West Virginia First Foundation Seeks Input from Ohio County Commissioners

The West Virginia First Foundation is seeking appointment recommendations from the Ohio County Commission to create an interim statewide expert panel to assist in distributing opioid funds.

Foundation Board of Directors Region 1 Representative Dr. Stephen Corder provided commissioners with an update on the board's progress towards distributing funds from settlements of opioid lawsuits in the state at Tuesday night's meeting.

Corder noted "things were moving very slowly" for the board as a whole. He pointed to their inability to hire an executive director as one of the contributing factors.

Corder added the foundation board has renewed the search for an executive director, and an interview for the position has taken place. The next step the WVFF board will take is the creation of an expert panel to advise them on how to utilize opioid settlement funds.

The creation of this panel is part of a memorandum of understanding adopted by state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey that the foundation board is governed by when distributing opioid funds.

Corder outlined the board has developed a system for the creation of the expert panel where six regional committees consisting of six members will first be established in the state.

Corder explained the foundation is "hoping" that eventually, the six members of each regional committee will elect applicants or individuals, not from their own body, that will occupy a committee with "statewide interest in mind."

The six members of each regional committee will cover six different specialty areas designated by the memorandum: prevention, healthcare systems, law enforcement, medical first responders, recovery and lived experience and treatment.

"The idea is that you get some regional input from experts, that those recommendations are filtered into a statewide committee and then what they propose the money being used for then would be passed onto the board for full," outlined Corder to the commission.

Corder explained the issue with this plan was that the memorandum has a timeline that requires the board to elect a statewide committee first.

"I’ve been assured that we’ll have no shortage of volunteers interested in participating on that expert panel," noted Corder. "For that panel, we’re hoping to get a diverse representation from the six areas of expertise, but also the six geographic areas that have been set up."

To resolve the issue of this timeline not aligning with the board's plan for the regional committee to appoint statewide representatives, Corder explained they were planning to create an interim statewide committee that would only operate for this calendar year.

"We're proposing that their actual terms just be this calendar year because we think that the idea of a regional committee recommending things to a statewide panel will be a good system," explained Corder.

The foundation board will be seeking assistance and input from the Ohio County Commission and other county commissions and municipalities in the state for input on the creation of this interim statewide committee, according to Corder.

Commissioner Zach Abraham asked Corder for more information on the "six pockets of people" that the WVFF was looking for in the OCC to assist them in finding the expert panel.

Corder explained they were primarily seeking to appoint people who had a "statewide overview," which he noted they were "not 100% sure how to exactly determine that."

"What would make a good representative for prevention of substance abuse and opioid addiction, for instance, would be a law enforcement officer that understands what the region's needs are or the whole state's needs," explained Corder. "The same goes for treatment and recovery services as well as medical and health care systems."