Arkansas

Teens, Families Focus of $200,000 Opioid Settlement Funds for Arkansas Nonprofit

Published

2 years ago

August 5, 2024

Teens, Families Focus of 0,000 Opioid Settlement Funds for Arkansas Nonprofit

This article was originally published in Arkansas Advocate.

Amber Govan often can be found inside an unassuming building off 12th Street in Little Rock working with students during after-school programs or consulting federal agencies on community violence intervention through her nonprofit, Carter’s Crew.

Carter’s Crew helps teens in Central Arkansas who have been in the justice system or live in crime-heavy neighborhoods; it stems from Govan’s personal experience of being considered “at-risk” in her own life.

With $200,000 in settlement funds from the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, the nonprofit will add opioid prevention education to its repertoire.

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“We want to be a one-stop shop for everything that families need, as much as possible,” Govan said. “Part of our process is that families, not just the teens but the whole family, go through an intake [process] and identify areas they need assistance with. Substance abuse is a major one, right behind mental health.”

More than 108,000 people in the United States died of a drug overdose in 2023, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same data shows Arkansas had 572 drug overdose deaths in 2023, though the figure could change as the data is finalized.

Carter’s Crew will use the settlement funds to hire a peer recovery specialist, substance abuse educator and a case manager tasked with mitigating risk factors for misuse among teens. Staff will manage a program that will run four 12-week sessions annually, followed by nine months of follow-up for each participant, Govan said.

The program mimics a 12-step program and participants will be referred for outside assistance, such as inpatient services or medication management, when necessary, Govan said.

The settlement funds will also help staff develop an online opioid prevention curriculum, which Govan said will be the first of its kind in Arkansas for the demographic.

Content will include 30-minute videos led by other young people and quizzes to test participants’ knowledge along the way. They will receive certificates upon completion, and Govan said she’s currently working to have court judges accept them as part of the conditions for teens who are completing substance abuse programs.

The program is similar to one used for medical professionals at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Govan said.

Along with creating new programs, Govan also hopes the funding will help break down a stigma among different communities.

“In the Black community, people are afraid to bring up the topic of, ‘I’m struggling with being addicted to prescription pills,’ or whatever it may be,” Govan said. “For us…we want families to understand that there are more people out there who are like you, who need this assistance as well. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just something we need to provide services for.”

Breaking down that stigma will hopefully help people feel more comfortable self identifying and letting any agency or healthcare provider know they need help, Govan said.

Available funding

The funding for Carter’s Crew is part of $26 billion in opioid settlement funds to be distributed nationwide. Of that total, Arkansas is set to receive $216 million over 18 years.

The Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership was created in 2022 using city and county settlement funds. The initiative works to distribute funds to projects aimed at abating the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment and recovery.

Kirk Lane, director of the initiative, said staff look for several features of a project when considering funding, including heart, innovation, location and prevention efforts. For Carter’s Crew, Lane said he was intrigued by the nonprofit receiving referrals from the juvenile courts.

“We look for the heart first,” he said. “If people are looking at the money as money, that’s not the direction we’re wanting to go.”

Every Arkansas county has at least one active program funded by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, according to its website. The announcement from Carter’s Crew increased the funded projects in Pulaski County to nine, joining the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, the Crisis Stabilization Unit at UAMS, the Natural State Recovery Center and others.

“[Carter’s Crew] was one of the ones that we weeded through,” Lane said. “They were providing something different that the state was doing, was in a county that had a tremendous overdose situation and it was empowering young people that came from strong problem areas.”

Meeting the needs in every Arkansas county is one of Lane’s goals, and he said funding a project in a county that has fewer active programs may be prioritized if it has met the requirements.

Funding opportunities are ongoing, and the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership doesn’t have a deadline for organizations to submit applications. Funding proposals must follow a list of guidelines, including evidence-based strategies to abate the opioid epidemic and signatures from the county judge and mayor where the program will take place.

Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. pledged their support for Carter’s Crew.

After an organization has been awarded funding, the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership conducts regular check-ins over the course of five years to ensure the goals are being met. The initiative collects quarterly data specific to the milestones of each program and completes an annual review.

If money was distributed to an organization and not used toward abating the opioid crisis, that amount is returned to the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership. So far, approximately $1 million has been returned, Lane said.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

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Arkansas

Baseball notebook: Kansas and Arkansas to play in winner’s bracket

Published

17 minutes ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Baseball notebook: Kansas and Arkansas to play in winner’s bracket

Last year Kansas and Arkansas were in the Fayetteville Regional but never got a chance to play. That will change tonight at 5 p.m. when the top two seeds face off in the winner’s bracket of the Lawrence Regional.

Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn watched the Jayhawks last year and believes they are a better team than last year.

“They are a very good team,” Van Horn said. “They were in our regional last year. We didn’t face them, but you could see from the stands or our offices when we watched them play that they’re physical.

He continued:

“They added to it, got a couple key guys back, and they can hit the ball over your head with the best of them. Really good here (at home). They had one rough weekend here against West Virginia. Other than that, they’ve been great.”

