With overdoses rising, Boulder leaders push county-led group for bolder use of opioid funds

Boulder City Council voted last week to send a letter to the Boulder County Regional Opioid Council urging a shift in how the county allocates its share of opioid settlement funds: away from a piecemeal approach and toward a few, large transformational projects. It comes as Boulder continues to see a troubling rise in overdoses. 

The letter argues that Boulder County’s past response to the opioid crisis has been incremental. The roughly $30 million available to Boulder County from settlement funds between 2022 and 2038, councilmembers say, represents a rare chance to invest in “systemic change, rather than isolated interventions.” 

“We probably won’t see it again,” Councilmember Tina Marquis told Boulder Reporting Lab. 

Colorado is distributing 80% of its opioid settlement dollars to local governments and regional councils. The City of Boulder and other municipalities within the county chose to pool their funds with the county, which administers them through Boulder County Region Opioid Council. The state limits how much can be spent each year. During the most recent cycle, BCROC awarded nearly $4 million in grants to 23 organizations — including over $1 million to existing county programs. 

“We’ve gotten ourselves in a position where we’re spending a little bit of money on a lot of things, and I think we can be more transformative,” said Councilmember Matt Benjamin, who co-authored the letter with Marquis. The letter also pushed the county to track measurable outcomes of these grants, which are not currently publicized.

Council voted 7-1 to approve the letter. Councilmember Ryan Schuchard opposed it, arguing staff — not council — should be making specific funding recommendations. Councilmember Taishya Adams was absent for the vote.

BCROC includes several county department heads, County Commissioner Claire Levy, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson, a probation officer, Boulder City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, Longmont’s city manager, and Nederland’s town administrator. Rivera-Vandermyde said during the council meeting she welcomed the letter and that BCROC was open to transformational project proposals.

County officials say the city already has a seat at the table, and helped shape how funds were allocated.

“I just want to be clear that the City of Boulder is part of BCROC,” county commissioners’ communications director Gloria Handyside said. “The city was involved in the decision-making process through both the operations group — which compiled the recommendations — and the [regional] council, which approved them.”

Kelly Veit, a county opioid abatement program manager, added that the city “approved the decision-making methodology used for selecting awards” through its representative.

Rising overdoses prompt calls for action

The letter comes amid a rise in drug overdoses across the city. 

In an April 18 Hotline post to council, Police Chief Steve Redfearn reported 38 suspected drug overdoses so far in 2025 — a 37% increase over the same period last year. Four were fatal, and at least one other person died on CU property. All five deaths occurred between mid-March and the first week in April.

“The City of Boulder has an inordinate number of drug overdoses compared to other jurisdictions in the county,” Redfearn wrote, adding that most cases involve fentanyl and people experiencing homelessness.

According to Redfearn, police have increased foot and bike patrols in public areas to enable  quicker Narcan administration and are targeting drug dealers. Under state law, people can receive tickets for public drug use or possession, but not be arrested.

Redfearn warned that overdoses are likely to continue “as long as illegal drugs remain cheap and readily available, and we continue to lack resources for vulnerable community members.”

Past funding decisions draw scrutiny

The city council’s request follows months of concern from nonprofit leaders, parents and members of the county’s Substance Use Advisory Group (SUAG), who say the current funding process is overlooking smaller, community-based efforts.

In a Jan. 21 letter signed by State Sen. Judy Amabile, who represents Boulder, and others, the group said BCROC’s scoring system failed to fund groups doing direct work with young people, even as youth overdoses climb.

Among the rejected applicants was Youth in Recovery, a Boulder-based nonprofit that trains high school students to administer Narcan and educates them about the risks of fentanyl. Founder Trina Faatz, who previously served as Boulder County’s opioid outreach navigator, said only two youth-focused groups that work directly in schools applied for funding — and neither received it. At least four groups that focus on youth without working in schools received funding, according to the county.

Other denied applicants included Blue Rising, which leads overdose education on college campuses, and FullCircle Programs, the largest youth recovery program in Colorado.

Ryan Christoff, whose daughter was revived with Narcan after overdosing at 16 after taking half of what she thought was a Percocet pill with a lethal dose of fentanyl, was frustrated to see groups like Youth in Recovery excluded. “A lot of money wound up going to places where it’s not getting put to good use at all,” he said. “It’s supposed to save lives, that’s the point of this money.”

Veit said BCROC has a transparent, multi-step process for selecting awards. “Unfortunately, these dollars aren’t enough to support all the addiction and recovery programming needed. In this funding cycle alone, the council received almost $9 million in requests, with only $3 million being available to award,” she told Boulder Reporting Lab. She added BCROC has “taken into account community feedback and are currently in discussion about new ideas for future funding.”

In a response letter, BCROC chair, County Commissioner Levy, wrote that the BCROC targeted several priority populations, including youth, all of which were funded.

Letter writers also questioned the “appropriateness and equity” of directing about a quarter of this cycle’s funds to county programs.

“We believe the goal of distributing funds across a diverse makeup of agencies, was achieved,” Levy wrote in her letter, citing an award breakdown of nine nonprofits or NGOs, two university systems, two hospitals or health groups, and nine government agencies.  

The Jan. 21 letter requested a meeting with county commissioners and BCROC members. Levy declined, saying there was “nothing erroneous in the award process to indicate funds have been distributed inequitably.” But Sheriff Curtis Johnson later convened a smaller meeting with the group and one BCROC representative on April 1.