Opioid settlement money to fund housing and parks in Kensington
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Kensington, the epicenter of Philadelphia's opioid crisis, is getting millions of dollars from a financial settlement to improve housing, schools and local parks.
Driving the news: Mayor Jim Kenney and city officials announced on Thursday a plan to spend $20 million it received from a $26 billion multi-state deal with Johnson & Johnson and three other drug companies.
- The funding, which officials say will be spent by the end of Kenney's term, will go to parts of the city hardest hit by the drug epidemic.
Why it matters: Philadelphia reached a grim milestone in 2021, recording more than 1,270 unintentional overdose deaths — the highest rate in the city's history.
Catch up fast: Pennsylvania was awarded $1 billion in the deal the drug companies reached with multiple states, counties and Native American tribes last February over the nation's opioid crisis.
- Philadelphia is getting $186 million over the next 18 years, with much of the money "front-loaded," Kenney said during the news conference Thursday.
By the numbers: Roughly $7.5 million will be put toward a plan in Kensington to create more affordable housing, connect residents with social services and upgrade school playgrounds and parks, among other initiatives.
- $3.1 million is being divided among several community organizations that cater to those suffering from drug addiction, with priority given to groups in Kensington and "high impact" zones in North Philadelphia.
- $9 million is going to housing, diversion, treatment and other intervention strategies, Noelle Foizen, of the city's overdose response unit, told Axios.
Zoom in: Some of the funding will be put toward expanding the availability of drugs like methadone and buprenorphine to incarcerated individuals fighting opioid addiction, and creating mobile methadone units to deliver the drug to people in need.
- A first-of-its kind wound care van is also being deployed to treat those suffering from the effects of xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that's overtaken the city's drug supply and causes nasty wounds and sores that can result in amputations.
What they're saying: "This is going to be community-driven, this is going to be trauma-informed," said Bill McKinney, of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, who's among stakeholders working with the administration to develop a comprehensive action plan.
What we're watching: Councilmember Mark Squilla said legislators will establish an oversight committee to measure the success of the interventions.
- "We have to know that money is being put in the right places," he said.