Rutherford County Opioid Settlement

This document overviews the applicant’s proposal and identifies a target population, outlines goals and objectives, selects a main strategy, anticipates number of people served, provides a cost statement, and more. Applicants must also include the identification of an assigned agency contact for overseeing and reporting on grant progress.

Access the Project Summary template HERE.

This narrative of the proposal is capped at 5-pages and focuses on describing the population served, identifying the need that you will address, outlining the goals and objectives used to measure success, identifying evidence-based practices for implementation, planning for metrics to measure progress and success, and explaining your organization’s capacity to achieve your goals. Narratives longer than 5-pages will not be reviewed.

This detailed budget breakdown with description of line items, any in-kind support from the agency, and budget justification for each line item requested.

Access the Project Budget template HERE.

Organizations that submit an application must attach the following documents with their submission:

• Copy of Annual Audit
• Budgeted Revenues and Expenses for the Current Year
• Budgeted Revenues and Expenses for the Prior Year
• Actual Revenue and Expenses for the Prior Year
• Rutherford County Fund Monitoring Form: Compliance Survey
• Salary Schedule (if proposing grant funding for salary position)
• 501 (c)(3) Determination Letter (if applicable)
• Letters of Support (if applicable)

This list outlines allowable uses with Rutherford County Opioid Settlement funding stratified by the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council’s six main strategies. All activities outlined in an organization’s proposal must be found from this list.

Access the Tennessee Opioid Abatement & Remediation Use list HERE.

Proposals will be reviewed and scored by a committee from the MTSU Office of Prevention Science and Recovery. Proposals will be evaluated based upon the proven ability of the applicant to meet the goals of the project description in a cost-effective manner with a maximum of 100 points available. This in-depth rubric outlines the breakdown of eligible points that can be awarded per application section and the standards use to compute that score.

Access the In-Depth Proposal Scoring Rubric HERE.

This resource provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) outlines how to develop strong goals concerning programs related to substance use and can help applicants strengthen goals for their application.

Access the S.M.A.R.T. Goal Development Guidance resource HERE.

This resource developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlines ten rising evidence-based practices for preventing opioid overdose in the United States. Applicants can refer to this resource to incorporate evidence-based practices within their grant application.

Access the Evidence-Based Strategies Guidance resource HERE.

To assist with providing examples of strong evaluation metrics for prospective applicants, this resource outlines example metrics within each of the six main strategy categories that includes allowable uses of grant funds. Applicants are not required to choose from this list for their metrics used in their application, rather these are just examples.

Access the Evaluation Metrics Guidance HERE.

Only nonprofit charitable organizations with 501©(3) status, chamber of commerce exempt from IRS Code 501©(6), nonprofit civic organizations, and government organizations are eligible to receive funds. Organizations are permitted only one grant per fiscal year. Awardees are eligible to re-apply for funding after successful completion of their grant term. Government organizations are eligible for multiple re-appropriations within a single fiscal year.

While there is no set maximum on how much an organization can request in their proposal, the maximum funding per agency will be determined by the Rutherford Opioid Board. All funding request amounts need to be justifiable and reasonable.

Applications will be accepted during 3 funding cycles with proposals being voted on by the Rutherford Opioid Board. To be considered for funding, applicants must submit all materials by:

• Cycle 1: May 15th for a full 12 month budget request. 
• Cycle 2:  July 15th to be considered for an 11 month budget request. 
• Cycle 3: September 15th  to be considered for a 9 month budget request.

The funding period for all requests will begin within 1 month of receiving a vote from the Commission, and will end by June 30th to align with the county’s fiscal year.

Proposed activities in the funding request must be permitted from the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council’s Approved Remediation List of activities.

All grants will be awarded within the timeline of the Rutherford County fiscal year. Once an organization is voted to receive a grant award, that organization will receive funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, unless otherwise specified by the Rutherford County Commission. Rutherford County operates on a fiscal year schedule that begins July 1st and ends June 30th. For example, if an organization receives approval for funding in September, then their grant would be awarded funds from October through June 30th.

The Rutherford Opioid Board will vote monthly on all grant applications received during the previous month to decide awarding. Following the ROB’s decision to award funding, grant awards will need to be approved by the Rutherford County Commission’s Budget Committee and the full County Commission. These other local approvals will delay the timing of directly receiving grant funds from the County by up to four weeks following the ROB vote.

Grantees are required to submit evaluation metric updates quarterly based upon the specific data points cited in their grant proposal. This data will be submitted to the MTSU Office of Prevention Science and Recovery (OPSR) quarterly. The OPSR team will work individually with each organization to track success of their grant program to report back to the Rutherford Opioid Board. Organizations are also responsible for tracking spending of grant funding throughout their grant term to provide documentation to Rutherford County at the conclusion of their grant term of all grant funds being entirely allocated.

If organizations are awarded funding by the ROB, they will need to complete an Opioid Abatement Service Provider Agreement with Rutherford County. In this agreement, it is required for organizations to possess Commercial Liability Insurance with limits of liability not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in annual aggregate coverage. The agreement also requires a minimum amount of Professional Services Liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Organizations are not required to possess these levels of insurance/liability to apply, but will need to meet the scope of services in this agreement to receive their allocation of ROB grant funding.

This 2-page resource highlights the impact that the ROB accomplished locally during the year 2023 through opioid abatement funded grant projects across the county.

Access the 2023 Rutherford Opioid Board Impact Report HERE.

This report highlights areas of need within Rutherford County and outlines five areas of priority the Rutherford Opioid Board seeks to address through distribution of opioid abatement funding.

Access the 2024-2025 Rutherford Opioid Board Strategic Plan HERE.