During its Jan. 16 meeting the Sumner County Opioid Abatement Committee reviewed submitted grant applications, identified missing or unclear materials from multiple applicants and set deadlines for clarifying questions and final scoring.

Staff told the committee they would send written questions to applicants by the end of the week and that applicants should return responses by close of business on Jan. 31; committee members were given until Feb. 21 to amend their scores based on any additional information. Staff said that invoices for quarter 1 had resulted in only $2,552.84 of spend to date and that additional invoices were expected for review and payment.

The grant accountant presented a comparison from Murray County to show how a neighboring county allocated funds in a prior cycle: Delta Recovery received $297,060; the county itself gave $20,000 toward a website upgrade; Murray Regional Center received $360,000; a prevention coalition $120,000; the human resource agency $15,000; and Place of Hope $70,000, for a total of $882,770 in Murray County's first grant cycle. Committee staff used that comparison to show scale and to borrow best practices.

Applicants and key issues the committee flagged include:
- Sumner County Risk Management: staff asked for a separate, line-item budget proposal, previous fiscal-year actuals and a copy of the unit's last annual report.
- Department of Health: staff flagged missing budget-to-actual documents and an unclear subsidy statement; committee members raised a legal concern that state law authorizing distribution of fentanyl test strips is set to sunset on July 1 and asked staff to seek legal advice before funding distribution tied to that item.
- Schools/hospital partnership and naloxone: the school system requested up to 150 boxes of naloxone; staff and the hospital representative discussed staggering distribution to avoid expiration waste and suggested working with the hospital's navigator position and with EMS for training and distribution processes.
- CASA, Recovery Court and other nonprofits: several applicants lacked necessary IRS or audit documentation, nonprofit-status letters, or clarity on program outcomes; staff will ask specific questions, including whether scholarships for treatment are prorated if a participant leaves treatment early.
- United Neighborhood Health Services and other providers: staff noted missing audit documents or licenses and said they would reach out to listed partners to confirm collaboration agreements.

Staff also reported they had applied, under committee guidance, for a $561,000 state grant to continue the hospital project for two years and to convene a county-wide nonprofit summit on opioid abatement; notice on that state application was expected by July.

Next steps: staff will distribute written clarification questions to applicants by Friday, expect responses by Jan. 31, and compile final scorings by Feb. 21. The committee also discussed scheduling a special call in March to consider a $500,000 set-aside for recovery court infrastructure, pending grant awards and additional review.