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- By Native News Online Staff
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner have proposed placing more than $6.5 million in new opioid settlement funds into the tribe’s Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, including $4 million to help build and operate transitional living housing for formerly incarcerated citizens.
Under the proposal, $2 million would be used for construction of residential transitional living facilities and another $2 million would seed operating costs. The remaining funds would be deposited into the Behavioral Health Capital Fund.
“We are far better off as a tribe, and as a society, if we lift up those who have been held accountable for their crimes and who have a commitment to rejoin society as productive citizens,” Hoskin said. “After already boosting funding for our reentry program by half a million this year, it is time to plan for the next phase of development using a small portion of opioid settlement funds.”
Cherokee Nation became the first tribe in the country to sue the opioid industry in 2017, alleging damages from irresponsible distribution of opioids across the reservation. The lawsuit was filed under the leadership of then-Chief Bill John Baker and Attorney General Todd Hembree.
Hoskin, former Attorney General Sara Hill and current Attorney General Chad Harsha continued the effort, culminating in the latest settlement that netted more than $6.5 million in September 2025.
Since 2021, Cherokee Nation has placed its opioid settlement proceeds into the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, which serves as the foundation of the Hoskin-Warner administration’s behavioral health and physical wellness policies.
The tribe last deposited opioid settlement funds in 2023, directing more than $98 million into the PHWFA Behavioral Health Capital Fund, pilot recovery support programs and a behavioral health scholarship endowment.
The opioid settlement provisions of the fund currently support more than $64 million in construction of substance use disorder inpatient and outpatient facilities. An outpatient and inpatient campus in Tahlequah and an outpatient center in Vinita are expected to open in 2027.
Last year, Hoskin and Warner proposed a $500,000 increase in funding for the tribe’s Coming Home Reentry Program, which provides support services to citizens following incarceration. The Cherokee Nation Council unanimously approved the increase as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget.
Under the latest proposal, funding for transitional living housing would be released only if Hoskin submits a sustainability plan to the council outlining how the facilities would operate beyond the pilot stage. Locations, construction timelines and the number of facilities would be determined as part of that analysis.
“Crime should come with appropriate punishment and justice for victims first and foremost,” Warner said. “But Cherokee culture teaches us that those who seek redemption and who will commit themselves to a better life should have the support of their community. Expanding the Coming Home Reentry program is one way we can provide that support.”
The reentry program served about 500 Cherokee Nation citizens in fiscal year 2025.
Cherokee Nation Councilor Daryl Legg, who helped launch the program in 2013 while working as a tribal employee, said expanded funding and transitional housing would increase the number of citizens served each year.
“I was proud to help launch this program, proud to advocate for this fiscal year's nearly half a million-dollar funding increase, a prouder still to sponsor legislation that will take the Coming Home Reentry Program to the next level,” Legg said. “We recognize that we have a lot further to go for our program to reach all Cherokees who paid the price for their crime and are able to benefit from reentry services, but we are making incredible progress.”
In addition to expanding behavioral health services and substance use disorder programs, the Hoskin-Warner administration and the Cherokee Nation Council have increased law enforcement and crime victim services to historically high levels over the past six years.
Hoskin said that while substance use disorder and criminal conduct are distinct, the overlap between the two justifies limited use of opioid settlement funds for reentry efforts.
“We know that some of our citizens in recovery are also involved in the criminal justice system and that some of our citizens leaving incarceration struggle to get into substance use disorder recovery,” Hoskin said. “It makes sense to invest at least some of our Behavioral Health Capital Fund into our reentry program.”
The Cherokee Nation Council is expected to consider the proposed legislation during committee meetings in February.
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