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Council hears first round of opioid-settlement grant awards; no action required
Summary
City staff updated council on $532,000 in recommended opioid-support grants drawn from the city's settlement funds and described selected awardees and program eligibility; council took no vote but asked for future updates on impact and reporting.
City staff presented an update Feb. 20 on the city's opioid-settlement grant program and the first round of recommended awards from settlement funds; no action was required.
Jess Bridal, Senior Operations Analyst with Housing and Neighborhood Services, outlined the settlement background and selection process. The city is set to receive about $6 million over 18 years from the statewide opioid settlements; to date it has received roughly $1,089,000 and an additional one-time McKinsey payment of about $186,000 was noted. Council had previously appropriated up to $1,000,000 for a grant program; staff said 11 applications were received, 1 was ineligible, and seven applications from five organizations were recommended by the review committee for a total of roughly $532,000.
Selected awards include Live Tampa Bay (peer-support certification and a separate project for 24/7 respite recovery housing and outreach), PERC (harm-reduction education and Narcan distribution and expanded IDEA harm-reduction staffing and outreach), WestCare (two peer-support hires at a residential treatment site), Drug Free America Foundation (a participatory photovoice research and anti-stigma campaign), Operation PAR (assistance to offset medication-assisted treatment costs), and others. Staff said awardees will sign agreements with performance periods beginning March 1, 2025, running through February 2026, and will submit monthly invoices and data reporting to the city and state as required by the statewide settlement agreement.
Bridal said the awards are the city's first expenditures from the settlement fund and are consistent with state-approved uses for opioid-abatement dollars, which must be used for education, treatment and prevention. Councilmembers thanked staff and asked for future impact reporting; staff said they will provide updates on outcomes and monthly reporting from awardees.
Because the awards are administrative grant agreements and consistent with guidelines, council took no formal action during the presentation; staff will execute agreements and monitor reporting.
