Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council on Friday for releasing its first ever round of community grants totaling $80,936,057.
"The Tennessee Attorney General’s office has spent years litigating against opioid manufacturers and distributors and securing these funds, a fraction of the total settlement money coming to Tennessee, to help address the opioid crisis. Programs funded through the grants will support work in response to opioid addiction throughout Tennessee for up to three years," officials said.
“The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office is proud to secure over eighty million dollars in settlement funds to support our state’s efforts combating the opioid epidemic,” AG Skrmetti said.
“Our team has been working hard on this for years, and when all is said and done, we will have delivered over a billion dollars in settlement funds. We are grateful for the work of Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council in identifying the best ways to use the settlement funds and will continue fighting to bring accountability to the companies that contributed to the opioid epidemic.”
Funding for the community grants comes from settlements with opioid producers, distributors, pharmacies and marketers obtained by the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. Organizations from across the state designed programs and submitted 396 proposals during the OAC’s application period last fall. Council staff and members processed, evaluated, and scored the proposals. The OAC debated the proposals and approved 116 grants during a meeting in Farragut on March 18.
In meetings leading up to the grant application period, the Council decided percentages of funding to dedicate to each of six approved strategies. Final totals of programs funded in each of the areas are as follows:
• Treatment – $32,775,972
• Recovery Support – $18,970,500
• Primary Prevention – $12,201,837
• Education and Training – $8,173,701
• Harm Reduction – $8,061,539
• Research and Evaluation – $752,508
The 116 projects approved by the council are programs designed by 85 distinct awardees, 30 of the 116 projects are designed for statewide reach and about $5.7 million of the total amount awarded is for capital projects. Learn more about Tennessee’s OAC at TN.gov/oac.