{"id":276372,"date":"2026-09-01T08:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276372\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T08:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:16:15","slug":"grieving-mothers-boycott-pennsylvanias-opioid-settlement-money-listening-session-spotlight-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276372\/","title":{"rendered":"Grieving mothers boycott Pennsylvania\u2019s opioid settlement money listening session | Spotlight Pa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotlight PA<\/a> is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A version of this story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here.<\/a><\/p>\n

HARRISBURG \u2014 Some Pennsylvania mothers who lost a child to a drug overdose opted out of a recent listening session hosted by Pennsylvania\u2019s powerful opioid trust, citing concerns about how the group engages with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur decision to boycott today is not about refusing to participate,\u201d Marianne Sinisi, a Blair County advocate whose 26-year-old son died in 2018<\/a>, said afterward. \u201cIt is about standing together to say that families deserve more than an opportunity to speak. We deserve to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest example of ongoing tension over opioid settlement money, which Spotlight PA has documented for years<\/a> \u2014 from debates over how to spend Pennsylvania\u2019s share of billions of dollars<\/a> to concerns about how a powerful state oversight board makes its decisions<\/a>. The Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust distributes settlement funds and has the power to withhold money from local governments if it decides they spent inappropriately<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After first forming in 2022, trust officials met in secret for months, Spotlight PA and WESA previously reported<\/a>. In 2024,<\/a> a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by KFF Health News and Spotlight PA found Pennsylvania was one of 14 states where an opioid settlement council consistently blocked the public from speaking at meetings. Trust officials here also meet in private<\/a> to make recommendations for whether to approve local spending decisions.<\/p>\n

Trust officials have maintained that they comply with Pennsylvania\u2019s open meetings law.<\/p>\n

Last year, officials held their first public listening session<\/a>. Some family members and advocates called for more changes, including public comment at regular meetings, greater transparency before decisions are made, and more power being placed in the hands of people directly affected by the epidemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In responses months later<\/a>, trust Chair Tom VanKirk said the group would continue to not allow comment at each regular meeting, saying people can weigh in at the local level about spending decisions. He also addressed remarks about who serves on the trust, saying that while \u201cmost of us don\u2019t wear it on our sleeves,\u201d many current and former trustees \u201chave had this lived experience that people are talking about \u2026 which isn\u2019t generally known to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trust board consists of 13 members<\/a>: a chair who serves at the pleasure of the governor; a department secretary also appointed by the governor; four members appointed by state legislative leaders; and seven regional representatives. The court order governing the trust encourages counties to choose their regional representatives from nearly a dozen categories, including a parent or guardian of someone who has had opioid use disorder and someone in recovery from substance use disorder.<\/p>\n

But the order doesn\u2019t guarantee a spot on the board for families directly affected by the epidemic.<\/p>\n

Opting out<\/p>\n

Ahead of the trust\u2019s second public listening session in August, a group of advocates shared detailed recommendations outlining how the trust could \u201cbuild stronger relationships with the communities it serves.\u201d<\/a> But one of the signers, Gail Groves Scott, later said the trust wasn\u2019t interested in having a productive session and did \u201ctheir best to minimize participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day of the session<\/a>, Groves Scott was the first member of the public to speak \u2014 and the only one. She\u2019s a public health researcher and the mother of someone in long-term recovery from an opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n

Three other scheduled speakers \u2014 all mothers who had lost a child to a drug overdose \u2014 withdrew: Sinisi<\/a>, Susan Ousterman<\/a> of Bucks County, and Pamela Keefe of Luzerne County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Gail Groves Scott, a public health researcher, attended a September 2023 board meeting of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust. She wants the board to allow the public to comment at all regular meetings.<\/p>\n

Ed Mahon \/ Spotlight PA<\/p>\n

Groves Scott read a statement from them, explaining their decision.<\/p>\n

The statement described how speakers participated in last year\u2019s listening session in good faith, but \u201cmany of us left feeling dismissed, discredited, and unheard.\u201d The mothers said the recommendations they submitted received \u201cno substantive response,\u201d and there was \u201clittle public outreach\u201d for this year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe meaningful public engagement cannot be reduced to a few minutes of testimony once a year after the most important conversations have already taken place,\u201d Groves Scott continued.<\/p>\n

Then she announced a news conference they were hosting that afternoon. She invited members of the opioid trust and the public to attend.<\/p>\n

