Committee reviews unused opioid settlement grant dollars; staff proposes reallocations to open next grant round

At the July 18 Sumner County Opioid Abatement Committee meeting, staff told members that some first-cycle grantees did not exhaust awarded funds and that staff plan to reallocate those unspent amounts into later grant cycles to preserve overall funding availability. Staff reported that Cumberland Heights Foundation and another provider submitted partial invoicing or limited reporting and left funds unspent; staff said one grantee left approximately $12,000 unspent and another left about $44,736 unspent because of trouble locating county residents who met program criteria. Staff said those unspent amounts will be reallocated into the county’s grant-management pipeline and that one organization — Cumberland Heights Foundation — had been awarded an additional $50,000 contingent on the county operating budget approval. Committee members asked how the grantees were advertising and noted that some local hospitals and community organizations do not have a dedicated navigator position like High Point’s. Staff said outreach is occurring through hospitals and the prevention coalition, and that staff intend to expand advertising including billboards and movie-theater ads if grant funds and a planned health-department application are approved. Staff described settlement revenue uncertainty: some payments to the state and localities are scheduled and predictable over a three-year span, but other settlement sources remain contingent on bankruptcies and further litigation outcomes. Staff said county projections for restricted settlement receipts are roughly $500,000–$600,000 in certain near-term spans but that other revenue streams are less certain. Staff proposed swapping or reallocating funds among internal “buckets” (restricted and unrestricted accounts) to ensure payroll and program continuity, including keeping a small amount to cover the current navigator salary for an additional two to three years. Members asked whether organizations that failed to submit required reporting would be eligible for future rounds; staff said organizations that did not submit required documents for the first cycle would be ineligible in the next round unless they corrected the deficiency before application deadlines. No formal changes to eligibility criteria or funding caps were adopted at the meeting; staff said they will return with revised application materials for the next grant cycle and with proposals for advertising spend and outreach options.