The city of Baltimore unveiled its Opioid Restitution Fund Dashboard on Tuesday that will help residents keep track of how the government is spending the funds it won from drug manufacturers.
The dashboard keeps track of the nearly $600 million Baltimore won from opioid manufacturers and distributors after suing the companies over the past few years.
“I want to encourage all of our residents to review this report and follow the dashboard to track our progress. Building on our lifesaving work, and ending this crisis for good, takes all of us,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement.
The website is one way the city’s government is trying to be transparent about the way it’s using the money to stop overdoses and address the systemic factors leading to substance use.
Some jurisdictions across the U.S. have not invested settlement money back into the people who were harmed, instead deciding to balance budgets or buy new police cars.
Baltimore will update the dashboard quarterly.
The city passed a law stating it must use the funding for harm reduction, education and other ways to reduce the damage from opioids.
To date the city has allocated $122 million of the fund and more than $13 million has actually been spent.
In February, Baltimore announced the first recipients of $2 million community grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000.
Those included trauma-informed care and a 24/7 at an urban farm in Station North, job training for women in recovery in Curtis Bay, wrap-around services to connect people to housing and mental health services for children with parents suffering from addiction all across the city.