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Opioid Settlement & Education Initiative

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"Turning Crisis Into Community Healing"

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Kansas Fights Addiction Funding

Kansas has reached multiple settlements with major pharmaceutical companies, distributors and related firms as part of the state's ongoing efforts to bring accountability to those that fueled the opioid addiction crisis and to provide funds to support addiction services.  The settlements will result in the state of Kansas receiving more than $340 million through 2038 to treat and fight opioid addiction.

The Kansas Fights Addiction Act, codified as KSA 75-775 to -781, was enacted by the state legislature in 2021.  The Act directs the settlement dollars to be deposited into two funds - 75% are deposited into the state-specific Kansas Fights Addiction Fund (KFAF), and 25% are deposited into the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund (MFAF).  The MFAF is paid out to the 205 participating subdivisions (which includes the City of Parsons) based on the payment shares outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Kansas Attorney General's Office, the League of Kansas Municipalities and the Kansas Association of Counties.  

With the limited funds allocated to the City of Parsons, the police department was assigned the responsibility to review approved uses for these funds. A required needs assessment was completed in 2024. The Public Safety Advisory Board also reviewed a host of programming over a multi-month period and approved the following uses in the 2nd quarter of 025. The City Manager and City Commission reviewed the proposed use of funds and approved the programming in September 2025.

Allowable Uses - PREVENTION

Purchasing billboard space, radio, and newspaper advertising to disseminate opioid, fentanyl, and drug prevention messages is generally considered an appropriate use of Kansas opioid settlement funds. The Kansas Fights Addiction Act specifies that these funds should be used for projects and activities that prevent, reduce, treat, or mitigate the effects of substance abuse and addiction.

Purchasing drug prevention, opioid and prescription drug prevention materials, drug displays, informational banners, etc.

Engaging in outreach programs and presentations to connect individuals with treatment and recovery services.

Purchase of a trailer reader board that could be used to provide opioid, fentanyl and drug prevention messages by a police department provided it directly supports substance abuse prevention efforts and does not replace existing funding allocated for similar purposes. With the resources allotted this has not been included in the budget. This is a low priority at the present time.

 

Allowable Uses - HARM REDUCTION

Paying for supplies and class fees to allow citizens and teens to receive no cost American Red Cross Training in first aid/CPR/AEDs and Narcan training to reduce the harm of fentanyl and drug overdoses. By equipping community members with these life-saving skills, especially in administering Narcan to counteract opioid overdoses, the program directly contributes to harm reduction efforts. This approach is consistent with the Act's emphasis on demand-side strategies, focusing on treatment, recovery, prevention, and other methods addressing the root causes of substance use disorders.

Provide free Narcan training (90-minute classes) to certify citizens on the safe application of NARCAN. Five (5) police first aid/AED/CPR instructors have now been trained to provide the DECCA Kansas State NARCAN training course.

Distribution of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses (this can be done through DECCA).

Providing fentanyl test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in substances is a consideration to provide for citizens.

 

Allowable Uses - PUBLIC SAFETY AND FIRST RESPONDER'S STRATEGIES

Training officers to administer naloxone to include American Red Cross first aid/CPR/AED/Fentanyl training, as well as more advanced Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training and certification.

Purchase, maintain and license automatic external defibrators (AEDs) by a police department. This would directly support substance abuse prevention or harm reduction efforts. For instance, AEDs are intended to be used in situations involving opioid overdoses, where cardiac arrest is a potential risk, their acquisition could be justified as part of a comprehensive harm reduction strategy. The budgeted dollars could be used as grant match funds for mini-grants of $2,500 through the Parsons Area Community Foundation.

Educating law enforcement personnel on harm reduction strategies and best practices for interacting with individuals experiencing Substance Use Disorder (SUD).

 

MFAF Program and Purpose

  • The Municipalities Fight Addiction Act gives direct funding to our municipality from the opioid settlement dollars. 
    Intended to empower subdivisions with direct agency over spending, while still allowing subdivisions to seek additional funding from the KFAF.
  • Restricted purpose funding:
  • Intent is to focus on Opioid Use Disorder and Substance Abuse Disorder (OUD/SUD) abatement.
  • Intent is to add to services, rather than supplant existing dollars.
  • Demand side (user) v. supply side (law enforcement) - the dollars are intended to be used for the impact of dealing with the person addicted.  Think: Prevention & Education
    Administration Requirements:
  • Keep dollars in a separate fund (does not need to be a separate account).
  • Track how much comes in and out in a given year.
  • Submit an annual report on receipts and expenditures by March 1 every year.
  • Be willing to answer questions about expenditures from the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
     

Abatement Strategies

All funding provided through the settlements must be allocated to opioid and substance use disorder (OUD/SUD) abatement.  Refer to the Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Kansas MFAF Guide to Strategic Opioid Settlement Allocation and Fact Sheet provided below, which Parsons is a party to:

https://abilenecityhall.com/DocumentCenter/View/4894/Kansas-Opioid-Memorandum-of-Understanding-PDF 

Link to Amendment 1 to the MOU:

https://abilenecityhall.com/DocumentCenter/View/4894/Kansas-Opioid-Memorandum-of-Understanding-PDF 

Link to Amendment 2 to the MOU:

https://abilenecityhall.com/DocumentCenter/View/4894/Kansas-Opioid-Memorandum-of-Understanding-PDF 

Link to the Guide:  https://abilenecityhall.com/DocumentCenter/View/4893/Kansas-MFAF-Guide-to-Strategic-Opioid-Settlement-Allocation-PDF  

Link to the Fact Sheet:  https://abilenecityhall.com/DocumentCenter/View/4892/Kansas-Opioid-Settlement-Fact-Sheet-PDF