VanKirk defended the group\u2019s approach, saying the trust announced at its May meeting<\/a> that it would host a public listening session and that people could register from June 1 through June 30. The trust later extended the registration deadline to July 14, a trust official told Spotlight PA. The session took place Aug. 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our perspective, we have given the notice,\u201d VanKirk said shortly before adjourning. \u201cAnd we gave it at a public meeting, and also put it on the trust website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valerie Felici, a Philadelphia resident whose 25-year-old son died of a drug overdose in 2019, told Spotlight PA she originally wanted to participate in the trust\u2019s public listening session. But she said registration was closed by the time she learned about it.<\/p>\n

She spoke at the virtual news conference<\/a> hosted by advocates. She detailed her work as a police officer and as a nonprofit leader, describing spending nights and weekends supporting grieving families, helping people find recovery, and doing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us wanted to become experts in overdose, grief, failed systems, drug policy,\u201d Felici said. \u201cWe became experts because people we loved were harmed or died, and because we could not accept that other families should have to endure this suffering and pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news conference led to a direct exchange between advocates and one member of the trust.<\/p>\n

Kevin Boozel<\/a>, a Butler County commissioner and trust member, attended the news conference \u2014 and spoke when organizers opened the floor for others.<\/p>\n

Boozel told people in the meeting that his \u201cheart goes out to every single person that\u2019s on this call.\u201d He said he\u2019s been on the frontline with them, citing his work as a counselor, as an EMT who\u2019s delivered overdose reversal medication, and other experiences. He described limits on the trust\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hear anyone from the trust truly engaging with you on a personal level, and I think that\u2019s what you\u2019re asking for,\u201d Boozel said. \u201cAnd the reality is, they can\u2019t. There\u2019s a lot of legality in the way we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple times, Boozel framed his comments around the idea that parts of the process weren\u2019t clear to the public. He described things \u201cpeople do not understand,\u201d and that \u201ca lot of people don\u2019t understand.\u201d At one point, he said the trust is meant to serve as \u201cguardrails\u201d for the counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t approve a particular program, per se. We say, \u2018Look it fits in Exhibit E<\/a>,\u2019\u201d he said, referring to a settlement document that describes approved and recommended uses for the money. \u201cThat\u2019s all that they are doing. I don\u2019t know that people realize that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates say trust decisions have more scope than that. After counties and local governments choose how to spend their share of the money, the trust reviews their decisions, approving or disapproving. There have been disputes over how the trust should interpret Exhibit E, with the trust offering clarifying guidance<\/a> in some cases and reversing<\/a> its own<\/a> decisions<\/a> in others<\/a>. Multiple local governments<\/a> have sued in court, challenging rejections from the trust.<\/p>\n

Some of the news conference attendees said they appreciated Boozel being there. But they also pushed back on some of his comments.<\/p>\n

Ousterman, executive director of the nonprofit Vilomah Foundation and one of the advocates that withdrew from the listening session, said Boozel seems like he is \u201cgenuinely wanting to learn and wanting to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates do understand the legal issues involved, she added, saying \u201cyou would be surprised at how much knowledge we have.\u201d She said the oversight process is flawed, and there are people who have solutions. \u201cBut nobody wants to hear them,\u201d Ousterman said.<\/p>\n

Felici also addressed Boozel directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you to sit here and just dismiss us as if we don\u2019t know or we don\u2019t understand, I feel is really just doing what that whole board does to us,\u201d Felici told him. \u201cAnd it\u2019s victimizing victims all over again, and that\u2019s shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boozel acknowledged the objections to his comments in an email to Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n

He said he had \u201cno doubt that the individuals on the call have researched Exhibit E extensively and are well-informed about its provisions.\u201d He also said he hopes \u201cwe can continue listening to everyone involved, keep the focus on the people most affected, and work toward solutions that genuinely serve them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brie Anderson, administrator for the trust, told Spotlight PA the group \u201cappreciates those who take the time to share their perspectives and remains committed to providing opportunities for public input and engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Groves Scott and other advocates plan to continue pushing for changes. She\u2019s detailed a number of proposals, including for<\/a> the trust to allow public comment at all regular meetings, to open up the private meetings where trustees review local spending decisions and make recommendations, and to release more financial documents and other records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She told Spotlight PA the decisions made now will have a long-term impact on how this money is spent and overseen. Multiple advocates said they want the trust to engage with the public in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just really disturbing to us that we\u2019re being treated like adversaries all the time rather than as potential collaborators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n

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