Berrien County task force considering use of opioid settlement money

Berrien County Health Department prevention supervisor Lisa Peeples Hurst tells us the Opioid Settlement Task Force is comprised of 17 stakeholder organizations.“That included prevention, recovery, treatment, some law enforcement, pregnant and parenting mothers,” Peeples Hurst said.Peeples Hurst says the top three priorities are prevention, recovery, and treatment.” Peeples Hurst says as the task force works to decide on ways to use the settlement money, there’s a chance nearly twice that amount could still be awarded to the county due to ongoing negotiations.

Peeples Hurst says it will have a report for the county commission in October.A task force is looking into how Berrien County should spend around $4.