Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council approves $25 million in Cycle 2 community grants, adopts policies and oversight steps

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council voted on June 16 to allocate $25 million in Cycle 2 community grants from the state opioid abatement trust fund, approving award packages across six strategy areas and taking several governance and oversight actions aimed at strengthening fiscal controls and equity in future grant cycles.

The council’s office reported it received 294 Cycle 2 applications requesting $416,994,997; 220 passed initial eligibility review. The council set a $25,000,000 Year‑1 award target and distributed that total across the six strategy categories the council had previously adopted (education & training; harm reduction; primary prevention; recovery support; research & evaluation; and treatment). The council approved award packages during a series of roll‑call votes and directed staff to finalize contracts.

Why it matters: The council is using settlement and trust funds tied to opioid litigation to fund community programs statewide. The Cycle 2 awards, together with ongoing county payments and contractual monitoring, represent the council’s largest near‑term disbursement of funds intended to reduce deaths and expand services across Tennessee.

What the council approved and decided - Grant funding: The council approved award packages that together allocate $25,000,000 in Year‑1 funds across the six strategy areas. Office staff provided package options organized to meet the strategy targets and to try to balance regional representation. Approved packages included a mix of university research partners, local health departments and nonprofit recovery and prevention programs; staff will finalize contract amounts and terms in the…