ROCKLAND — Nov. 3, 2026 — Rockland has put opioid settlement money into local prevention and recovery groups and a police co-responder clinician, and has about $314,000 left in its settlement fund, Assistant Town Administrator Courtney Bjorgaard told the Select Board last Tuesday. The board also let every liquor-serving business open at 9 a.m. on Nov. 15.
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Opioid settlement update. Bjorgaard said settlement money is restricted to opioid abatement, such as treatment, recovery, harm reduction and prevention, and that Town Meeting in May 2025 and May 2026 authorized $185,000 in total for several nonprofits and toward the police department’s co-responder program. A staff group drawn from health, schools, public safety, recreation and the Council on Aging shaped the recommendations, steering money to organizations already working in Rockland. The update was a report on past spending; the board voted no new money.
Bjorgaard said about $314,000 remains in the Opioid Special Purpose Stabilization Fund, with roughly $1.1 million more expected over about 15 years, and future uses will be proposed at Town Meeting.
Anna Dowd and Julia Constantino presented for High Point Treatment Center’s Prevention Services Department. The department said the funding expanded school-based work and community outreach, including a community needs assessment at the Holiday Stroll and Rockland Day. Constantino said the money paid stipends for two in-school advisers, including the high school adjustment counselor.
Trisha Fallon, treasurer of Rockland CARES, said the volunteer group helps people with substance use disorders and their families, chiefly through scholarships for sober housing and treatment, and called the grant funding absolutely critical. She read an anonymous thank-you letter from a parent the group has helped.
Vicky Butler, executive director of Plymouth County Outreach, said the program pairs plainclothes officers with peer recovery coaches for follow-up visits after overdoses and now takes at-risk referrals from families and others. She said Rockland recorded two fatal overdoses in 2025, down from 15 in its worst year since data collection began.
Co-responder clinician. Deputy Police Chief Steven Somers said the program places a Community Counseling of Bristol County clinician in cruisers with officers to help people in crisis, at sudden deaths and even at car crashes, and estimated about 100 follow-ups in the last quarter. The clinician’s hours are limited, and the department hopes to add more.
Board members thanked the groups, and some spoke of family members affected by addiction.
