Wake County has received over $20 million since 2022 in national settlement funds from drug makers and pharmaceutical companies accused of worsening the opioid epidemic. The county will get over $55.6 million more in the next 14 years.
Like other local governments in North Carolina, Wake County must spend the money on efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. Spending plans are made public at ncopioidsettlement.org.
So, how has Wake County spent the money so far? Here’s what we found.
Wake County didn’t spend any of its settlement funds in FY22 or FY23. In FY24, the board of commissioners approved about $5 million in spending, but the county only ended up spending a little over $260,000. The board approved another $12 million in spending in FY25 and hasn’t yet published a spending report from that year.
Actual spending
| Date | Provider | Amount | Description |
| FY22 | N/A | $0 | N/A |
| FY23 | N/A | $0 | N/A |
| FY24 | SouthLight Healthcare Healing Transitions Unknown (Wake County?) Unknown Total | $128,900.13 $38,475.38 $92,804.28 $496.13 $260,675.92 | Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in the Wake County Detention Center Recovery support services (peer support for the rapid responder program) Collaborative strategic planning Evidency-based addiction treatment |
Note: These numbers come from Wake County’s annual financial reports cataloged in the CORE-NC Document Library.
Authorized spending
| Date | Provider | Amount | Description |
| 3/20/2023 | Not listed | $1,700,000 $600,000 $1,200,000 $750,000 $600,000 $175,000 | Evidence-based addiction treatment Recovery support services Care navigation Housing access and support Early identification and intervention Collaborative strategic planning |
| 4/15/2024 | Not listed | Collaborative strategic planning Evidence-based addiction treatment Recovery support services Recovery housing support Early identification and intervention Naloxone distribution Criminal justice diversion programs Addiction treatment for incarcerated individuals | |
| 1/20/2025 | Not listed | Collaborative strategic planning Evidence-based addiction treatment Recovery support services Recovery housing support Early identification and intervention Naloxone distribution Criminal justice diversion programs Addiction treatment for incarcerated individuals |
Note: These numbers come from Wake County’s spending authorization reports cataloged in the CORE-NC Document Library.