Strategy 8: Provide resources to build CBO infrastructure and capacity
CBOs often have limited resources for administrative functions such as human resources, contracting, billing, and data collection, and funding opportunities often only support direct service offerings. Organizations that are still building administrative capacity can benefit from state-supported opportunities to invest in internal infrastructure. In addition to offering capacity-building grants and ensuring that indirect rates adequately support these functions, direct support provided by state administrators or partner organizations can include trainings, education, and technical assistance for organizations. States can also support prospective or current grantees by offering forums for knowledge and data sharing or connections between state-community or community-community, which may include webinars, learning networks, or technical assistance.
Policy levers include:
Offer capacity-building grants to small community-based organizations:
Grants to build internal infrastructure allow for organizations to invest in their capacity, apply for future funding opportunities, and work toward more sustainable operations. Investments in infrastructure can include capital assets, such as technology upgrades, building or space improvements, and other equipment or staffing, among other examples.
Strategy in action: Massachusetts’ first round of grants through the Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership intended to “help organizations deepen their impact and build a strong and sustainable infrastructure to meet the needs of the populations they serve.” This unrestricted grant funding allowed organizations to invest in scaling up their internal structures and capacity.
Provide technical assistance, webinars, networks, and support for applicants and grantees:
After receiving grant funding, organizations may still need support in operationalizing their proposed project or complying with grant requirements. Offering this support and information across a variety of avenues, such as resource hubs, webinars, convenings, or one-on-one assistance, increases accessibility of information. States can build this assistance into their settlement or grant administrators’ scope of work or can hire designated staff or employ intermediary organizations to provide ongoing technical assistance and capacity-building support for CBOs.
Strategy in action: Virginia’s Opioid Abatement Authority, which is responsible for distributing settlement funding from the state abatement fund, operates an Opioid Abatement Academy, which is a series of public webinars highlighting subject matter or process-specific topics related to opioid settlements. These topics are selected based on community input and need, and meeting materials such as a video recording of the webinar and presentation slides are housed on a centralized website for individuals to access at any time. Virginia also supplements these large public opportunities with direct support via one-on-one technical assistance: three “abatement coordinators” employed through the Opioid Abatement Authority work to help grantees determine how to identify gaps in service offerings and how to implement programs to address those gaps.
Additional example: South Carolina’s Center of Excellence in Addiction, a technical assistance institution jointly operated by universities and state agencies, received state settlement funding two years in a row to offer technical assistance for opioid abatement planning and program implementation in communities. Individuals can submit a request for assistance from the center on a variety of subject areas, including data collection and analysis, capacity building, and evidence-based strategies, among other examples.
Considerations for Implementation
- Public and private funders often seek to limit overhead and indirect rates, with the goal of ensuring that funding goes toward direct services and to limit misspending. As an unintended consequence, financially strapped CBOs may have few resources to support core administrative functions. State administrators can solicit input on needs and set indirect rates for community organizations that help build organizational infrastructure, paired with reasonable oversight.
- States may need to hire designated staff to adequately fulfill technical assistance requests or provide grantee support. Settlement funding may provide an opportunity to finance these additional roles.
- Administrators can increase accessibility of educational and technical assistance resources by providing translation support and that can be accessed in multiple formats. It is important to “meet organizations where they are” and be mindful of variations in technology capabilities and maximizing points of contact.