Nov. 23—Mark Puckett knew donations were dwindling, but he was determined to keep the doors open at the drug treatment center he helped start.
He hoped opioid settlement funds could serve as a lifeline, but it never happened. The St. Kolbe-Puckett Center for Healing will stop seeing patients next month.
"We needed money to continue to see patients," he said. "Those funds weren't dispersed. They're just sitting there in limbo. Nothing's happened."
The state of Missouri and local governments reached multiple settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors over the opioid addiction crisis that struck communities across the country. Nationally, the settlements exceed $39.5 billion with another $6 billion pending in litigation with Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.
It sounds like a lot, but like tobacco settlement funding, the money is spread out over decades and divided among thousands of local governments. In St. Joseph, the city and county stand to receive about $157,500 a year on average, with about $100,000 going to the city and the county anticipating a little more than $52,000.
As the money rolls in, the debate begins on how to make the most impact. At its core, it's an argument about whether to use limited funds to treat patients who are struggling to overcome addiction or to focus on preventing new cases in the future.
"Where are you going to get the most bang for your buck?" said Scott Nelson, the presiding commissioner of Buchanan County. "I think it's education and you start early. That's going to be hard to document success on something like that, but I'm a firm believer that you've got to get the right message out to kids so you can mold their behavior and tell them the bad things that can happen if you go down this road."
At a work session earlier this month, the city proposed about 75% of its settlement money go to treatment and prevention and 25% go to education and prevention. Nelson said he has trouble signing off on a memorandum of understanding with the city until he learns more about the use of funds and the role of education and preventing future addictions.
"I can tell you from the county's perspective, it's education, education, education," he said.
Dr. Robert Corder agrees that settlement funds should be used for education, but he also believes the community will need to strike a balance with treatment needs. He hopes the funds could help bring a peer-support specialist to the Samaritan Counseling Center. A peer specialist would help those who are in treatment but in danger of relapsing.