Norwalk outlines use of opioid settlement funds, readies final-quarter mini-grants

Chief Daniels, director of Community Services for Norwalk, told the Common Council’s Community Services Committee in March 2025 that the department will begin drawing down an initial portion of the city’s opioid settlement funds next month and will launch the final-quarter round of a small nonprofit mini-grant program.

Why it matters: Daniels said the settlement funding will support a part-time recovery support specialist embedded with the police department’s behavioral health unit and will provide subgrants to local recovery and treatment nonprofits. The mini-grant program gives the city a short-term mechanism to fund community-based organizations that serve Norwalk residents.

Daniels told the committee the opioid funds must be used in accordance with the city’s distributor/Jensen settlement agreement and that the Community Services Department plans a two-pronged approach: hire a part-time recovery support specialist to work with the police department’s behavioral health team and issue funding to existing recovery organizations in Norwalk. “We will also contract with them to hire the part-time recovery support specialist for the behavioral health unit,” Daniels said. He added that the two full‑time mental health counselors already embedded in the police department are master’s-level clinicians and that the recovery support specialist will work alongside that unit and local partners for referrals and follow-up.

Daniels told the committee that Norwalk has seen a local increase in opioid-related harm: he said overdose rates have doubled since 2019 and that, from 2015 to 2024, Norwalk recorded 155 opioid-related deaths. He said the city ranks among the highest municipalities in the county for opioid-related deaths.

On the grants side, Daniels previewed the department’s final-quarter mini-grant program for smaller nonprofits. Eligibility will be limited to organizations with operating budgets of $1,000,000 or less; awards will be up to $10,000. The department plans a three-week application period with a planned launch on either April 7 or April 14, followed by scoring through the department’s RFP process. Daniels said Community Services will present recommendations to the committee on May 21, seek Common Council approval on May 27 and disburse awards in June so funds align with the city’s fiscal year timeline.

Daniels also noted that Anna Vivian Estrella, the City’s human services director, will present the Community Resource Hub request to the Board of Estimate and Taxation the following night as an open item; he said the department had requested funding in its budget for three full‑time community resource specialists.

Daniels said the department served more than 2,000 residents this year through walk-ins and phone inquiries and that the office serves roughly 92,000 Norwalk residents overall. He said Community Services will follow procurement and grant rules for the mini-grant awards and will return to the committee with RFP results and formal requests for approvals. He also said the city plans a press conference with the mayor to announce opioid-fund allocations once the RFP and staffing plans are finalized.

No formal committee action was taken on these updates; Daniels described them as preview items and said he will return with formal requests and RFP recommendations in coming weeks.