We created a guide to help you get the most out of the OPI Opioid Settlement Sifter
Quick tips:
- Load a file: Excel, CSV, or PDF. The Sifter detects the columns and helps you map them. A wizard handles weird state spreadsheets and saves templates for reuse.
- Triage in Focus Sort: review each item one at a time with keyboard shortcuts: Bad Spend (←), Good Spend (→), Needs Info (↑), Unspent (U), Miscategorized (M).
- Tag the what and why: flag items on OPI's unallowable-spending list, mark ones that need a FOIA, add Exhibit E categories, and catch miscategorized spending.
- Export a report: HTML, PDF, and CSV, with dollar totals per category and item-level detail (source URL, rationale, tags). Ready to share.
- (Optional) Push to OPI's database: add your reviews to the shared WFAM dataset, with credit if you want it, so others can build on your work.
- (Optional) Working with a teammate? Each of you exports a CSV, then merges them in the Diff tab with per-field conflict resolution.
And it's private by design.
Everything stays on your computer. The app only touches the internet to: (required) check for updates and validate licenses, (optionally) pull the daily unallowable-spending feed, and (optionally) push reviews to the OPI WFAM database.
Download
→ Download for Windows 🪟
→ Download for Mac 🍎
→ Linux coming soon 🐧
When you're ready to load your own data, request an access token.
Access
It's free for community members, community-based organizations, unfunded academic researchers, and journalists. Everyone else (universities, agencies, consultancies, people with money, etc.) needs a commercial license. That's how we keep it free for everyone else.
We have put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into developing this tool without grant funding or external support because settlement spending should be transparent and accountable. That said, we are committed to making this available for everyone.
Request access to load your own data →
Why Trust Us?
Jonathan Stoltman, PhD
Jonathan has worked as a researcher and advocate focusing on opioid addiction treatment and recovery since 2013. He completed his PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University in 2019. Jonathan’s academic work has appeared in leading journals, conferences, and media outlets. He has been working on opioid settlement-related topics since 2020.
Why You Can Trust OPI
The Opioid Policy Institute exists to help communities improve their response to opioid-related death and disease. We provide evidence-based research and analysis that translates complex legal guidance and public health research into practical, usable insights. Our focus is on transparency, accountability, and community healing by increasing access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery supports.
OPI’s analysis reflects a collaborative, team-based approach. We blend real-world and academic experience to help ensure our work is methodologically sound, grounded in evidence, and attentive to real-world implementation challenges. We focus on asking the right questions, surfacing tradeoffs, and helping communities build robust responses to addiction.
Opioid Policy Institute by Jonathan JK Stoltman, PhD is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