Kansas will face a talented pitcher in Dietz

The Jayhawks are set to face one of the best pitchers they have seen this season. Hunter Dietz is expected to start for the Razorbacks and should be healthy.

In the SEC tournament against Texas, he took a line drive off his leg that sidelined him. He threw a bullpen earlier in the week and looked good according to Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn.

“That’s the plan, is to pitch him,” Van Horn said. “Unless something crazy goes on with his leg or whatever. But yeah, he seems to be feeling good. He seems to be moving around good and no complaints. I feel like he’s ready to go, so that’s who we’ll go with.”

[Jayhawks open with a win over Northeastern]

Dietz is projected to go in the first round and some draft analysts say he might be the best left-handed pitcher in the country. The 6-foot-6 lefty’s fastball is consistently in the 93-96 mph range and he mixes in a cutter and slider.

This year he has eye-opening numbers with 121 strikeouts and only 29 walks.

Containing the running game from Northeastern

A lot of the talk going into the first round against Northeastern was their speed on the bases. They led the nation in stolen bases by a wide margin but did not get one against Kansas.

“It was the emphasis going in,” said head coach Dan Fitzgerald. “Now, the Big 12 prepares us for that. You think of the teams that we play against, you’ve heard me refer to the Big 12 as the take-what-they-give-you league.”

Fitzgerald gave credit to his coaching staff working with the pitchers on their delivery and holding runners on.

“It took a lot of game planning,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought that Coach Scott and Coach Holland did a tremendous job today. I thought the scout was amazing, but that was a big deal to hold them down.”

Kansas will have a rested bullpen

One good thing going into the Arkansas game is a rested bullpen. Dominic Voegele threw seven innings on 102 pitches and was followed by Boede Rahe who threw 32 over two innings of work.

Fitzgerald said after the game it was a key factor to get through game one with two pitchers.

“It was huge, and they were both fantastic,” he said. “Boede has told me daily the entire season that he’s good to go, so he’ll be able to bounce back. Dom was so efficient, and again, it’s so hard to be efficient against a lineup like that.”

Rahe leads the team in saves and he has appeared in back-to-back games this season. If he is needed in a close game tonight don’t be surprised to see him available for a limited pitch count.

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Arkansas

No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks’ Historic Season Comes to an End at WCWS

Published

10 hours ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks’ Historic Season Comes to an End at WCWS

Hunter Corneliusen
May 30, 2026

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – No. 5 National Seed Arkansas Razorbacks’ historic season came to an end on Friday night with an 11-0 (5 inn.) loss to UCLA at the Women’s College World Series inside Devon Park.

With the loss, Arkansas finished its season with a 47-13 record that culminated in the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth. The Hogs’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.

Tianna Bell, Atalyia Rijo, and Kailey Wyckoff all recorded base hits for Arkansas in the loss. Wyckoff and Karlie Davison both drew walks. Payton Burnham (14-4) took the loss for Arkansas after allowing four runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work.

Taylor Tinsley (33-7) took the win for UCLA, pitching five shutout innings while striking out two and allowing three hits and two walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Payton Burnham made her 19th start of the season for Arkansas, while UCLA went with senior Taylor Tinsley.

In the top of the first inning, Atalyia Rijo had a hand in all three outs of a 1-2-3 frame that featured a pair of groundouts and a popout. Tinsley responded with a 1-2-3 inning herself, courtesy of a strikeout, flyout, and lineout in the home half of the first inning.

Aleena Garcia gave UCLA a 1-0 lead with a lead-off solo home run to dead center field in the top of the second inning. Kaniya Bragg got hit by a pitch, and Alexis Ramirez singled before Soo-Jin Berry made it a 4-0 game with a three-run home run to left field. Following Ramirez’s homer, Saylor Timmerman entered in relief for Arkansas. Megan Grant later extended the Bruins’ lead to 7-0 by way of a three-run home run to center field, her 42nd of the season. Senior LHP Robyn Herron entered with two runners on and two outs in the inning. UCLA extended its lead to 9-0 courtesy of a two-RBI double off the top of the wall in right field by Bragg.

In the bottom of the second inning, Karlie Davison became the first baserunner of the game for Arkansas after reaching on a two-out walk. She later advanced to second base on a single from Atalyia Rijo. Kailey Wyckoff later walked to load the bases, but UCLA would escape with a flyout to get out of the inning.

In the top of the third inning, Herron registered a pair of strikeouts while UCLA made it 10-0 by scoring a run by way of a wild pitch. Tinsley retired the Hogs in order in the bottom of the third inning.

Herron retired UCLA in order in the top of the fourth inning while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Tianna Bell singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Bruins’ Jolyna Lamar increased the UCLA lead to 11-0 with a solo home run to right field.

Kailey Wyckoff singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning before UCLA retired three consecutive batters to end the game.

NOTABLES

Arkansas finished the season with a 47-13 overall record. The Razorbacks’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will be back in action in the spring of 2027.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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