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City staff outline opioid‑abatement funding streams and proposed MOU with Roads to Recovery
Summary
City staff described three separate opioid‑abatement funding streams — direct distributions to Lynchburg, locally‑applied funds and a competitive statewide grant — and said they will ask the city manager to execute a memorandum of understanding to pass $193,422 to Roads to Recovery for an eight‑bed recovery facility run with Horizon Behavioral.
City staff told the Lynchburg Finance Committee on March 25 that money from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) is arriving through three distinct channels and that the city plans to route some of those dollars to local recovery providers through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Roads to Recovery.
Donna Witt, the city’s finance staff lead on the item, described three “pots” of OAA funding: (1) a direct distribution to Lynchburg that arrives annually, (2) a pool of funds restricted to projects for which local applicants must apply, and (3) a competitive statewide grant program. Witt said the city participates in the statewide settlement distributions and has used some direct distributions to support the Lynchburg Adult Recovery Court.
Witt said Roads to Recovery has applied for and been awarded $193,422 from the OAA in the locally‑applied pot to support an eight‑bed recovery program operated in partnership with Horizon Behavioral Health. According to Witt, the city is seeking authority for the city manager to sign an MOU so the OAA can send funds to the city and the city can pass them to Roads to Recovery. She said the OAA requires the MOU before it will transmit funds.
Witt outlined that the total local pool of these particular OAA funds available for projects of this type is $642,000, and that the competitive statewide process had previously helped Horizon secure nearly $1.9 million. She repeated a staff emphasis that OAA dollars are restricted for opioid‑abatement and treatment uses and cannot be used for unrelated purposes, and said city staff is trying to prioritize awards to community‑based organizations rather than large outside entities.
The presentation included procedural notes: the item will come forward to full council as a general business item at the next council meeting, and council will be asked to appropriate funds if the MOU is executed. Committee members asked clarifying questions about timing and funding sources; no final appropriation vote occurred at the finance committee.
What staff said it will do next - Ask council to authorize the city manager to execute an MOU with Roads to Recovery for the $193,422 award, then appropriate funds and pass them through to the nonprofit if required by the OAA. - If the Adult Recovery Court cannot use excess direct distribution dollars allocated to the court, staff said it will look for other local partners to use those funds.
Committee members raised concerns about ensuring funds stay local and asked staff to confirm program compliance with OAA rules. Witt said staff and legal have reviewed requirements and plan to bring the final MOU and appropriation request to council for formal action.
No vote took place at this committee meeting on the MOU or appropriation; staff said the items would be placed on the full council agenda for action.
