Henrico County uses opioid lawsuit funds to expand addiction treatment

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - Henrico County is receiving more than $1.7 million in opioid settlement funding to expand addiction treatment and overdose prevention services, marking the county’s largest single-year award to date.

The money, awarded through Virginia’s Opioid Abatement Authority for fiscal year 2026–27, comes from national legal settlements involving opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The funding will support 13 programs aimed at preventing overdoses, removing barriers to treatment and helping people recover from addiction.

One of the biggest expansions involves Henrico’s mobile treatment unit, a van that brings addiction services directly into local neighborhoods.

The van carries free Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, along with fentanyl and xylazine test strips and medication disposal kits. It also provides access to a clinician, nurse practitioner and certified peer support specialist. Residents can connect with treatment services directly through the mobile unit without visiting a county office first.

The new funding will allow Henrico to hire four additional full-time employees and expand the van’s operating hours from approximately six to eight hours per week to more than 40, including weekends.

The county plans to expand the unit’s reach throughout Henrico, with limited service in neighboring Charles City and New Kent counties.

Leslie Stephen, assistant director of Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services, said the county can use overdose data from Henrico Fire to determine where the van is needed most.

“We can go where the problems are,” Stephen said. “We can see where overdoses are happening, and we can be nimble, and we can go where we’re needed.”

Stephen said bringing services directly to neighborhoods can help people overcome one of the biggest obstacles to getting treatment: asking for help.

“For someone to admit that they need help, and to walk through the doors is sometimes really difficult,” Stephen said. “But if you can walk down the street, and there’s someone right there, often it just makes a world of difference.”

William Pye, a registered certified peer specialist with Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services, said building trust is an important part of the mobile unit’s work.

Pye draws on his own experiences with substance use and incarceration to connect with people who may be reluctant to seek treatment.

“I always share about experience. When I was incarcerated in Henrico County, I used to fear anything with the logo on,” Pye said. “So just to be able to be in the community, and show them that we’re here to support them, is huge.”

Pye said the team wants people to feel comfortable discussing their struggles and asking for assistance.

“We definitely want to be able to make sure it’s a safe place for that individual when they start opening up and sharing,” he said.

He hopes the expanded program will help people realize recovery is possible.

“A lot of times, when we’re in that cycle of addiction, that hope is gone,” Pye said. “And just to be able to meet that individual where they are and offer those resources, and then show them that there is some hope. And we care.”

The mobile treatment unit is one of 13 programs receiving funding. Another initiative could change what happens when Henrico firefighters respond to an overdose.

Currently, first responders can administer Narcan to reverse an overdose and offer to transport patients to a hospital. But Stephen said patients sometimes decline that transportation.

Under the new program, firefighters would be able to connect patients with a doctor in real time. The doctor could assess whether medication-assisted treatment is appropriate and potentially help patients begin treatment at the scene.

“They’ll have access to a doctor in real time,” Stephen said. “And then, that doctor can provide the assessment and make the determination if it’s medically appropriate.”

Patients could then be connected with Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services or another provider for ongoing treatment.

The county has received funding for the new initiatives and is in the process of hiring staff.

The settlement funding will also support additional programs for pregnant and parenting women, along with expanded access to medication-assisted treatment at county facilities.

Henrico also plans to install free Narcan distribution cabinets at three additional public libraries: Twin Hickory, Tuckahoe and Varina. Cabinets are already available at Libbie Mill and Fairfield libraries.

Additional Narcan distribution will be available through county social services offices.

Stephen said that although overdose deaths have declined, the county wants to continue reducing them while preparing for changes in the illegal drug supply.

“The fortunate thing is that our overdose rate has gone down, like it has in the rest of the country, but it’s still too many,” Stephen said.

The new funding, she said, will help the county identify emerging trends and respond to them more quickly.