Williamson County Opioid Task Force: Community Grants

The Williamson County Opioid Settlement Request for Proposals (RFP) is a funding opportunity made possible through national opioid lawsuit settlements and administered by the Williamson County Opioid Task Force in partnership with the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council. The purpose of this initiative is to direct abatement and remediation funding into the local community to address the ongoing opioid crisis and its impacts on Williamson County residents. In 2022 alone, the county experienced 46 fatal overdoses, marking a 53% increase since 2020. These funds are part of Tennessee’s broader strategy to deploy opioid settlement dollars across the state’s 95 counties for locally-driven solutions. Funding is available to support initiatives that align with one or more of the six strategy areas defined by the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council: Primary Prevention, Harm Reduction, Treatment, Recovery Support, Education and Training, and Research and Evaluation. Only activities listed on the council’s Approved Remediation List are eligible for funding. The grant term is 12 months, with a start date of January 1st. Applicants are eligible to reapply in future years following successful completion of a grant term. Applications are accepted once annually, closing September 15th, and funding announcements are made in November following a review process by the Williamson County Opioid Task Force and final approval by the County Board of Commissioners. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations (such as 501(c)(3) charities), for-profit entities, and government agencies. For-profit entities must provide a fee schedule for “at-cost” services, and all applicants are required to submit documentation including audits, prior year and current year financials, salary schedules if applicable, and letters of support. Proposals must be submitted via email to opioidtaskforce@williamsoncounty-tn.gov using the subject line “Williamson County Opioid Task Force Application Submission.” Applications should include a 5-page project narrative detailing the need and target population, identification of strategy and allowable activities, goals and objectives using S.M.A.R.T. criteria, program design, evaluation plan, organizational capacity, and a detailed budget using the required template. Evaluation of proposals is based on a 100-point scoring rubric, which includes specific points allocated across project summary (10 points), narrative components (50 points total), budget documentation and justification (30 points), and required attachments (5 points). Scoring is performed collaboratively by the Opioid Task Force and MTSU’s Office of Prevention Science and Recovery. Feedback on proposal scores will be made available to all applicants. Partial funding may be awarded based on funding availability and proposal strength. Important dates for the 2025 cycle include an application open date of August 1, an in-person application workshop on August 7, a virtual workshop on August 21, and a closing deadline of September 15 at 10:00 AM. Successful applicants will receive contracts by December 1, with projects starting January 1. Awardees will be required to submit quarterly reports on program impact, which will inform community-level efficacy evaluations by the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council. Fraudulent submissions may result in funding denial and should be reported to county authorities or the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.