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Council Member Lee questions OMB Director on maternal health funding and opioid settlement allocations
1:59:40
ยท
4 min
Council Member Linda Lee questions OMB Director Jacques Jiha about reductions in maternal health program funding and the allocation of opioid settlement funds. Jiha is unable to provide detailed answers to most questions and commits to following up with more information.
- Lee expresses concern over consistent reductions in maternal health program funding since fiscal year 2024.
- Questions are raised about the allocation and tracking of opioid settlement funds, particularly for overdose prevention centers.
- Jiha acknowledges the need to consult with relevant agencies for more detailed operational information on fund usage.
Linda Lee
1:59:40
Yes.
1:59:41
Got you, chair.
1:59:42
I will try to be as succinct as possible.
1:59:45
So as you know, our speaker has made maternal health a priority and so I just had a couple questions around the maternal mental health piece of it.
1:59:54
Since fiscal twenty four, maternal health program funding has consistently been reduced by 7,100,000.0 in fiscal twenty four, '8 point '6 million in fiscal twenty five and now 8,000,000 in fiscal twenty six to '27 and 3,200,000.0 in fiscal twenty eight.
2:00:11
The most impacted programs are universal home visiting, maternity infant, and maternity infant reproduction.
2:00:17
So can you just go through why these contracts for these particular programs are being reduced and why they're being reduced since fiscal twenty four?
Jacques Jiha
2:00:28
I would have to come back to you with more detail on the question because I believe they were funded at $1,900,000 in fiscal twenty four.
2:00:38
I don't know if it's a one time funding or is this no?
2:00:41
I would come back to you on this.
Linda Lee
2:00:43
Okay.
2:00:43
And then also as a follow-up, you could let us know the reasons for the cuts, then also if there are plans to restore the programs to their fiscal twenty twenty four funding level.
2:00:55
If you could get back to us about that as well.
Jacques Jiha
2:00:56
Okay, get back to you on this.
Linda Lee
2:00:57
Okay, and now the opioid settlement funds.
2:01:01
We had a recent hearing with DOHMH about the opioid settlement funds, and I think we had about two hearings regarding where the money has gone.
2:01:12
The second one was better than the first, and we had more information for the second hearing most recently, but still I think I wanted to just drill a little bit more.
2:01:20
In the preliminary plan, the city has received a total of $48,000,000 in opioid settlement funding for fiscal twenty six with nearly 27,000,000 allocated to the DOHMH, twenty point three million allocated to health and hospitals, and 850,000 allocated to the office of the medical examiner.
2:01:38
Both DOHMH and H and H have received additional funding since the fiscal 'twenty five adopted budget for an additional 3,500,000 each.
2:01:47
So I just wanted to know, have you met with the three agencies to discuss how they will spend the opioid settlement funding?
2:01:54
And have you given them any directive, making sure that there are, for example, the funds that are going to the most needed zip codes?
2:02:04
How is that being followed and tracked?
2:02:06
If you could get more detailed information about that.
Jacques Jiha
2:02:09
Yeah, that will probably need to talk.
2:02:12
I would defer to them because these are operational issues about how they deploy those resources.
2:02:18
We know for sure.
2:02:20
We announced on September in funding by fiscal twenty six to combat crisis.
2:02:30
But they manage it on a day to day basis, which neighborhood.
2:02:35
I don't have those operational details.
Linda Lee
2:02:38
Okay.
2:02:38
But then on the back end, for your purposes, are there checks and balances put in place about making sure that the funds are being allocated to what they were meant for?
Jacques Jiha
2:02:49
Of course.
2:02:50
They they you know, as I said, you you have the city controller.
2:02:55
You have a bunch of monitoring to make sure resources are spent according to the way they're supposed to be spent.
2:03:03
But operationally, I cannot give you an answer in terms of what is it about the plan.
2:03:08
I could come back to you and ask them to brief you if you need so they could answer the questions for you.
2:03:14
But personally, I don't know.
Linda Lee
2:03:16
Okay, and then do you know how much of that funding is allocated toward overdose prevention centers specifically and how much to other opioid specific programs out of
UNKNOWN
2:03:25
that
Jacques Jiha
2:03:25
don't
Linda Lee
2:03:25
provide
Jacques Jiha
2:03:26
resources directly for overdose centers.
2:03:30
Directly.
2:03:31
Okay.
2:03:31
They fund it as part of a larger program, but not directly for overdose exactly purpose.
Linda Lee
2:03:40
Okay.
2:03:41
And do either of the three agencies plan on expanding?
2:03:45
I mean, know that this is both agency, but also for your end, the opioid programs with the additional opioid settlement funding.
Jacques Jiha
2:03:56
I don't know.
Linda Lee
2:03:57
Okay.
2:03:58
If you have if you could get back to us with some of those answers.
Jacques Jiha
2:04:01
I would try to get back to you from this.
2:04:04
But again, this is a tough it's a trying time.
2:04:07
Everybody's trying to be careful how they manage.
2:04:10
You see there's a lot of folks asking the federal government to intervene in those, you know, and nobody knows what's gonna be the outcome of those things.
Linda Lee
2:04:19
Alright.
2:04:20
But this money, thankfully well, not thankfully, but is from the lawsuit settlements.
Jacques Jiha
2:04:24
No, no, I understand.
2:04:25
I'm talking about the overdose
Justin Brannan
2:04:27
Okay,
Linda Lee
2:04:28
Thank you.
Justin Brannan
2:04:29
Okay.
2:04:30
We have questions from council member Schulman followed by Carr followed by Will.