Policy & Research · Texas behavioral health news
Opioid Settlement Money Pays for Services To Battle Addiction in Rural Kentucky
KFF Health News – Mental Health · By Taylor Sisk · June 25, 2026
In plain language
Rural Kentucky is using money from opioid legal settlements to fund community centers called Hubs that support people with addiction. These centers offer essential services like food, laundry, and housing help alongside medical tools like overdose-reversal medication and sterile syringes. This approach, known as harm reduction, focuses on keeping people safe and stable while they work toward recovery. Local leaders report these efforts are helping more people enter treatment and reducing the spread of diseases.
AI-generated summary of the source article. Not medical advice.
Key takeaways
- Kentucky is investing opioid settlement funds into rural 'Hubs' that provide peer support and basic needs.
- Harm reduction services include providing naloxone, drug test strips, and sterile syringes to prevent deaths and infections.
- Research indicates that people using syringe service programs are more likely to eventually enter and stay in treatment.
- The Hub initiative has expanded to multiple impoverished counties to address substance use, housing, and food insecurity.
- New grant funding will specifically help women who were previously incarcerated reintegrate into their communities.
- Local health officials report that the program has increased treatment enrollment and decreased the spread of communicable diseases.
A program in rural eastern Kentucky is receiving opioid settlement funding to address substance use disorders, housing, hunger, and other challenges.
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