County’s opioid settlement committee reviewing grant applications

The opioid settlement funds committee of the Madison County Commission met last week, and the purpose of their meeting was to get the list of applicants for the first round of grants from the committee as well as ensure the committee members understand the scoring system.

There is a total of $883,815 to distribute from this year’s funds the County has received from the class action lawsuit against various pharmaceutical companies that were named as defendants because of the opioid epidemic.

The County will continue to receive funds for a number of years from different defendants as they pay off their debts to society an annual payment at a time, with projections for some of the money going to the counties as far out as more than a decade.

The committee received a list of 17 applicants.

Commissioner Tony Neihoff asked County HR Director Terica Smith if she’d weeded any applicants out as she’d indicated in an earlier meeting she’d do if it were necessary. She said she hadn’t, so the 17 applicants are the only ones who applied for Madison County’s share of the money.

Courtney Collier, from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Institute, spoke to them from an advisory role of what they could and could not approve the funds for when it came to the applications.

For instance, if a group like JACOA or Aspell Recovery applied for a grant, it couldn’t be to fund anything they’re already doing. It could be to help fund a new facility or a new building to house clients, but nothing they’re already doing.

If the juvenile court or 26th District’s Drug Task Force applied for anything, prosecuting and punishment couldn’t be a part of their application either.

The funds are for treatment, prevention, education and enforcement.

The members of the committee discussed their own personal priorities, asking if they’re supposed to look at one thing or another more on the grading procedure.

Collier and Smith both said they’re each tasked with grading each application according to the rubric provided by the state, and then after that, the County can award the funds however it chooses to see fit.

They had a month to grade the applications and turn them in to Smith, who’s the vice-chair of the committee under committee chair Sheriff Julian Wiser.

So on Oct. 28, Smith should have all the graded applications. Then the committee is set to meet on Nov. 16 to look at the grades and make a recommendation to the County Commission of who to award grant money to.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news