-day screening and assessment and referrals to treatment services.
Transportation to the START center will be offered, as well as crisis support and coordination of care. County BHRS will choose a provider, through a request for proposals, to operate the service hub.
The county hopes to expand the Adult Drug Court program through Proposition 36, a 2024 voter-approved initiative that reclassified criminal drug violations and mandated treatment programs as an alternative to incarceration.
Imperial said the drug court program has seen recent growth to around 40 participants at any time, compared to five to seven in previous years, and the opioid settlement funds will allow for committing more resources to it. The program will use substance use treatment services that contract with county or are part of the county system of care.
The annual cost for three behavioral health staff to work with drug court will be $403,000.
Imperial said BHRS will return to the board with Phase II recommendations for use of opioid settlement funds. The core programs and services may include substance use respite services, residential treatment, a crisis team to assist individuals and families and outreach.
Imperial said the scale of Phase II services will depend on available funds after the Phase I commitments.
The director said the planning for use of settlement funds relied on input from community groups and a county community health assessment, which found that access to substance use treatment is challenging and confusing. Affected individuals and families don’t know where to go for help, he said.
Some have noted a lack of facilities for drug detoxification, the process of withdrawal from addictive drugs.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Vito Chiesa said the opioid settlement funds are a one-time opportunity to build a sustainable program to address the scourge of drug addiction.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 6:32 PM.
