Ryan Costello: Misuse of opioid settlement funds betrays Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable

As Pennsylvania continues to combat the significant impacts of the opioid epidemic, state legislators are doing little to help. Despite a $26 billion dollar legal settlement meant to fund vital services for our struggling communities, some decision-makers are choosing to spend money on just about anything except programs that can meaningfully address this crisis. 

The opioid settlement money was awarded with a clear mission — to help our communities recover from the devastating impact of this epidemic. Yet in Pennsylvania, some of that funding is being spent on projects that do little to address addiction and treatment. Lawmakers are spending money on beautification efforts like planting trees, cleaning up parks, and repairing residential homes rather than providing treatment for those battling addiction. 

The city of Philadelphia, which has some of the highest rates of opioid-related deaths in not only the state but in the entire nation, has been approved to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a “healing garden safe space” and “poetry and photography workshops for teens and young adults.” While these initiatives are well intended, they fall extremely short of providing the critical treatment and recovery services needed to save lives.

Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood, has become a symbol of the nation’s drug crisis, and it has been said that “no place in the United States captures the ongoing opiate crisis quite like Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood.” As home to the largest open-air drug market in the country, Kensington is ground zero in the fight against addiction. With more than $7.5 million dollars set aside for Kensington specifically, residents in the neighborhood are getting brand new windows, fixing up old fences, and repairing damaged roofs. All funded by the opioid settlements, as local leaders continue to prioritize aesthetic improvements over the treatment services this community desperately needs.

Aside from the significant misuse of funding in Philadelphia, the money allocated for treatment services is still a cause for concern. Nearly $1.36 million is going toward mobile wound care for individuals addicted to xylazine, also known as “tranq,” a drug notorious for causing severe open wounds, and another $1.2 million is funding mobile methadone clinics for substance addiction treatment. While these are vital services and would most certainly aid in the combat of the opioid crisis, Philadelphia’s city council is advancing a bill to restrict mobile services in Kensington, the area most affected by the opioid crisis, with the goal of ending them. This type of contradictory policy proposal while money is being spent is a perfect example of waste, fraud and abuse. 

On June 20, the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust — an independent body that oversees how local governments use opioid settlement dollars — voted that all of the Kensington spending did not comply with federal guidelines.

This misuse of funds doesn’t just fail Kensington — it fails every Pennsylvanian who has been touched by the opioid crisis. People struggling with addiction don’t need gardens or workshops; they need accessible treatment, expanded recovery programs, and policymakers who understand that addiction is a disease requiring comprehensive care, not cosmetic solutions. 

We’ve seen this type of mismanagement before. The tobacco settlements in the 1990s were meant to address smoking-related health issues but ended up funding everything from road repairs to filling the holes of budget shortfalls. By letting it slide then, billions of dollars were spent unchecked, slowing progress in reducing smoking rates. We cannot allow the same mistakes to be repeated with the opioid settlement money. Every dollar misallocated is a dollar taken away from saving lives and rebuilding communities.

There’s no doubt that making our neighborhoods safer and nicer is a worthwhile goal, but when opioid settlement funds are diverted from treatment and prevention to beautification projects, we fail to honor the true meaning of the settlements, and more importantly, the needs of those suffering from addiction. 

Here in Pennsylvania, we should be funding programs that expand access to treatment, support recovery, and prevent addiction in the first place. Investments should prioritize innovative solutions, like mobile treatment units and harm reduction programs, while ensuring they are not undermined by contradictory policies. We need to work with our communities to develop solutions tailored to their specific needs and ensure that every dollar is spent with urgency and purpose. 

As Pennsylvanians, we owe it to the families torn apart by this crisis to ensure that these funds are used as intended – to save lives and help our communities recover. Let’s not throw away this opportunity and focus on the work that truly matters – giving those affected by the opioid crisis a fighting chance at recovery.

Ryan Costello (R-PA, 2015-2019) is a former U.S. Congressman from the Philadelphia suburbs.