Utilizing Opioid Settlement Funds for Social Prescriptions
A Primer
Massachusetts municipalities are receiving opioid settlement funds as part of nationwide legal agreements with opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies. These funds represent a once in‑a‑generation opportunity to invest in long-term, community-centered solutions to the opioid crisis, including treatment and prevention.
Mass Cultural Council believes it is imperative that arts and culture are recognized as an effective and cost-effective solution to addiction challenges throughout the Commonwealth. Through Social Prescriptions – referring patients to creative experiences in their communities (think museum visits, dance performances, and ceramics classes) – physical and mental health professionals are promoting healing and social connection.
We’ve put together the following primer because:
- The decisions being made now about how these funds are spent will shape community health for decades. Settlement funds are finite but flexible; how they are spent matters.
- Residents have a voice. While municipalities are the official recipients, public input is both allowed and encouraged under Massachusetts guidance.
- Arts and culture are underutilized but powerful tools for community health. Employing Social Prescriptions can support prevention, recovery, and community healing alongside traditional public health strategies.
- Social Prescriptions (aka Arts Prescriptions) provide a tested and proven way of mitigating the impact of addiction.
- Massachusetts has approved spending on Arts Prescriptions as part of municipal opioid relief funding. The Town of Franklin is leading the way.
What Are Opioid Settlement Funds?
Where the Money Comes From
Opioid settlement funds come from legal settlements between states and opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers whose practices contributed to the opioid epidemic. Massachusetts receives a share of these funds, which are then distributed to cities and towns over multiple years.
Visit the Massachusetts Statewide Opioid Settlements Municipal Dashboard to learn how much opioid settlement money your town receives and how it’s been allocated. (Scroll down and click the “municipalities” tab to see funding and usage and provides contact information.)
What the Funds Are Intended to Support
The funds are legally restricted to opioid remediation, specifically for substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support.
Importantly, the guidance allows for nonclinical and community‑based interventions, like Social Prescriptions, and not only medical services.
The Town of Franklin, MA recently became the first municipality in the nation to receive approval to utilize these opioid settlement funds for Social Prescriptions. This sets a precedent for other municipalities to engage in similar activities.
WATCH: Leveraging Arts and Culture for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, a Mass Municipal Association webinar about how communities can use opioid settlement funds for prevention and recovery services that involve arts and culture, featuring the Town of Franklin. (Get the slide deck.)
How Social Prescriptions Mitigate the Opioid Crisis
Arts and culture are not a replacement for treatment or harm reduction – but they are a powerful complement.
Arts as Prevention
- Creative programs build protective factors such as belonging, self-expression, and connection – especially for youth, elderly, and other isolated populations.
- Arts based education can support social‑emotional learning, trauma awareness, and healthy coping strategies.
- Community arts initiatives can engage people who may not connect with traditional prevention messaging.
Arts as Recovery & Healing
- Creative practices are widely used in recovery settings to support emotional processing, identity rebuilding, and resilience.
- Arts programs can provide low barrier pathways into recovery‑supportive environments, without any stigma.
- Cultural participation supports mental health, and helps to prevent social isolation, which is closely linked to substance use outcomes.
Arts as Connection & Stigma Reduction
- Storytelling, performance, and public art can humanize addiction and recovery.
- Arts initiatives can create shared spaces for dialogue between people in recovery, families, service providers, and the broader community.
- Reducing stigma improves help seeking behavior and community support for evidence‑based solutions.
Learn More About the Health Benefits of Arts & Cultural Participation
Who Decides How the Funds Are Spent in Your Town
Key Decision Makers
While structures vary, opioid settlement funds are typically overseen by:
- The mayor, town manager, or city manager
- The board of selectmen or city council
- Local public health or human services departments
- Local police or sheriff’s departments
- A dedicated opioid settlement advisory committee, in some cases
The Massachusetts Statewide Opioid Settlements Municipal Dashboard provides contact information to the person in your community responsible for allocating Opioid Settlement Funds.
Typical Planning & Approval Processes
Common steps include:
- Funds are received by the municipality and placed in a dedicated account.
- Staff or an advisory group develops spending proposals or priorities.
- Proposals may be reviewed by elected officials.
- Final approval often occurs through the municipal budget or a formal vote.
Not all towns follow the same process, and transparency levels vary.
Where Public Input Fits In
Public input may occur through:
- Community meetings or listening sessions
- Advisory committee membership
- Public comment at city council or select board meetings
- Surveys or community needs assessments
Even when not formally required, public advocacy can influence priorities and funding decisions.
Ways You Can Advocate
- Start the conversation locally. Urge the person in your community responsible for allocating Opioid Settlement Funds to consider Social Prescriptions, a proven way to mitigate the impact of addiction.
The Massachusetts Statewide Opioid Settlements Municipal Dashboard has the contact information for each city and town. (Scroll down and click the “municipalities” tab to see funding amounts and contact information.)
Download Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities, developed by Mass Cultural Council in partnership with Dr. Tasha Golden and the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. This resource offers a roadmap for communities interested in developing Social Prescription programs.
- Once your decision makers are on board, municipalities (not individuals or cultural organizations) are encouraged to contact Emily Devlin, LCSW, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Clinical Innovation at Art Pharmacy, a Social Prescription service provider working across the Commonwealth, to learn more.
Cultural organizations interested in becoming a partner in Social Prescription are invited to join Art Pharmacy’s Network of Community Partners.