đź“°BIDDEFORD | VIDEO REPORT | Opioid Additiction & Treatment Funding
“Is the city of Bidderford effectively utilizing opioid settlement funds to fight the current opioid crisis plaguing its residents.”
September 10, 2026, Per city ordinance adopted in 2024, Biddeford’s City Council received its required annual Opioid Settlement Fund update at their September 1st city council meeting.
According to Jake Hammer, Biddeford’s General Assistance Administrator, since fiscal year 2023, the city has received $830,000 in settlement revenue from the national opioid settlement fund.
A quick reminder, the opioid settlement fund is a series of legal agreements totaling more than $50 billion dollars, between U.S. state and local governments and major corporations involved in the national opioid crisis.
To be frank, these funds are meant to reverse the harms of the overdose crisis. They're meant to help honor the countless lives both lost, and forever impacted by the reckless actions of corporations who profited off of their addiction.
Of the $830,000 received in funds, city leadership has a current remaining surplus of $623,000 - over half a million dollars.
Meeting documents show roughly $206,000 spent over the past two years - mainly on recovery housing, treatment access, transportation, and a Fire Department narcotics safes.
So far this year, the fund has assisted seventy-four people.
Given some of our recent reports highlighting the current crisis in the city, you might be wondering why the city has $623,000 sitting in the bank… Simple.
Currently, the only mechanism created and approved by city officials that allows funds to be utilized, is if an individual or a legal representative for the individual seeking recovery assistance, visits the general assistance office in Biddeford and completes an application.Once the application is completed, individuals seeking assistance can then receive up to $4000 per year in settlement funds to be used towards harm reduction and treatment.
This leaves a gap.
Although there is 623,000 in the bank of non-taxpayer funds specifically for harm reduction and recovery treatment, the only funding mechanism in place, doesn't allow city staff spending latitude for emergency situations.
For example: If I were to walk into the general assistance office right now and say that I know of a place in Biddeford where individuals are using drugs and they are leaving behind needles, the office would not be able to access the $623,000 in the bank to purchase sharps containers and or gloves for cleanup of that area per my request/report.
We spoke with Chelsea Pickett, current PhD student at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and USM Muskie School of Public Service Alum, to better understand current best practices pertaining to distribution and uses of opioid settlement funds.
“Harm reduction is about meeting people where they are. But you can’t meet people where they are if you’re behind a door they don’t even know exists. City leadership needs to lean into innovative solutions and make these funds accessible to the organizations that are already in these spaces, doing this work.”
We also spoke with Access Direct Recovery Network Co-founder Ryan Paige who added, "I really appreciate the work the city has done. There's a need for latitude for emergency situations and any sticking point that we can remove for people who are in that really small window where they’re ready to get help, is very important, and it quite often saves lives.”
City officials say they are working to balance immediate needs with preserving resources for future prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts.
Following the presentation, councilors voted to approve a $100,000 dollar spending plan in the form of a request for proposal, often referred to as an RFP - which is essentially an open bid process - Officials say the $100,000 dollar allocation will keep that critical support flowing, while community leaders continue pushing for a dedicated recovery center in Biddeford.
With the addition of the 100,000 dollar RFP, the city now has 2 mechanisms in place for funds to be utilized in battling the ongoing opioid crisis, leaving the city’s future fund balance at an approximately 523,000 dollars - not including future funds received from the settlement.
But the question still stands, after hearing from several experts, with the progress of the new mechanism in place, Is the city of Biddeford effectively utilizing opioid settlement funds to fight the current opioid crisis plaguing its residents.
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