Opioid Abatement Council approves $25 million in Cycle 2 community grants, splits awards across six strategies

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council approved awards today from its Cycle 2 community grant round, allocating $25,000,000 in first-year funding across six strategies including treatment, recovery support and prevention.

Council members considered multiple “packages” of applicants for each strategy and voted to approve the set of awards the council office presented after making several last-minute swaps to respond to concerns about regional equity and applicants that requested funding larger than their reported annual operating budgets.

The council’s Executive Director Mary Shelton and grants staff produced spreadsheets showing which applications scored above the council’s pass threshold (66.67) and offered pre-made “packages” that match the strategy-level targets the council previously set: education and training, harm reduction, primary prevention, recovery support, treatment and research. Shelton told the council the office received 294 Cycle 2 applications requesting about $417 million; 220 passed eligibility and scoring reviews.

Why it matters: the council is distributing opioid settlement and related funds to local organizations, universities and health systems; this round directs $25 million into programs intended to reduce overdose deaths and expand treatment and recovery supports statewide.

What the council voted: after discussion and multiple roll-call votes on package options for each strategy, the council approved the packages the office presented (with a small number of amendments inserted during deliberations). The council’s actions included approvals for packages in research, education and training, harm reduction, primary prevention, recovery support and treatment. The motions were divided into sub‑votes where members had conflicts of interest so councilors could abstain on particular applicants.

Council members raised three recurring concerns while reviewing packages: (1) several applicants requested awards that exceeded their reported annual operating budgets (the office flagged those applications with a lavender highlight and recommended additional due diligence or prepayment oversight), (2) the distribution of awards among Tennessee’s grand divisions and metro areas — particularly West Tennessee — and (3) the size of indirect cost requests from large institutions that serve as fiscal sponsors for smaller community partners.

Several council members urged the body to increase West Tennessee representation in funding decisions. Councilmember Clay Jackson, representing West Tennessee interests, asked members to prioritize West Tennessee applicants where possible to reduce a prior imbalance in awards per overdose death. Others replied that grant-scoring and geographic targeting must be balanced, and the office said it would continue to adjust packages during deliberations to respond to those priorities.

Staff summary of Cycle 1 operations and monitoring informed the deliberations. Grants staff said Phase 1 monitoring of Cycle 1 contracts is complete: the office executed all 113 Cycle 1 contracts and processed 792 invoices representing more than $25 million in payments since July 2024. Fiscal monitoring site visits identified about $72,000 in unallowed expenditures to date; program-monitoring spot checks found a small number of findings that the office is addressing.

Implementation notes: when the council funds organizations that requested awards larger than their annual operating budget, staff indicated they will ask for revised budgets and consider placing the grantee on prepayment (payment withheld until documentation is reviewed) or other enhanced fiscal oversight.

Ending: Shelton said the office will publish the full Cycle 2 award list and supporting spreadsheets on the OAC website. Staff also said they will follow up with applicants that did not pass the eligibility or scoring review and will post decisions and contract templates online.