The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve the opioid task force''s recommended year-3 allocations on Thursday, directing about $5.7 million in settlement funds to community organizations and county programs addressing substance use and related mental health needs. The board also reinstated a $469,000 capital contingency and asked staff to review a separate Steps to Recovery request for roughly $437,000 related to construction costs.

The allocations come from two settlement-derived streams the county receives: the city-county fund (local) and the regional fund. Paola Barcaldo, director of Support Services and chair of Pasco''s Opioid Task Force, briefed commissioners on the task force''s recommended awards and the internal county projects funded through a board-designated carve-out.

The board approved the task force''s recommended awards to the following applicants (total recommended allocation per organization): BayCare Behavioral Health, $697,896; Premier Community Healthcare Group, $336,335.50; The Hope Shot, $961,867; Alliance for Healthy Communities, $358,075.50; Pasco County Corrections, $1,000,120; Van Gogh''s Palette, $60,000; ACE Opportunities, $53,000; 1 Community Now, $97,501.89; the Fire Rescue/Human Services mobile integrated health expansion, $1,102,032; Warrior Wellness, $200,000; and Florida Recovery Schools (Victory High School), $150,000. The total community and county allocations for year 3 were about $5,700,000 including a $100,000 rollover from year 2.

Staff and the task force explained a few adjustments the board accepted before the vote: The Hope Shot''s recommended award was reduced from an earlier figure; 1 Community Now, Warrior Wellness and Florida Recovery Schools received increases in their recommendations. Those adjustments allowed the board to reinstate a capital contingency that had been spent in year 2.

Barcaldo told the commission the county received roughly $1.2 million from the city-county fund and about $4.5 million from the regional fund for year 3, plus the $100,000 rollover, for the roughly $5.7 million available to allocate. She also described the county''s internal allocations: corrections, mobile integrated health case management, and other county-run efforts that will be funded from the same pool.

Commissioners discussed one outstanding request from Steps to Recovery, a nonprofit building a veterans recovery facility, which asked the board this week for about $437,000 to cover capital shortfalls tied to federal requirements. Board members and staff explained that the Steps project already has multiple funding sources, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars and VA funds, and that CDBG rules are reimbursement-based: grantees must spend eligible costs first and then submit invoices for reimbursement. Staff said the task force will reconvene and verify execution and expenditure rates before approving additional capital funding.

Commissioner Jack Mariano made the motion to approve the task force recommendations and to direct staff to consider Steps to Recovery''s capital request from the reinstated contingency; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The board voted to approve the full package and the contingency reinstatement.

County staff emphasized the multi-year, declining nature of the settlement funds: the board and staff must weigh investments in services and facilities while recognizing that the settlement stream will fall over time. Commissioners said they expect staff to return with detailed invoices and a clear path before releasing contingency funds to Steps to Recovery.

Discussion and next steps

- Staff will review Steps to Recovery''s submitted invoices and project execution rate before any capital contingency is released. The board gave staff direction to manage the contingency and report back.
- The opioid task force will monitor year-3 grantees and return to the board with progress or recommended reallocations as needed.

Why it matters

The county is directing settlement dollars toward treatment, recovery housing, prevention and county-run interventions such as in-jail medication-assisted treatment and mobile integrated health. The allocations will fund service expansion (behavioral-health urgent-care, recovery high school seats, veteran- and first-responder-focused programs) and county operations that link the justice system, first responders and social services.

Ending note

Barcaldo told commissioners that the task force reviewed 17 community applications and recommended 11 projects for funding in this cycle. Commissioners said they will continue to oversee how the funds are spent and to press for measurable service outcomes and timely invoices before releasing capital contingency dollars.