On Friday, August 2, 2024, a committee of the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) voted to award $9,079,332 in funding to 16 different agencies of the Commonwealth for opioid abatement and remediation efforts.
Radford University was among those agencies, receiving $210,698 for the second year of funding for the “Healing, Outreach, Prevention, and Empowerment (HOPE)” project run by the Radford Collegiate Recovery Program. Radford University will also carry forward $90,908 from the first year, thus the total expenditure will be $301,606.
Under a statute that was passed into law in 2021, a minimum of 15 percent of opioid settlement funds paid to the Commonwealth is to be spent on abatement efforts managed by state agencies.
Senator Todd Pillion, Chairman of the OAA, said the awards will be used to expand and accelerate the fight against the opioid crisis in Virginia.
“The OAA’s financial support of these state agencies will allow Virginia to continue to lead the nation in fighting the scourge of opioid and substance use, by investing in efforts that include prevention and education, research, treatment, and support for people in recovery,” he said.
Funding for these projects is scheduled to be transferred from the OAA to the recipient organizations as early as October 1.
Dr. Sarah Thomason, a clinical pharmacist who chairs the OAA’s Grants Committee, noted that with this latest round of awards, the OAA will have allocated nearly $64 million in awards to cities, counties, and state agencies since the OAA began offering grants last year.
The approved projects were selected through a competitive process and included a review of proposals submitted by the agencies. The resulting awards will be the second allocation of OAA funds for state agencies. Funding for the OAA grants and awards is a result of Virginia’s participation in numerous national settlement payments from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. The payments from the various settling companies are expected to continue for at least 15 more years and will likely exceed $1.1 billion in total funding.
The OAA was established by the General Assembly in 2021 to oversee the distribution of 55% of Virginia’s total settlement funds. Of the remainder, 30% is distributed directly to cities and counties and 15% to the Commonwealth. The use of funds is restricted by court orders and state statute, with the restrictions aiming for the funds to be used for opioid abatement efforts.
Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority
