City's opioid-abatement office outlines grant program, reporting rules and recent spending

The Jacksonville Office of Opioid Abatement presented an overview of the opioid settlement proceeds grants (OSPG) program to the City Council's DOGE special committee on Oct. 21, describing how programs are selected, funded and monitored and stressing the requirement that all city spending of settlement dollars be “schedules A and B compliant.”

Madeline Zarew, manager of opioid abatement at Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD), said the city began receiving settlement funds in late 2022 and established the Office of Opioid Abatement by ordinance in 2023. She told the committee the office oversees the OSPG program, a CORE (Coordinated Opioid Recovery) program that embeds care coordinators and peer navigators in emergency departments, interlocal disbursements to nearby municipalities and data and reporting.

Laura Villafora Rey, program coordinator, gave national, state and local context for the crisis, describing the three waves of opioid overdose deaths and the rise of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Villafora Rey said Duval County’s opioid-overdose death rate has historically exceeded the state rate and that timely JFRD response data show a substantial local decline in suspected opioid overdoses: an average of about 330 suspected opioid-related emergency responses per month in 2021 compared with about 120 per month for January–September 2025.

Program structure and budget rules: Zarew said the city’s OSPG committee allocates an annual program budget equal to 70% of settlement funds received in the previous calendar year. The grants committee sets category shares each year; for the current cycle it allocated 34% to prevention and 33% each to treatment and recovery support. Awarded agencies must demonstrate at least three years of operation in Duval County and show that their proposed activities match approved uses in schedules A and B of the settlement agreements. Zarew warned that noncompliance could trigger clawback provisions in the settlement agreements.

Application and oversight: Zarew and Villafora Rey described a multi-step application process: mandatory applicant workshops, eligibility documentation and affidavit of schedule A/B compliance, courtesy reviews, an appeals board, and then scoring and tentative rankings by the grants committee. Post-award oversight includes reimbursement-based invoicing, monthly financial reports with supporting documentation, quarterly progress reports tailored to each program’s goals and site monitoring visits. Zarew said the office has expended almost $8,000,000 in about 18 months and has tightened procedures in fiscal year 2025.

Interlocal distribution and partners: the office also manages interlocal payments to Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and the town of Baldwin; Tyler Nolan of the Northeast Florida Regional Council spoke during public comment earlier and said the council assists Baldwin and the beach municipalities with implementation and staff support.

Zarew noted the CORE program, operated with JFRD staff, places care coordinators and peer navigators in emergency departments to link people who have overdosed to treatment and longer-term supports. She said the office uses near-real-time JFRD data to evaluate the program’s impact and report to the state and council; the office files an annual report to the state that details revenues and expenditures of opioid-settlement funds.

Committee members asked for a current list of funded agencies and whether faith-based organizations that had earlier been perceived as disadvantaged by contract requirements are now eligible. Zarew said staff would provide additional details and that the office works with the city attorney to finalize contracts.

Next steps: staff committed to share program lists and to continue quarterly reporting to the council. Committee members emphasized the need for transparency on awards, compliance with schedule A/B uses, and sustainability because future settlement payments remain subject to the defendants’ reporting and payment schedules.