I’m a little disappointed there is no education,”

Community Partner Brigette Norring, founder and president of the nonprofit Devin J. Norring Foundation

For more information about ORAC including to apply for membership, visit https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/CAC/Opioid/Pages/default.aspx

Dakota County’s Opioid Response Advisory Committee (ORAC) met on Tuesday, Dec. 3, for its final meeting of 2024 and recommended five proposals for the allotted $390,000 of settlement funds in order to address opioid usage within the county. ORAC is a relatively new committee consisting of government and city officials, community partners, firefighters, police, and residents across each district with lived experience with opioids. The committee is designed to provide recommendations to the county board of commissioners on how best to use the funds coming from the Opioid Settlement Fund, a settlement of opioid manufacturers and distributors totaling some $46.4 billion to Dakota County and several cities within it.
ORAC’s initial $390,000 was recommended to be distributed to five programs: Lionheart Wellness & Recovery, Gateway Recovery Center, Wayside Recovery Center, Thrive! Family Recovery Services and MN Recovery Connection.
This initial $390,000, a relatively small amount given the scope of the settlement, was “authorized by the Dakota County Board for community-designated funds through the county’s 2024 budget process, with the understanding that it would be dispersed through an [Request for proposal] RFP process,” according to a statement provided Dakota County.
While further funds will be allocated to the committee, exactly how much and when is still unclear: “The amount of money still coming and the schedule is to-be-determined at this point. We will be working with the County Board, County Attorney’s Office, contracts, and the ORAC to determine this,” according to a statement from Dakota County.
While the committee voted to recommend these programs, members expressed frustration and disappointment with the lack of details regarding specific functions of each program, as well as how these five programs were selected out of all the proposals received.
“This brief description is not enough for me to say yes or no,” said Cara Schultz, a lived experience member of the committee, referencing the shortened summary of the subcommittee’s recommended vendors provided by the RFP subcommittee.
Other members were frustrated with the lack of upstream education or prevention work rather than funneling all the money to recovery centers.
“I’m a little disappointed there is no education,” said Community Partner Brigette Norring, founder and president of the nonprofit Devin J. Norring Foundation.
The five proposals discussed at the meeting came from the RFP subcommittee that received and reviewed 19 proposals. The full descriptions of even the five proposals recommended by the RFP subcommittee as well as how the committee decided to move forward with those five were unable to be disclosed to the members of ORAC due to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
The RFP subcommittee is not a public committee therefore the evaluations and data discussed within it is not able to be discussed in a public setting like ORAC meetings. Several members of ORAC discussed the idea of going into a closed meeting in order to discuss this data, which they are unable to do as a committee, meaning that members were unable to discuss the full summaries of the very programs they eventually recommended as well as how those recommendations came before them.
“We are not married to the process,” said ORAC Committee Chair Dr. Seema Maddali about the RFP process for future years’ selection process.
What is especially difficult for ORAC is that it is an advisory committee meaning that it only creates recommendations for the Dakota County Board of Commissioners rather than spend the money it’s allotted: “Every penny of that needs board authorization,” said Dakota County Public Health Director Coral Ripplinger.
For 2025, ORAC is working to develop a strategic plan. Dakota County Communications Coordinator Matt Giljahn and Communities for a Lifetime Initiative Supervisor Jess Luce oversaw the administration of the Top Facilitation Method in order to help develop the committee’s goals and strategic plan moving forward.
Members wrote down ideas for future committee actions which will be reviewed and grouped into goals at the January meeting. The development of the strategic plan will take place over several meetings where ideas provided by committee members will be grouped into themes which will serve as the foundation for goals overall. These goals will then serve to inform committee recommendations moving forward.
The recommendations provided by ORAC from the Dec. 3 meeting the will be voted upon by the Dakota County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 21, 2025.
For more information about ORAC including to apply for membership, visit https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/CAC/Opioid/Pages/default.aspx
ORAC meets the first Tuesday of the month at 3 p.m. in the Norther Service Center of Dakota County.