From November 2021 through January 2022, CHRT analyzes a survey for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The survey asked Michiganders how they would like to see opioid settlement dollars allocated. Respondents were mostly staff of medical and social service organizations or government entities, however, 16 percent of respondents identified as being in recovery.

The survey identified three top priorities:

• opioid use recovery,
• opioid use prevention, and
• expanded access to medications used to treat opioid use disorder.

In each priority, the survey analysis broke out subpriorities. In opioid use prevention, for examples, programming priorities included: evidence based prevention programs in K-12 schools, training for first responders on programming to connect at-risk individuals with services and supports, and medical provider education and outreach around prescribing best practices.

Additionally, the survey showed that top priority populations were individuals with co-occurring mental health diagnoses or other substance use disorders, pregnant and postpartum women, and rural communities.