We Stand for opioid settlement transparency.

Learn more & TAKE ACtION IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Our Movement.

We are building a bold, people-powered movement in Maine that ensures opioid settlement funds are directed toward

life-saving, community-centered solutions—ensuring transparency in every funding decision related to opioid settlement funding made by power holders.


By building power from the ground up, we are ensuring sustained transparency, equity, and leadership from people directly impacted by the crisis.


Our Values.

  • Lived Experience as Leadership
  • Transparency & Accountability
  • Local Empowerment


Our Message.

  • This money belongs to the people most harmed by the opioid crisis. They deserve a voice in how it is spent.
  • Transparency is not optional. Every subdivision, the Attorney General, and the Maine Recovery Council must make their spending decisions public and accessible.
  • Recovery, harm reduction, prevention, and treatment are evidence-based. Maine must invest in what saves lives—not what stigmatizes or punishes people who use drugs and those in recovery.

Get Involved!

Maine Opioid

Settlement Toolkit.

The Maine Recovery Action Project (ME-RAP) has developed an Opioid Settlement Funds Toolkit to serve as a clearinghouse for recovery advocates across Maine. This resource equips community members with the knowledge, tools, and strategies they need to engage in advocacy around how settlement funds are allocated in their towns, counties, and statewide. By centralizing resources and providing clear pathways for action, the toolkit empowers people in recovery, folks who use drugs, young people, family members, allies, and community leaders to ensure these critical funds are invested in life-saving, community-centered solutions.

Who Holds the power &

How do you access Them?

Who Holds The Power

This is a directory for each funded subdivision, including contact information for decision makers, how much money they have received, and more!

WHAT SHOULD OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUNDS

BE SPENT ON?

Approved use of funds can be found in the Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds 2023. Example of uses are:

  • Naloxone or other FDA-Approved drugs to reverse opioid overdoses
  • Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) distribution
  • Expansion of warm hand-off programs
  • Supporting recovery centers and coaches
  • Addressing the needs of justice-involved persons
  • Preventing misuse of opioids
  • Expanding syringe service programs
  • Preventing overdose deaths and harm reduction

How to Track & Influence Local Opioid Settlement Fund Spending in Maine

Find your municipal website (e.g., Portland, Biddeford, or your town's official site).

  • To access your city, town, or county website, visit our Who Holds the Power directory.
  • This directory will also help you determine which of your local governments receive opioid settlement funds. 
  • For example, if you are a resident of Bridgton, Maine, your local town does not receive opioid settlement funds but Cumberland County does. 

Search your town or city website for:

  • Annual Budgets: Line items regarding opioid settlement funds
  • Opioid Settlement Fund Information
  • Annual Town Meeting Budget Documents 
  • Annual Financial Reports (Audit or CAFR)

  • Opioid Settlement Advisory Committees may make funding recommendations and allocations outside of the traditional budget process.
  • Town Meetings for Towns: Budgets are proposed by a Select Board or Budget Committee and voted on by residents (often in early spring).
  • City/Town Councils: Budgets are approved by elected councils after public hearings, usually between March–June.
  • County Managers often present an annual budget to the County Commissioners.

Note: Towns, Cities, and Counties may make opioid settlement funding recommendations and allocations outside of the traditional budget process.


Check the calendar for:

  • Budget Committee Meetings
  • Public Hearings
  • Opioid Settlement Task Force/Committee/Advisory Meetings 
  • Committee Meetings 

For example, Portland’s Health & Human Services Committee makes recommendations regarding opioid settlement fund expenditures to the full Portland City Council.

Town Meetings or Council Sessions


Agendas are posted on city and town websites—sign up for email alerts if available.


Subscribe to Council Notifications

  • Look at line items: How are opioid settlement funds being allocated? Are opioid settlement funds not included in the budget?
  • Contact local elected officials (town selectboard members, city councilors, county commissioners, finance directors) with spending questions and ask about opportunities for public engagement and input regarding spending decisions.
  • Contact the town office or clerk with questions—public records are available upon request (under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act).

Reach out to the Finance Director or Town/City Manager for more information.

Check out How to submit a Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) request.



How to Influence Public Spending


  • Write or speak at budget hearings, council meetings, or Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee meetings.
  • Prepare 2–3 minute statements with specific recommendations on how opioid settlement funds should be spent.
  • View our How to Testify at Public Meetings.

