Opioid Abatement Authority approves largest set of new grants, launches portal to speed applications

The Opioid Abatement Authority on a vote during its full board meeting approved new grant awards of about $32,600,000 and detailed steps to make future grant applications easier and more transparent.

The grants package approved by the board follows recommendations from the grants committee and is the largest set of new awards the authority has made since it began awarding funds, staff said. Tony McDowell, executive director of the OAA, told the board the new awards push the agency toward its goal of increased local participation: "One of our goals is to get every city in every county in the state to apply the money they're entitled to." He added that the authority sets eligibility amounts for individual localities but cannot award money to jurisdictions that do not submit applications.

The board heard staff reports that the agency received 118 individual city and county applications this cycle and that, since opening grants in January 2023, the OAA has received 303 proposals and awarded 176 projects for about $99 million. Staff also reported 65 localities have reached the OAA’s "gold standard" status and that nearly half of Virginia’s cities and counties now participate in OAA-funded programs.

To reduce administrative friction and improve transparency, the OAA completed rollout of a new Salesforce-based grants and financial management portal. The portal gives each locality a landing page with application history, eligibility and projected settlement receipts, automated award packages and electronic signature workflows. McDowell said a separate public-facing dashboard, developed by a subcontractor to the platform vendor, is scheduled to launch July 7 so the public and officials can "see what's happening in their community as it relates to opioid settlement funds."

Staff told the board they intend to move the city/county application window earlier in the year—opening in mid‑August and closing in mid‑March—to avoid holiday slowdowns and give localities more time to prepare and local officials more time to include awards in annual budgets. Grants staff also reported plans to load the most recent awards into the public dashboard within one to two weeks after the meeting.

Outreach staff said targeted engagement has driven higher-quality applications in regions where coordinators have been active. The board discussed that a geographic concentration of jurisdictions that have not applied remains, with roughly 25% of non‑applicants clustered in one part of the state. To address that, staff proposed converting a currently advertised part‑time regional resource coordinator position into a full‑time position; the board authorized the change and included the estimated $60,000 cost difference (including benefits) in the FY26 budget.

Board members asked staff to prepare a written policy clarifying how the OAA will interpret the statute’s requirement to "distribute funds equitably among regions," including whether that requirement is satisfied by making funds available to all localities and by setting mandatory minimums for individual grants. Staff said they will draft a policy for the full board to consider at a future meeting and asked members to submit comments in advance.

Administrative and implementation benefits of the portal were emphasized: award documents and MOUs will be generated automatically, applicants can sign via email, staff can view an application live to troubleshoot with applicants, and the system prevents awards larger than an applicant’s available allocation. Grants staff noted some early user-interface tweaks are still required for complex multi‑revenue budgets but said user feedback has been positive.

The board approved the grants package and the procedural changes after motions were seconded and put to voice vote.