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Regional opioid infrastructure grants: Montrose-led council wins $1.1M in awards, agencies to receive implementation funding
Summary
Janet Rowland told commissioners the Southwest Colorado Opioid Regional Council will forward three state infrastructure grant agreements for approval Wednesday after the region received about $1.1 million this cycle; Advocates for Recovery, Pathways and Porchlight are among awardees.
Janet Rowland, facilitator for the Southwest Colorado Opioid Regional Council, told the Board of County Commissioners on May 18 that the region will present three state infrastructure grant agreements for approval at Wednesday’s meeting.
“At this point we’re expecting to get about $8,500,000 over the course of 18 years, and we’re about 3 years into that,” Rowland said, describing the regional settlement funds and the state’s infrastructure-grant cycle. She said the current infrastructure cycle awarded the Montrose–Delta–Gunnison region roughly $1,100,000.
Rowland said Advocates for Recovery received $441,000 to expand services to roughly 140 new clients; the award will fund 1.5 full-time-equivalent staff (one FTE shared between Montrose and Delta counties and a half FTE in Gunnison) and a vehicle for transportation. Pathways and Porchlight submitted a joint application and were awarded a combined $671,000 (Pathways $501,000; Porchlight $170,000). Most awards will be distributed in two installments tied to deliverables, Rowland said.
Rowland told commissioners the council vets deliverables closely and declined to fund an organization in the first cycle that was not meeting goals. “We do look very carefully to make sure they’re meeting their goals,” she said. She also explained the state infrastructure grants derive from the national opioid settlement routed through the Colorado attorney general’s office, with a share reserved for local governments and a portion for state infrastructure.
Commissioners agreed the three signed funding agreements should remain on the consent agenda for the formal meeting, since the work group had already vetted the proposals. Rowland said the funded programs will focus on gaps the region identified, such as transportation, and noted Pathways plans to offer pretrial services while Porchlight will provide medically guided treatment supervision.
The BOCC is scheduled to consider the three signed agreements on Wednesday.
