MARSHFIELD - June 29, 2026 - In a unanimous decision, the Marshfield Select Board approved a $32,000 grant from the town’s restricted Opioid Settlement Fund to support Plymouth County Outreach (PCO). The funding allocation comes as Marshfield continues to navigate the regional addiction crisis, with data identifying the town as one of the top five or six hardest-hit communities among the county’s 27 municipalities. The grant, which draws zero tax dollars from the municipal general budget, is part of a regional financing formula based on local population trends and is aimed at expanding immediate access to judgment-free recovery coaching and post-overdose intervention care.
The Full Story
The funding request was championed by Opioid Fund Committee member Mary Price and PCO Executive Director Vicky Butler, who presented a comprehensive overview of the town’s expanding local public health efforts. Over the course of a multi-year payout schedule running through 2039, Marshfield is anticipated to receive approximately $1.8 million in total opioid abatement settlement funds, which must legally supplement rather than replace the town’s general operating budget.
Butler, celebrating 13 years of personal recovery from heroin addiction, emphasized that the regional outreach program operates completely free of insurance barriers or waitlists. PCO leverages real-time, evidence-based tracking to coordinate plainclothes police officers and peer recovery coaches for home visits following non-fatal overdoses. The program’s collaborative, multi-agency framework has contributed to an overall 61% reduction in countywide fatal overdoses since 2017.
Select Board Vice Chair Eric Kelley pressed the presenters on the exact metrics behind the mortality declines, questioning if the reductions are strictly tied to broader NARCAN distribution or localized therapeutic success. Butler clarified that while expanded emergency medication availability and the state’s Good Samaritan protections have fundamentally changed the environment, holistic access to a spectrum of individualized treatment resources remains the vital link preventing continuous relapse loops.
“[Marshfield] several years has been in the top five and top six hardest hit communities out of those 27 communities, making the continuation of this work critical, particularly in the Marshfield community.” — Vicky Butler, Executive Director of Plymouth County Outreach
