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Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

  1. Introduction

  2. Upcoming Meetings

  3. Purposes and Duties

  4. Membership 

  5. Open Meetings Act 

  6. Meetings Archive 

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Introduction

Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

Photo of an African-American family of fourThe deadly misuse of opioids continues to have a devastating impact on the Nation and Washington, DC. The DC Chief Medical Examiner reports that there was an average of 38 fatal overdose deaths per month in 2022 and nearly 40 deaths per month through June 30 of this year. Since Mayor Bowser released Live.Long.DC., the comprehensive plan to fight opioid use, misuse and related deaths in December 2018, there is a movement taking place in DC to fight the opioid epidemic driven by urgency and shared purpose. Using a public health approach, the District of Columbia, led by the Department of Behavioral Health, is implementing evidence-based practices in prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery to save and change lives.

Landmark multisettlement agreements are holding opioid manufacturers, and distributors who downplayed the risk of opioid addiction accountable for their role in creating the opioid epidemic. The District of Columbia will receive more than $80 million over the next 18 years from these settlements to help address the effects of the epidemic. The opioid settlement agreements contain certain requirements to ensure the funds are used to abate the harm caused by the opioid crisis and to ensure compliance with the agreements.

The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission was established by the Opioid Litigation Proceeds Amendment Act of 2022 District of Columbia Law 24-315 to make recommendations on the use of settlement funds to have the highest impact and to ensure compliance with the agreements.

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Upcoming Meetings

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
TBD - Public Meeting

There are currently no upcoming public meetings scheduled. Please check back regularly for updates. Future meeting dates will be announced as they become available.


Prospective Meeting Dates:

  •      October 15, 2025
  •      January 21, 2026
  •      April 15, 2026


NOTICE OF PUBLIC QUARTERLY MEETING
October 15, 2025 - Public Meeting

On Wednesday, October 15, at 9 am, the Commission will hold a public meeting. The meeting will be held in person at the Department of Behavioral Health- 64 New York Avenue, NE, 3rd Floor, Training Room 284e and 284e, Washington, DC 20002 

    Virtual:

https://dcnet.webex.com/dcnet/j.php?MTID=m2a1274d7846487e87ab9916948233a1e

Meeting number: 2302 059 3492

Password:  JMpTJhKg643

Learn more about this event


Please see all documentation for previous meetings here in our archive.


Subcommittee Meetings (Virtual Only)

  • Prevention Subcommittee Meeting - TBA
  • Harm Reduction Subcommittee Meeting -  TBA
  • Treatment & Recovery Subcommittee - TBA

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Purposes and Duties

Purposes and Duties per the Opioid Litigation Proceeds Amendment Act of 2022
Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission Office of Opioid Abatement


Purpose

(1) Ensure that the monies the District receives and deposits into the Fund are appropriately expended on evidence-based and evidence-informed harm reduction, prevention, recovery, and treatment activities, practices, programs, services, supports. and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders;

(2) Prioritize and facilitate public involvement, accountability, and transparency in allocating and accounting for these monies; and

(3) Ensure that the monies the District receives and deposits into the Fund [Opioid Abatement Fund] have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and reducing fatalities.

The Commission will:

  •     Establish procedures for its operations
  •     Make recommendations to Mayor and Council of District-wide goals, objectives, and performance indicators relating to opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery
  •     Establish governing principles, policies, and procedures for the application and awarding of grants from the Fund
  •     Manage the Fund and award grants from the Fund.

 

Support the work of the Commission and oversee the grant process for opioid abatement programs

  • Conduct a District-wide needs assessment to identify structural gaps and needs related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders
  • Support the Commission’s activities by providing staffing, research and policy expertise, facilities, technical assistance, and other resources
  • Assist the Commission in preparing its recommendations regarding goals, objectives, and performance indicators
  • Integrate the work of the Office and Commission, including Fund expenditures, with existing District strategic planning related to opioid use disorders
  • Develop governing principles, policies, and procedures for the application and award of monies and grants from the Fund
  • Oversee expenditures from the Fund, including preparing a quarterly accounting of expenditures from the Fund and the Fund balance
  • Issue, manage, and oversee awards and grants from the Fund
  • Prepare annual reports
  • Create and maintain a public website.

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Membership

Member Name Email
Director, Department of Behavioral Health  Barbara J. Bazron, Ph.D. [email protected]
 Director, DC Health
   		 Ayanna Bennett, MD
Acting Director		 [email protected]
Director, Department of Health
Care Finance

Wayne Turnage

Designee: Melisa Byrd

Interim Director

[email protected]

[email protected]
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services

Wayne Turnage

Designee: Ciana Creighton

Interim Deputy Mayor

[email protected]

[email protected]

 

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice

Lindsey Appiah

Designee: Alexis Squire,

Deputy Chief of Staff

[email protected]

[email protected]
DC Chief Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz, MD, FACP [email protected]
DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb [email protected]
Chair, DC Council Committee on Health The Honorable Christina Henderson [email protected]
Medical Society of the District of Columbia

Susanne Bathgate, MD

President

  
District of Columbia Hospital Association

Jacqueline D. Bowens

President and CEO

 [email protected]
District of Columbia Behavioral Health Association Michael Pickering [email protected]
District of Columbia Primary Care Association

Tamara A. Smith

President and CEO

Designee: Patricia Quinn

Vice President, Partnerships and Policy

[email protected]

[email protected]
Mayor Appointee

Juanita Price, M.Ed

CEO Hillcrest Children and Family Center

 [email protected]
Mayor Appointee Nnemdi Elias, MD [email protected]
Mayor Appointee Senora Simpson, PTMPH,DrPH [email protected]
Mayor Appointee LaVerne Adams. DMin [email protected]
Mayor Appointee Demetrius Jones [email protected]
DC Council Chairman Appointee Beverlyn D. Settles-Reaves [email protected]
DC Council Chairman Appointee Larry Gourdine [email protected]
DC Council Chairman Appointee J. Chad Jackson [email protected]xx
     
     

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Open Meetings Act

Minutes of Commission meetings will be posted here. The Commission will follow the Open Meetings Act and will hold public meetings at least quarterly. In accordance with the Open Meetings Act

  1. The public is permitted to be physically present;
  2. The news media, as defined by § 16-4701, is permitted to be physically present;
  3. The meeting is televised/streamed; or
  4. The public body takes steps reasonably calculated to allow the public to view or hear the meeting while the meeting is taking place, or, if doing so is not technologically feasible, as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable.

 

For more information concerning the District’s overall approach to saving lives from the opioid epidemic, please visit the LIVE. LONG. DC. (LLDC) website

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