Opioid Abatement Authority issues guidance: report only OAA‑funded results, keep documented methods

The Opioid Abatement Authority told grant applicants in a webinar that performance measures reported to the agency must reflect only outcomes produced by the portion of a project funded by OAA, not whole‑jurisdiction totals. Sherica Bridges, the OAA’s senior grant compliance analyst, led the presentation and walked attendees through definitions, portal entry points and reporting requirements.

Bridges said the agency distinguishes new projects from expanded or enhanced projects and expects measures to be directly linked to an applicant’s described scope. For expanded projects, she said, “you are only focusing on the OAA‑funded portion of that enhancement or expansion,” and those measures should not be reported as the sum of all related projects in a community.

The OAA also clarified how it defines common terms used in applications and reports. “When we talk about overdoses reversed, those reversals should only be counted if they are a direct outcome of the OAA‑funded project,” Bridges said, adding that acceptable reversal counts require a clear connection to the funded activity.

On annual reporting, Bridges walked through deadlines and expectations: recipients or fiscal agents should use actual counts and measurements where possible; if exact counts are not feasible, applicants must include a specific methodology describing how estimates were produced in the annual report narrative. The agency reminded cities and counties that FY25 awardees will file annual reports around Sept. 1, 2025.

The webinar also covered the amendment process for previously approved performance measures. Once a project has been awarded, Bridges said recipients may not revise approved measures without prior OAA approval; the process begins by notifying OAA to discuss the requested change and is followed by submitting an amendment through the OAA grants portal.

Practical portal guidance was shown: new applications should enter proposed measures in the designated blue outline area, custom measures may be added in the dark‑blue “please describe” section, and optional fields exist for methodology or comments to help reviewers. Attendees were told that OAA staff have preloaded historical measures for many applicants but that applicants can add specialized measures if needed.

When asked whether applicants must use prepopulated measures, an attendee identified as Renee said she understood from prior conversations that OAA staff had suggested applicants could use their own measures. Bridge and other presenters confirmed applicants must include at least one measure in the portal and may use prepopulated options or add custom measures; historical data has often been preloaded for applicants’ convenience.

On subrecipient data, Bridges emphasized the recipient (usually a designated city or county fiscal agent or state agency) retains ultimate responsibility for data quality and access. She recommended including projected measures, methodologies and reporting expectations in agreements with subrecipients and partners so the fiscal agent can produce supporting records if OAA conducts monitoring or site review.

Tony, who closed the session, thanked presenters and participants and noted the slide deck and recorded presentation will be posted on the OAA website for reference; attendees were given an inbox address (info@oaa.us) and contact details on the slides for follow‑up.

The OAA guidance document and the slide deck will be posted to the grants information page; applicants with questions were told to contact OAA staff for clarification before submitting amendments or annual reports.