Strategy 4: Improve accessibility of information about grant opportunities
When information on funding opportunities is spread across multiple forums or is confusing, the opportunities are unlikely to reach beyond “the usual suspects” with experience in navigating state funding systems. Key steps for effectively targeting funding to impacted communities are to promote transparency of opportunities, simplify language and improve accessibility of grant materials, and have direct communication with targeted communities.
Policy levers include:
Maintain a centralized website that promotes transparency on funding opportunities:
Having a user-friendly “one-stop shop” to understand settlement grant opportunities can improve accessibility of information, help organizations better navigate grant processes, and promote transparency of funding processes. Key information provided by states on opioid settlement websites includes grant announcements, resources for grantees, information on forums and listening sessions, webinars and educational resources, settlement reports, and funded project summaries.
Strategy in action: North Carolina’s Community Opioid Resources Engine for North Carolina is the organization responsible for providing settlement-related support to localities. It hosts a resource repository for local communities that provides a detailed dashboard to track settlement spending at the state and local level.
Additional example: New Jersey’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council, which advises the state on settlement expenditures, has an email address that people can direct settlement-related questions to and receive an answer within 24 hours.
Simplify language and improve accessibility of announcements and materials:
Many states have taken steps to review and simplify funding announcements and language to improve readability and accessibility, as well as provide translation support for announcements and supporting materials. Ensuring funding announcements are available across multiple channels, such as social media, and format types, such as webinars, is important for maximizing audience reach.
Strategy in action: As highlighted in its 2024 annual report on opioid settlement-funded projects, Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services allocated $80,000 for translation of materials and marketing campaigns on the overdose crisis.
Hold regular forums to promote funding opportunities and engage in dialogue and feedback:
Hosting informal meetings or forums for communication allows current or prospective applicants to have a space to ask questions, share experiences, and exchange insights or suggestions with states. Through these channels, states can collect feedback on process and needs and build a community where information about funding opportunities can be shared.
Strategy in action: South Carolina’s Opioid Recovery Fund Board, which is responsible for managing and distributing funding from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund, hosts monthly “coffee chats” open to current or prospective awardees and the public. These informal meetings allow the public to ask staff questions related to settlement opportunities, hear announcements, or learn about new opportunities offered by the board.
Considerations for Implementation
- State leaders noted the need to consider language and accessibility as front-end priorities and pointed out that real investment in services such as interpretation help make accessibility more than an afterthought.
- If public input opportunities are facilitated through advisory councils or state agencies, states must consider how to reach people outside that communication sphere.
- Intermediaries, or other community partners, can help states reach the right organizations and work through potential reluctance to engage with state officials as a result of previous experiences with stigma, interaction with the criminal justice system, or fear of jeopardizing existing state funding.