Local governments have the choice to spend funds on strategies listed in either or both Option A and Option B lists in the MOA. All counties are required to hold an annual meeting of counties and municipalities within that county that is open to the public. In this meeting, it is expected that the local government will receive input on the proposed uses of the Settlement funds and encourage collaboration and community engagement. Local governments can choose to support as many strategies from either list that they feel best meets their community’s needs. It is recommended that every local government undergoes some level of assessment and community-engaged, strategic planning process to identify the most urgent needs and the strategies that would best meet those needs.

Option A.  A local government may spend opioid settlement funds on any activity listed in Exhibit A. Option A strategies are designated as approved, high-impact, priority strategies that are evidence-based/informed and likely to have significant impact on mitigating the overdose crisis in NC. Therefore, additional strategic planning beyond the annual meeting described above is not required if the local government chooses strategies under Option A. Option A strategies may also be included in Option B, but not all Option B activities are included in Option A.

Option B. Exhibit B of the MOA includes a wider array of approved strategies to address the overdose crisis. If a local government chooses not to select a strategy also on the Option A list, they are required to complete all the strategic planning process steps that are detailed in Exhibit C, and only after doing so, may choose from strategies on Option B. Also, this strategic planning process will be repeated at least every 4 years if the local government continues to fund an Option B-only strategy or decides to select a new Option B strategy at any point. Two or more local governments can undergo this collaborative strategic planning process together.