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County announces opioid‑settlement grant awards process results and names student billboard winner for overdose prevention campaign
Summary
County staff briefed commissioners on the opioid‑settlement competitive application process—39 applications submitted to the trust, 29 initially approved—and the Office of Drug and Alcohol announced a high‑school winner for an overdose prevention billboard contest.
County staff from the Office of Innovation Strategy and Performance and the Office of Drug and Alcohol briefed the commissioners on June 18 about Montgomery County’s opioid‑settlement competitive application process and related prevention work.
Matt Phillips (OISP) and Matt Phillips’ colleagues said the county conducted a structured competitive process tied to settlement requirements: an open application window (Nov. 1–Dec. 31), community survey input, and community reviewers who evaluated proposals using a scoring rubric. The county submitted 39 proposals to the Pennsylvania Trust; at its June 5 meeting the Trust approved 29 projects, deemed two noncompliant (county staff said they expected to address those through appeal), and left eight under consideration pending additional information. “We had 39 projects that we submitted to the trust for approval. Twenty‑nine of those received approval on that June 5 meeting,” staff reported.
The county also recognized volunteer community reviewers who scored applications and took part in debriefing sessions.
Separately, Jennifer Garrett of the Office of Drug and Alcohol announced the winner of the county’s overdose prevention billboard contest: Caitlin May, a 12th‑grade student at Goffman (artwork to be displayed at 12 locations across Montgomery County). The prevention program has sponsored the contest since 2017 and received more than 40 submissions this year.
Why it matters: The opioid‑settlement funding process will channel settlement dollars into local prevention, treatment and recovery projects selected through a county‑run competitive process. Approved projects will be implemented in coming months; items deemed noncompliant or needing more information will proceed through appeals or supplemental review.
Ending: Commissioners thanked staff and community reviewers for their work; staff emphasized continued community engagement during project rollout and noted funded projects should fill gaps in the local continuum of care for opioid use disorder.
