🎉 The OPI Opioid Settlement Conference

Registration is now open for the OPI Opioid Settlement Conference!

This online event is for anyone working on opioid settlement spending. Whether you’re new to the settlements or have worked on them since the start, we’ll walk through the OPI resources designed to help you help your community heal and grow stronger. This conference is a chance to get your questions answered and help us decide which new resources to build in 2027.

OPI's approach is grounded in restorative justice: settlement money must repair harm to the people and communities most affected by the overdose crisis. Over 3.5 hours we'll help you figure out how to do that by covering core topics like what is and isn’t allowable, & how and why to build processes that include transparency, accountability, and evaluation.

As with all of OPI's work, we're prioritizing making our knowledge and expertise available to all. That means...attendance is pay-what-you-want, including free! No planes or p-cards required.

The OPI Opioid Settlement Conference
When: Thursday, Dec. 3, 12:00 to 3:30 PM ET
Where: Online
Cost: Pay what you want (including nothing!)

Who is this for?

This event is built for decision-makers, whether you’re new or experienced, and whether you work at the state, local, tribal, or territorial level. Community members and journalists are also welcome.

We know many of you are working hard, often in the background, to make sure opioid settlement money improves your communities’ health and wellbeing. This is an efficient, no-filler event that provides a safe space to get answers and training on OPI’s resources so you can get money moving.

Attendance is private (only OPI sees registration info). Questions are anonymous. A true “no bad questions” setup!

Why are we doing this?

Many people care about making sure opioid settlement money is spent well. These are consequential, high-pressure, and difficult decisions. It's also rarely someone's only job. Finding help for what you need, when you need it, is hard. We hear this constantly from decision-makers.

The OPI Opioid Settlement Conference is a direct response to these challenges:

Zero barriers. Attend live or view the recordings to catch up later. No travel. All that is required is an email address and an internet-connected device.
No fluff. Each section is 30 minutes. Leave with action items and a deeper understanding of how to use OPI's tools to put settlement money to work in your community.
Questions answered. We'll take live questions throughout the event and commit to replying to any we don't get to in a follow-up conversation or email.
Shape our work. Help us identify new tools based on your questions and feedback.
No conflicts of interest. We’re not selling anything. Like all of OPI’s resources, the event is pay-what-you-want, including nothing.

And we think it will be fun! 🤘

The agenda

Pop-in for one 30-minute session or all six of them!

12:00 PM
1. The OPI Standard: A Restorative Justice Framework
Where the money comes from and how to apply a restorative justice framework for deciding how to spend it.

12:20 PM
2. Allowable spending
A plain-language guide for understanding good spending.

12:55 PM
Break · 10 min

1:05 PM
3. Unallowable spending
Guidance on what the money can't buy, based on OPI's research and existing state guidance.

1:40 PM
4. Accountability
What an accountability framework looks like and why it matters.

2:10 PM
Break · 10 min

2:20 PM
5. Transparency
What helpful public reporting looks like and why it matters.

2:50 PM
6. Evaluation
How to tell whether the money did what it was supposed to do.

3:20 PM
7. Future steps and thank you
Where to go from here and how OPI can help you get there.

Times are all Eastern (ET).

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Questions?
Reply to this email!

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We will send 3 more emails about the conference so that our promo doesn't overwhelm our other stuff or your inbox.

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.