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Pima County board approves $8 million in opioid-settlement funds to launch RFPs for prevention, treatment and supports
Summary
The board approved a plan to spend $8 million from regional opioid settlement funds to issue a request-for-proposals for prevention, treatment, peer navigation, mobile MOUD services and other programs. County health officials said the money will be directed by a regional advisory committee and evaluated through contracts and data-driven metrics.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors on April 15 authorized $8 million in regional opioid settlement funds to be used this fiscal year to issue competitive requests for proposals for prevention, treatment and recovery services.
Dr. Rebecca Cullen, director of the Pima County Health Department, told the board the regional advisory committee (RO-SAC) had prioritized program areas and recommended an $8 million annual target for multi-year pilot funding. The committee — which includes representatives from the city of Tucson, Marana and South Tucson — developed scoring criteria that prioritize evidence-based practice, measurable outcomes, culturally appropriate services and geographic distribution across the county.
Dr. Cullen outlined the primary program areas the RFP will target: youth prevention and education; peer navigation and hospital/community linkage; transitional wraparound support services; law-enforcement co-response teams; mobile medication for opioid-use disorder (MOUD) services; a limited innovation fund for novel approaches; and a feasibility/implementation plan for a sobering center. She told the board the committee planned to issue a single RFP that lists those program areas, with applicants able to propose for one or more areas. The county team plans to post the RFP in June and to score proposals with external and cross-jurisdiction review teams.
“The committee’s recommendation reflects a multi-year approach to build capacity in the county,” Cullen said. She told supervisors that roughly $24 million has been collected so far by the regional group and that the full, long-term settlement could provide substantially more funding over many years, depending on settlements and bankruptcies among defendants. Cullen said programs will include explicit evaluation and metrics tailored to each program area, and that county staff will require performance measures such as number of people initiated on MOUD and retention at 30/60/90 days, reductions in emergency responses and other outcomes appropriate to each intervention.
Supervisor Hines moved to approve the plan and the use of $8 million for the RFP process; the motion was seconded and the board approved the action by voice vote, 4-0. Chair Scott said the funding will be awarded through contract after competitive review; contracts will include evaluation requirements and provisions to re-evaluate or cease funding if performance goals are not met.
Ending
County health staff said they will return with the RFP schedule, scoring criteria, evaluation plan and a recommended contracting structure once proposals are received and reviewed. Officials emphasized the county will continue collaborating with the city of Tucson and other regional partners on monitoring and evaluation.
