Money from an opioid lawsuit settlement is now helping nearly two dozen formerly incarcerated people or those who are currently under court-directed supervision pay for their tuition, books and other educational needs this semester as students at Shasta College.
The grant means 23 additional students have been able to receive funds from the college’s STEP-UP program this year, said Dean of Student Services Sandra Hamilton.
Shasta College established its Shasta Technical Education Program-Unified Partnership. Known as STEP-UP, it helps students who’ve been involved with the criminal justice system.
Started in 2015 under a partnership with then-Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko and the college, STEP-UP provides a wide range of assistance to formerly incarcerated people who want to pursue training certificates or degrees so they can get jobs and build new lives.
Of those new additions attending classes this fall supported by the opioid-settlement funding, nine are continuing from last semester and 14 are new students, Hamilton said. Spring 2026 was the first semester that opioid lawsuit settlement funding was in place, she said.
Popular areas of study for this year’s awardees include business/office skills, human services, addictions studies and industrial technology, welding and heavy equipment operations.
“We help them with their textbooks or materials for classes, sometimes with gas and transportation costs, food costs,” Hamilton said, an amounting totaling up to $2,000 per student.
The students come to STEP-UP through the Shasta County Probation Department. “They might not be officially on probation or incarcerated, but they were affected by opioids at some point in their life or their family’s life,” she said.
STEP-UP has 105 students for the fall semester, up from 97 students in fall 2025 and 100 in fall 2024, said Hamilton.
In January, Shasta College secured nearly $900,000 in opioid litigation settlement funds.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted last year to allocate $888,683 in opioid litigation settlement funds to the college. Of that amount, $324,000 will go to STEP-UP students, while $564,683 will go to students in the college’s Alcohol and Drug Studies internship program.
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on major trials happening in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Opioid settlement money helps Shasta College students pursue new paths
Reporting by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
