Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville began receiving their over $36 million share of national settlements with drug makers and marketers for their roles in the ongoing opioid crisis. The first payment hit in 2022 and will continue through 2038.
The settlement funds help the county pay for naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing drug, and efforts to distribute it. They paid for a free summer camp for Cumberland County kids at risk of drug use, which took place in July. They helped establish a resource hub for county residents seeking to recover from substance use disorders.
Programs paid for by the localities’ settlement allocations have contributed to Cumberland County’s decreasing overdose deaths, Greg Berry, Cumberland County-Fayetteville Opioid Response Team (C-FORT), previously told CityView. Last year, 46 fewer people died of an overdose than in 2023, according to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. It’s the largest one-year decrease in overdose deaths since 2011, when NCDHHS started publicly reporting overdose data.
Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville must report how they’re spending their allocations of national opioid settlements per the agreements made with the state. Those spending plans and financial reports are available on CORE-NC’s website, North Carolina’s community opioid response engine.
CityView dove into the county and city’s documents as part of a statewide project with The Assembly. Here’s what they showed:
Cumberland County
| Approval date | Funding recipient/s | Allocation/s | Description/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2022 | Emergency Devices, Inc. | $18,240 | Purchasing naloxone for distribution |
| August 2022 | No recipient listed | $4,792.48 | Harm reduction supplies, including xylazine and fentanyl test strips |
| November 2023 | Cumberland County Department of Public Health | $50,000 | Strategic planning efforts by the Cumberland County-Fayetteville Opioid Response Team (C-FORT) |
| November 2023 | Cumberland County Department of Public Health | $35,000 | Purchasing naloxone for distribution |
| November 2023 | Myrover-Reese Fellowship Homes, Inc., North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc., Family Drug Treatment Court, and ATS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LLC DBA: Carolina Treatment | $236,663.33 | Providing opioid use disorder recovery services for uninsured and underinsured residents, participants with the Fayetteville Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, and court participants |
| November 2023 | Myrover-Reese Fellowship Homes, Inc., Family Drug Treatment Court, and ATS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LLC DBA: Carolina Treatment | $170,000 | Housing support for those undergoing treatment for opioid use disorder, court participants, and Carolina Treatment Center participants |
| November 2023 | Family Drug Treatment Court and ATS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LLC DBA: Carolina Treatment | $70,000 | Employment services for those undergoing treatment for opioid use disorder and court participants |
| November 2023 | North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc | $35,000 | Syringe exchange services, post-overdose follow-up care |
| November 2023 | North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc | $66,663.33 | Assistance with the Fayetteville Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program |
| November 2023 | Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office | $200,000 | Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for Cumberland County Detention Center detainees with opioid use disorders |
| November 2023 | North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc., Family Drug Treatment Court, and ATS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LLC DBA: Carolina Treatment | $136,663 | Re-entry programs for those involved with the Fayetteville Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, court participants, and the Carolina Treatment Center |
| February 2024 | Cumberland County Department of Public Health | $650,000 | Three years of funding to build and support the Recover Resource Center, the county’s hub for opioid use disorder recovery services |
The county also approved a new slate of projects paid for by national opioid settlement funds in August. Eleven organizations will receive nearly $4 million starting in January 2026 and through December 31, 2029, to provide early intervention, recovery and reentry services, housing, and links to employment.
City of Fayetteville
| Approval date | Funding recipient/s | Allocation/s | Description/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2023 | North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc. | $202,000 | Running the Fayetteville Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program |
| October 2024 | Myrover-Reese Fellowship Homes, Inc. | $201,500 | Providing recovery housing and support through the organization’s 38 beds across its three licensed facilities |
| June 2025 | North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc. | $104,000 | Running the Fayetteville Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program |
The Fayetteville City Council also recently allocated $163,800 of its opioid settlement funds toward a new training initiative for police officers. The four-hour, self-paced online training will teach officers de-escalation skills and how to connect residents to services through avenues like the department’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.
Border Belt Independent Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in the Border Belt and can be supported through a donation to the Border Belt Reporting Center, Inc.