TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner recently proposed to lock down over $6.5 million in new opioid settlement funds into the tribes’ Public Health and Wellness Fund Act and to use $4 million of the funding to build and operate transitional living housing for formerly incarcerated citizens.
“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,” said Chief Hoskin. “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.”
In 2017, Cherokee Nation, under the leadership of Chief Bill John Baker and Attorney General Todd Hembree, became the first tribe in the country to sue the opioid industry for damages resulting from alleged irresponsible distribution of the drug across the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
Chief Hoskin, former Attorney General Sara Hill and current Cherokee Nation AG Chad Harsha, continued the effort, reaching the latest settlement netting over $6.5 million in September 2025.
In 2021, Cherokee Nation began placing its opioid settlement funds in the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, the cornerstone of the Hoskin/Warner behavioral health and physical wellness policy.
The tribe last deposited opioid settlement funds in the “PHWFA Behavioral Health Capital Fund” and into pilot recovery support programs and a behavioral health scholarship endowment in 2023. The 2023 allocation of opioid settlements was more than $98 million.
The opioid settlement provisions of PHWFA currently funds over $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, Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner proposed a $500,000 increase in funding for the tribe’s “Coming Home Reentry Program,” expanding support services for citizens post-incarceration. The Council of the Cherokee Nation unanimously approved the increase in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
Under Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner’s latest proposal, $6.5 million in new opioid settlement funds will be locked down in an amended PHWFA, with $2 million earmarked for construction of residential transitional living facilities for formerly incarcerated citizens and $2 million to seed operating funds for the facilities. Remaining funds of this latest deposit will be placed in the Behavioral Health Capital Fund.
The funds for post incarceration transitional living housing would be available only if Chief Hoskin provides to the Council a plan to sustain the operation of the facilities beyond the pilot stage.
Locations for the facilities, timeframes for construction and the number of facilities to be built will be determined as part of the sustainability analysis.
“Crime should come with appropriate punishment and justice for victims first and foremost,” said Deputy Chief Warner. “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 tribe’s reentry program served 500 Cherokee Nation citizens in fiscal year 2025.
Cherokee Nation Councilor Daryl Legg, who helped launch the program in late 2013 as a tribal employee, said the numbers served will increase year over year with the new funding and plan for transitional housing.
“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,” said Councilman Legg. “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 increasing access to behavioral health services, expanding substance use disorder program and boosting funding for the reentry program, the Hoskin/Warner Administration and the Council have boosted law endorsement and crime victim services to historically high levels during the past six years.
Chief Hoskin explained that although substance use disorder and criminal conduct are distinct issues, there is significant overlap that warrants some investment of opioid settlement funds.
“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,” said Chief Hoskin. “It makes sense to invest at least some of our Behavioral Health Capital Fund into our reentry program.”
The Council will consider Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner’s proposed legislation at committee meetings in February.