In response to the current opioid epidemic facing the country, several lawsuits have been brought against pharmaceutical companies and their distributors. In 2021, there was a $26 billion settlement agreement with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and its distributors and states across the country. Under this settlement, the State of Minnesota and municipalities would be awarded more than $300 million if the state, counties, and cities achieved full agreement on how settlement money would be distributed in order to deal with the opioid crisis. In addition to needing full agreement, the agreement needed to be achieved in a short period of time.
The Attorney General’s Office engaged OCDR to design and facilitate a collaborative problem-solving process to understand all parties needs and interests and facilitate collaboration around the agreement. The opioid settlement working group included members from the Attorney General’s Office, state agencies, the Legislature, the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, and the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. Goals included ensuring the full amount of settlement dollars available would be allocated to the state and to cities and counties who signed onto the agreement.
Through intensive deliberation and coordination with all parties over three months, OCDR and the Attorney General’s Office were able to achieve agreement from:
OCDR and the AGO achieved the goal of sign-on by key stakeholders, releasing more than $300 million in funds to the state, cities and counties over 18 years. The Department of Administration, where OCDR is located in state government, won an award for the settlement process from the National Association of State Chief Administrators.
The scope of human services delivery across Minnesota is broad and complex, ranging from overseeing the quality of foster care programs to providing refugee services coordination to ensuring economic assistance for those in need. Department of Human services relies on tribes and counties to administer and collaborate on service delivery. In 2020, tribal, county, and DHS leadership proposed to work together to improve human services delivery across the state and approached OCDR to facilitate the effort. The Human Services Leadership Forum consists of 34 members includes DHS executive leaders, county commissioners and leaders from nine tribal governments. This leadership effort provides a place for collaboration, strategy development, and problem-solving.
OCDR provides coordination and facilitative support for the group’s activities, which include:
The ultimate purpose of the HSLF effort is a coordinated, person-centered system that meets the needs of Minnesotans.
In 2023, Petitioners requested that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency exercise its emergency powers to address groundwater nitrate contamination that presents a risk to the health of the residents in eight counties of the Southeast Karst Region2 (Karst Region) of Minnesota. In January 2024, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a workplan outlining next steps. The task force is comprised of residents and local leaders who live in southeast Minnesota and represent a variety of sectors and will meet from July 2024 through June 2025.
OCDR is supporting this work by:
The group will conclude its process by delivering a publicly-available summary report of recommendations.
