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Tazewell Supervisors approve $25,000 opioid‑abatement match for regional ROPES workforce program
Summary
After a presentation by the Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board, the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors approved using $25,000 from local opioid‑abatement funds as a match for a regional grant to keep the ROPES recovery‑to‑work program operating; Dickinson County will serve as fiscal agent for the regional application.
Rachel Patton, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board, told the board the ROPES program helps people in recovery re‑enter the workforce, offering short‑term credential training, internships and case management. "We've helped over 300 people in the region be able to maintain their recovery and re‑enter the workforce," Patton said, adding that about 35 people are currently on the program's Tazewell County caseload and she estimates roughly 70 participants have come from Tazewell over the program's life.
Patton asked each county in the partnership to pass a resolution endorsing an $800,000 state opioid‑abatement authority application and to provide a $25,000 local match. County staff confirmed those match dollars would be drawn from opioid settlement funds and earmarked locally for the program's transportation assistance (the "cars to work" program) for Tazewell participants.
Board members noted past success with transportation support during COVID and discussed the county's opioid abatement balance; staff said roughly $2 million remained in the account, with prior commitments including housing projects. After brief discussion, the board voted to approve the $25,000 match from the county's opioid abatement fund and to adopt a resolution in support of the regional grant application.
What happens next: Dickinson County will serve as fiscal agent for the regional application; board staff will prepare the county resolution and record the $25,000 match in the opioid abatement accounting. The county will monitor the program's local caseload and reporting tied to the grant.
