Massachusetts Creates $1.25M Fund Supporting Families of Overdose Victims

Massachusetts has announced the launch of a fund to provide direct financial relief to families of overdose victims, backed by $1.25 million over three years from pharmaceutical settlements.

According to a Boston Globe report, the fund will cover funeral expenses, behavioral health bills, legal fees, and other costs for residents in five hard-hit communities. Additionally, it will aid grandparents raising orphaned grandchildren because their parents have died of overdoses.

The Globe noted that the concept for creating this fund began during the summer of 2023. At that time, the Boston Public Health Commission hosted several community listening sessions on how to use Boston's share of opioid settlement funds. Many of the more than 600 participants in these sessions said they wanted to prioritize the financial needs of grieving families. Shortly afterward, Boston created the first municipal fund in the country dedicated specifically to families of overdose victims. This fund has distributed approximately $220,000 to 53 families in Boston.

In Massachusetts, a state where more than 20,000 people have died from overdoses during the past 10 years, according to a Globe report, much of the settlement payouts remain in government coffers. As of June 2024, less than 8% of the $91 million that municipalities have received was directed toward addiction-related services and overdose prevention efforts, according to information shared on a state dashboard.

Christine Minhee, an attorney and founder of OpioidSettlementTracker.com, however, found that only 2% of the money has gone directly to support families.

“What does it say about our society if we let someone die [of an overdose] and then don't support their grieving families?” said Elsa Gomes Bondlow, co-founder and chief impact officer of HALO Initiatives. This nonprofit will manage the fund, in a statement shared with The Boston Globe. “It sends a message, twice, that they aren't worthy of our care — not in life and not in death.”