  • Engage with members of local budget committees.
  • Volunteer or run to be on your local Budget Committee.
  • These groups often shape spending long before final votes happen.

  • Some cities like Portland have experimented with letting residents vote on small portions of the city budget.
  • Talk to your local officials or civic groups about launching a Participatory Budget pilot for opioid settlement funds or establishing an opioid settlement advisory committee.

Join or follow organizations like:

These groups host trainings and issue alerts on key budget decisions.




Model ordinances and policies for local transparency

Aroostook County formed the Aroostook County Opioid Task Force to make recommendations to the Aroostook County Commissioners regarding the disbursement of opioid settlement funds for specific uses throughout the County to address the opioid crisis. The Task Force established a two-part grant administration process that included a Letter of Intent and application process. The Task Force makes grant funding recommendations to the Aroostook County Commissioners, as they have the final decision making authority. Valuing transparency, the Task Force makes all meeting minutes and meeting recordings available to the public on the County’s website. 



The City of Augusta formed an Opioid Settlement Funds Task Force and provided four funding priorities. The Task Force will solicit, review, and score grant applications for opioid settlement fund spending based on the grant’s alignment with the City’s priorities as well as the Opioid Settlement Money Allocation Policy. Upon completion of a round of scoring, the Task Force will make recommendations for funding to the Augusta City Council for final approval based on scoring results.



Cumberland County, guided by its Public Health Department, utilizes its OSF to implement a 2023–2027 Action Plan focused on coordination, interventions, and prevention. The County has invested about $275,000 so far in staffing for system-wide coordination, recovery housing, mobile harm-reduction outreach, jail-based treatment, and prevention planning. Future spending will continue supporting coordination, treatment access, recovery housing, and new prevention programs for families most impacted by opioids.


Description Title

The Franklin County Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee is a volunteer and county-led group established to review and evaluate projects seeking funding from the county’s OSF, totaling approximately $1.3 million over the next 18 years. The committee assesses proposals based on their evidence-based approaches to treatment, prevention, and education. The committee includes up to five public members with experience in recovery services or opioid treatment in Franklin County, along with two county officials—a Commissioner (or designee) and the Sheriff (or designee). Chaired by a non-voting facilitator, the committee meets quarterly to review applications, score projects, and forward funding recommendations to the Franklin County Commissioners, ensuring transparency and adherence to conflict-of-interest rules.



In Spring of 2024, the City of Portland, in consultation with a range of stakeholders, began developing recommendations for opioid settlement fund spending for future review by the public and the HHS & Public Safety Committee. City staff presented initial recommendations for consideration to the HHS and Public Safety Committee that were sent to the full City Council for review. The public comment and final vote took place on October 21, 2024, with the Council voting to pass the allocation of $1.38 million in OSF to the Health and Human Services department for up to three opioid remediation programs:

  • A syringe redemption program, 
  • A day space, and 
  • A methadone treatment program to operate either on-peninsula or within a reasonable walking distance from the peninsula.


The Maine Opioid Settlement Support (MOSS) Center is a nonpartisan centralized source of information related to the allocation of opioid settlement funds. They support the communities across Maine that are receiving OSF with data-driven, evidence-based strategies to address the opioid epidemic by providing consultation, resources, training and technical assistance.


General Settlement Information, Community Data, Best Practices and Evidence-Based Programming, RFP Templates, Policy Templates & More



Visit Site

The City of Rockland elected to create an Ad Hoc Opioid Settlement Participatory Budgeting Committee to establish a participatory budgeting process involving community engagement through surveys and workshops, opportunities for residents and organizations to propose projects addressing opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery. In the summer of 2025, Rockland residents 16 and over cast their ballots on which proposals should be funded. 


The Bangor City Council established the Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee to advise the City Council on the best use of the City of Bangor’s opioid settlement funds. The Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee anticipates using a grant application process to make recommendations to the City Council for the distribution and use of the City of Bangor’s OSF. To inform that grant application process and the grant application scoring criteria, the Committee put out a request for letters of

interest from community stakeholders. 


The Penobscot County Commissioners established the Penobscot County Opioid Committee.The Committee is working together to advise the Penobscot County Commissioners on the parameters and grant process for applying for the Opioid Settlement funds. The Penobscot County Commissioners will make all final decisions.In the pursuit of transparency, the Penobscot County Commissioners will keep and post the meeting minutes of the Opioid Advisory Meetings on the County website.

Opioid Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

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