Massachusetts: Opioid Settlement Funds

Visitors at the Clark, one of the CultureRx: Social Prescription Pilot participating organizations. Photo: Christina Lane, courtesy of Mass Cultural Council

States are currently in the process of implementing plans to distribute over $50 billion from opioid settlement lawsuits. While spending priorities and allocations vary by state, funds will generally be distributed over 18 years. Many state plans encourage community input and provide grant-making opportunities for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts.

It has long been demonstrated that the arts can play a powerful role in addressing opioid and substance abuse. To capitalize on this, Mass Cultural Council is working with municipalities in Massachusetts to help invest their settlement funds in social prescriptions (also called arts prescriptions). Through these programs, medical professionals refer patients to participate in cultural programming to support prevention and recovery efforts.

In 2025, the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, became the first municipality in the United States to receive opioid settlement funds for social prescriptions. Franklin partnered with SocialRx (formerly Art Pharmacy), a health services company focused on providing arts prescriptions, to offer experiences in the arts and culture as part of the substance abuse and recovery plans for clients in the area. SocialRx has also been a partner with Mass Cultural Council’s Social Prescription program.

Mass Cultural Council has provided several resources to help communities in the state urge policymakers to invest opioid settlement funds in social prescriptions, including:

A primer that provides background information on the funds and social prescriptions, how the arts can mitigate the opioid crisis and actionable steps to influence funding decisions.
A field guide for communities with a road map for implementing social prescriptions.
A webinar, Leveraging Arts and Culture for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, and the accompanying slide deck, on how communities can use opioid settlement funds for prevention and recovery services that involve arts and culture, featuring the Town of Franklin.
A compilation of research that demonstrates that engaging in arts and culture can positively influence health.

Effective recovery from the opioid crisis will look different in different states. Nevertheless, state arts agencies are well-positioned to promote the arts as part of these solutions.

For more information on arts and health, contact NASAA.