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Local nonprofit and commissioners discuss options for unused opioid‑settlement funds; Hand Up Ministries seeks regional and local grants
Summary
Hand Up Ministries and county officials discussed three 'pots' of opioid‑related funds (local, regional and state), clarified allowable uses and said the county had spent a small amount on Narcan, AEDs and related equipment; the nonprofit signaled plans to apply to regional funds and asked the commission for a process to evaluate local requests.
At the meeting, community representatives and county commissioners discussed how to spend opioid‑settlement monies available at local, regional and state levels and described an existing local nonprofit program that has provided addiction‑recovery services in Dade County for several years.
Joe (a community representative) described three funding streams across Georgia: local allocations the county controls; regional funds managed through Region 1 DBHDD (the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities) covering 31 counties; and state funds administered by the department in Atlanta. Joe said Hand Up Ministries is pursuing regional funds and that the organization’s grant writer had identified audit contacts at the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) to confirm allowable expenditures.
Joe said his group and county agencies have thus far used local opioid funds conservatively — primarily for Narcan, fentanyl gloves and AED boxes placed in county buildings — and that the county has not broadly deployed the funds for large programs without board oversight. “Typically, to my knowledge, that’s the only place that money’s went,” Joe said, describing Narcan and related purchases for first responders and the jail.
Joe and commissioners discussed options for disbursing local funds if the county chose to receive and manage them directly: the county could accept applications and vet them internally, or it could appoint or participate in a multi‑county or regional board to allocate regional money. Joe said he would continue pursuing regional applications and noted Hand Up Ministries had requested three vehicles from the regional pot; he expected notification in November on that application.
Commissioners emphasized accountability and suggested that the board could evaluate individual applications and approve funding directly rather than creating a new permanent allocation committee. “At this point, I’d rather not have another committee,” one commissioner said, adding the board could review proposals and approve or deny them as needed.
Commissioners asked staff to work with Joe and other local stakeholders to develop an application or proposal the board could evaluate. No specific local award or appropriation was approved at the meeting; Joe said his group would prepare formal requests with budgets for the board’s consideration. Commissioners also encouraged coordination with county sheriff’s office and other partners to identify prioritized needs, such as transportation for recovery clients, housing repairs for program houses, and materials for treatment and outreach.
Staff and commissioners said they wanted transparent reporting and would require audits consistent with state guidance if the county received or routed funds. Joe offered to bring proposed budgets and to work with county legal staff on required documentation if commissioners asked for those materials.
