Boston Opioid Settlements
The City of Boston has received settlement money from opioid companies. We will incrementally receive at least $40 million through 2038.
As of January 1, 2026, Boston Public Health Commission has received and allocated $17.9 million in settlement funds. The City of Boston has allocated these funds, and additional anticipated funds over a four-year budget period, to priority areas identified by a community engagement process and assessment. The numbers below reflect projected opioid settlement spending through 2028.
Learn more about opioid remediation and the settlements from the State website.
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Questions? Contact us:
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Visit the Recovery Services website to learn more about substance use and harm reduction services provided by the Boston Public Health Commission.
Community Engagement
Boston Public Health Commission is partnering with communities impacted by overdose to inform how the settlement funds should be spent.
In the summer of 2023, Boston Public Health Commission started an equity-focused community engagement process and has continued to get feedback from residents and organizations who have been most affected by the opioid epidemic, including families, people with opioid use disorder, and service providers. More than 600 people impacted by opioid overdose helped inform the use of these opioid settlement funds.
In early 2026, Boston Public Health Commission led a second community engagement process to evaluate if needs have shifted since Boston received its first round of opioid settlement funding. The 2026 community engagement process reached more than 200 residents. It included neighborhood meetings, an event showcasing programs funded with settlement money that solicited community feedback, focus groups with people who use drugs, and community member surveys. The engagement process again identified equitable community-based overdose prevention strategies as a top priority.
Program Highlights
Program HighlightsThe Family Overdose Support Fund, implemented by HALO Initiatives, provides financial aid to families who have lost an immediate family member to overdose, covering costs related to funerals, therapy, childcare, and legal services. Since the program’s launch in January 2025, the Boston Family Overdose Support Fund has served 50 Boston families.
In partnership with Newmarket BID, this program offers employment and workforce training to people in early recovery. The program provides case management services to participants by addressing barriers to employment and housing. Since settlement dollars expanded the program in 2024, 67 individuals have been employed. More than 50 percent of those individuals had previously experienced homelessness.
This medical clinic, operated in partnership with Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and located in Boston Public Health Commission's Recovery Services building, provides behavioral health care, medication management, and support navigating social services. In 2025, this clinic had a total of 3,704 total patient encounters, an average of 309 encounters per month.
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program provides overnight harm reduction technicians at the City’s two largest shelters, providing overdose response and medical support, every night. As of January 2026, these harm reduction technicians have had more than 2,800 patient encounters, reversed 47 overdoses, and provided wound care to 197 patients.
Five organizations across Boston (Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Community Caring Clinic, Harvard Neighborhood Health Center, Metro Boston Alive, and Torchlight Recovery) distribute naloxone, teach overdose education, and link people to care. The organizations connected nearly 2,000 people to substance use treatment and other services, trained over 760 people in overdose prevention, and distributed more than 5,100 doses of naloxone.
Eliot Community Human Services provides housing case management services for individuals experiencing homelessness, connecting clients to housing resources and facilitating placement. Between July and December 2025, Eliot has had 256 client interactions.
Program Funding Allocations 2024-2028
| Priority Area | Total Amount |
|---|---|
| Family Support and Youth Prevention | $1.7M |
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Gaps and Disparities
|
$4.7M |
| Housing | $6.7M |
| Overdose Prevention | $3.2M |
| Indirect Costs | $1.6M |
Timeline
March 2026
Boston Public Health Commission brought together community partners to showcase how they are using the City's opioid settlement funds and solicit community feedback.
January 2026
Since July 2024, Boston has been using opioid settlement funding to fund and implement critical programs and services. As of January 1, 2026, the City has spent $3,246,134.
JANUARY 2025
The City of Boston, Boston Public Health Commission, and Boston BullPen Project announced the launch of the Family Overdose Support Fund at a meeting of the Nubian Square Task Force. The fund provides up to $5,000 of financial assistance to Boston families who lost a loved one to overdose. It can help cover funerals, support services, childcare, and legal services.
OCtober 2024
The deadline for the Request for Proposals for the Family Overdose Support Fund was September 27. An administrator was selected in October and the program aims to launch in early 2025.
September 2024
Boston Public Health Commission awarded Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Community Caring Clinic, Harvard Neighborhood Health Center, Metro Boston Alive, and Torchlight Recovery $1 million in grant funding to prevent overdose deaths and provide substance use treatment in neighborhoods seeing the highest overdose rates.
May 2024
Boston Public Health Commission announced $1 million in grant funding for community-based organizations to prevent overdose deaths and provide substance use treatment in neighborhoods seeing the highest overdose rates, with a focus on serving Black and Latinx communities that are at increased risk. The Community Overdose Response Grants are a one-time fund and the second use of Boston’s opioid remediation funding.
January 2024
Boston Public Health Commission and the City of Boston published the Boston Opioid Settlement Community Engagement Report and announced Boston’s first use of remediation funding, decided after an extensive community engagement process that allowed residents to inform how the funds should be spent. The Family Overdose Support Fund will launch later this year as an annual fund that will provide financial support to Boston families who lost a loved one to opioid overdose.
JuNE - September 2023
Boston Public Health Commission partnered with community organizations to hold listening sessions across Boston to collect community input about how the opioid settlement funds should be spent. Partner organizations and listening session attendees include the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, Nubian Square Task Force, Metro Boston Alive, Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association, STEPRox, Recovery on the Harbor, St. Francis House, Fenway Communicate and Connect, Allston-Brighton PAUSES, East Boston Alliance, Zumix, Project Right, North Suffolk Mental Health, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Learn to Cope, and The Sun Will Rise.
May 2023
Boston Public Health Commission released a community engagement survey, available in eight languages (Cabo Verdean Creole, Chinese, English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese). Boston Public Health Commission also issued a Request for Information, giving constituents an opportunity to submit up to 2.5 pages of input.
July 2022
Boston received its first payment from the state's opioid settlements.
July 2021
The State announced its first settlement from opioid distributors. Funds will be distributed across the Commonwealth to cities and towns for prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.
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Related Resources
Related Resources
Who's Involved:
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Questions? Contact us:
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Visit the Recovery Services website to learn more about substance use and harm reduction services provided by the Boston Public Health Commission.
