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Opioid Abatement Authority outlines portal steps, deadlines to accept FY26 awards
Summary
Opioid Abatement Authority staff walked local officials through the grants portal e-signature process, contingency attachments and deadlines to have awards considered by the grants committee; cooperative partnership applications are reviewed annually with a March 16, 2026 deadline for the next competitive round.
Charlie, an Opioid Abatement Authority staff member, told city and county grant contacts on a webinar that awards must be accepted in the Authority’s grants portal and any contingencies completed before funds can be transmitted.
The guidance matters because the Authority has issued most FY26 award packages but cannot send funds until localities accept awards and satisfy required contingencies, Charlie said. “Those applications need to be submitted in the grants portal to OAA by the October 22,” he said, referring to applications that the grants committee will consider at its Nov. 19 meeting.
Sharika, an Opioid Abatement Authority grants staff member, demonstrated the portal’s award-acceptance workflow and the e-signature process. She showed that the portal sends a Salesforce-generated email to the locality’s accounting contact when an award package is available and that required contingency documents appear as separate email prompts. Sharika walked attendees through selecting the “Awarded” tab, opening the award package/MOU button, and uploading attachments such as a completed Virginia W-9. She described the e-signature flow: the locality names an authorized official (or invites a new signatory), the system sends an Adobe Acrobat Sign request, and the executed award package is returned to both the signatory and the city or county contact.
Sharika said users can download a copy of the award package to share with cooperative partners or subrecipients and can delete and reattach files if changes are needed. She used “Emporia City” as an on-screen example while demonstrating the portal’s file upload and reassign-e-sign functions.
On questions about cooperative partnership applications, Charlie said new cooperative applications and renewals are competitive and accepted once per year. “You can submit any time, but they would have to be submitted by the close of the application period, which is 03/16/2026,” he said, adding that the Authority reviews those applications together and expects a grants committee meeting in June to consider recommendations. He said applicants are welcome to start applications in the portal now.
The webinar host encouraged local contacts to use the portal’s communications function to tag OAA staff or to email info@voa.us for help. Staff also noted that several award packages sent in late June and early July still require acceptance, which is delaying the transmission of funds earmarked for the new fiscal year.
Procedure details reiterated during the session included: submitting contingency documentation via the portal before funds are transmitted, uploading a Virginia W-9 as an attachment to accept awards, and completing the portal e-signature via Adobe Acrobat Sign so the executed award package is returned to both OAA and the locality.
The Authority said it will post guidance documents with screenshots on its grants info page and will announce openings for additional application processes via its newsletter.
