National Opioid Settlement Funds - Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Programs

Town of Hartford
Request for Proposals (RFP)
National Opioid Settlement Funds - Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Programs
I. Overview and Purpose
The Town of Hartford invites proposals from nonprofit organizations, healthcare providers, educational
institutions, community-based organizations, public agencies, and Town departments to implement
evidence-based and evidence-informed programs that prevent opioid misuse, reduce overdose deaths, expand
treatment access, and support recovery.
Funding is made available through the National Opioid Settlement and must be used for opioid remediation
activities consistent with the Allowable Activities listed in Section IV. The Town seeks proposals that will
measurably reduce opioid-related harms and improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities
impacted by opioid use disorder (OUD) and co-occurring substance use or mental health conditions.
Programs may focus on prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support, connections to care, criminal
justice diversion, maternal and child health, workforce development, or data and evaluation initiatives, provided
they align with approved settlement uses.
Resources for Applicants:
CDC ENGAGE: Evidence-Based Strategies to Prevent Youth Substance Use
John Hopkins Primer on Spending Funds from the Opioid Litigation
Questions about the application process can be directed to: manager@hartford-vt.org
Applications should be submitted as a single PDF file, sent via email to: manager@hartford-vt.org
II. Funding and Deadlines
Award amounts: Applicants may request up to $50,000 per application cycle. Funding should be used
to supplement existing programs or support new initiatives. Funds should not replace existing or future
funding sources.
Deadlines: Applications will be considered in two funding cycles. The deadlines are:
July 1, 2026 (cycle 1)
February 1, 2027 (cycle 2) If an organization received an award in the first funding cycle, they
must show that they have used at least 80% of the first award prior to receiving additional
funding.
Reporting: Awardees will be required to submit a brief quarterly update (no longer than 1 page), and
give a 10 minute presentation to the Selectboard one year after receiving the funds. Presentation
guidelines will be provided to awardees.
Renewal: Not guaranteed; continuation dependent on performance and available funds.
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III. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants include:
Nonprofit organizations Public agencies
Behavioral health and healthcare providers Town departments
Community-based organizations Tribal organizations
Educational institutions and school districts Collaborative partnerships
Faith-based organizations
Applicants must demonstrate the organizational capacity to implement and manage funded programs.
IV. Allowable Activities
Proposals must support one or more approved opioid remediation strategies, including but not limited to:
Treatment and Recovery Harm Reduction
Expansion of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Naloxone purchase and distribution
treatment and Medication Assisted Treatment Overdose response training
(MAT) access Syringe services programs
Telehealth treatment services Infectious disease testing and linkage to care
Recovery housing and peer support Fentanyl test strip distribution where
Case management and recovery navigation permitted
Trauma-informed treatment services
Treatment for justice-involved populations
Connections to Care Special Populations
Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Pregnant and parenting women with OUD
Treatment (SBIRT) screening and referral Families impacted by Neonatal Abstinence
programs Syndrome (NAS)
Emergency department bridge programs Individuals transitioning from incarceration
Warm hand-off models Rural or underserved populations
Post-overdose outreach teams
Recovery coaching and peer navigation
Prevention System Capacity
Evidence-based school prevention programs Workforce development and training
Youth and family prevention education Cross-system coordination
Prescriber education and safe prescribing Data systems and program evaluation
initiatives Technical assistance and implementation
Community prevention coalitions support
Drug disposal and take-back programs
V. Proposal Submission Requirements
Applicants must submit a complete proposal including the following sections.
1. Organization Information (1 page max)
a. Contact information
i. Organization name
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ii. Contact person
iii. Email address
iv. Website
v. Phone number
vi. Address
b. Mission statement
c. Organizational history
d. Current programs and activities
e. IRS EIN number
f. Key staff involved with the project
2. Proposal Overview (1 page max)
a. Brief description of the proposal
b. Purpose and key anticipated outcomes
c. Individuals or communities served
d. Amount of funding requested
e. Summary budget overview
f. Project timeline
3. Proposal Details (3 pages max)
a. Description of the problem or need addressed
b. Purpose and measurable objectives
c. Describe evidence-informed nature of the program, which may include:
i. Examples of similar programs or strategies that have been shown to prevent or reduce
the harmful impacts of substance use disorder
ii. Description of how this proposal is directly informed by community input and needs
d. Program design and implementation strategy
e. Partner organizations and defined roles
f. Sustainability plan after settlement funds are expended (if applicable)
g. Detailed itemized budget and budget justification
i. Budgets must:
1. Be itemized and justified
2. Include personnel, program, and operational costs
3. Clearly connect expenses to approved opioid remediation uses
4. Exclude non-allowable expenses unrelated to opioid abatement
5. Demonstrate cost reasonableness
6. Include a statement of sustainability (i.e., describe if this funding is for a one-time
need or how it will aid in securing future funding)
ii. The Town reserves the right to request budget revisions
4. Supplementary Materials (optional)
a. Optional supporting materials may include:
i. Letters of support
ii. Partnership agreements
iii. Evidence-based program documentation
iv. Prior evaluation reports
v. Organizational financial statements
vi. Staff resumes or qualifications
VI. Proposal Evaluation Criteria
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Proposals will be evaluated based on:
Alignment with opioid settlement approved uses
Demonstrated community need
Evidence-based or evidence-informed design
Strength of partnerships
Measurable outcomes
Organizational capacity
Sustainability plan
Data and evaluation approach
Budget reasonableness
Proposals will be evaluated using the following scoring rubric:
Evaluation Max Excellent Good Fair Poor
Criterion Points
Alignment with 15 15 pts - Fully aligns 10 pts - Mostly 5 pts - Partial 0 pts -
Opioid Settlement with approved uses aligns with alignment; Does not
Approved Uses and clearly minor some activities align with
demonstrates clarification unclear approved
understanding of needed uses
allowable activities
Demonstrated 15 15 pts - Strong 10 pts - 5 pts - Limited 0 pts -
Community Need data and clear Adequate data or Need not
evidence of evidence explanation of demon-
significant supporting need strated
community need, need
esp.serving high
need or
underserved
populations
Evidence-Based/ 15 15 pts - Strong 10 pts - Some 5 pts - Limited 0 pts - No
Evidence-Informed evidence-based or evidence or supporting evidence
Design research-supported best practices evidence supporting
approach cited design
Strength of 15 15 pts - Strong 10 pts - 5 pts - Limited 0 pts - No
Partnerships partnerships with Partnerships collaboration meaningful
clearly defined roles identified but partner-
roles ships
somewhat
unclear
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Measurable 10 10 pts - Clear, 7 pts - 3 pts - 0 pts - No
Outcomes specific, Outcomes Outcomes outcomes
measurable identified but vague or defined
outcomes with measurement difficult to
defined indicators methods measure
partially
defined
Organizational 10 10 pts - 7 pts - 3 pts - Limited 0 pts -
Capacity Experience, Adequate experience or Insufficient
staffing, and capacity to staffing capacity to
infrastructure manage level concerns to manage
aligned with level of of requested manage level requested
funds requested funds with of funds funds
minor gaps requested
Sustainability Plan 10 10 pts - Clear and 7 pts - Some 3 pts - Limited 0 pts - No
realistic plan to sustainability sustainability sustaina-
sustain program planning considerations bility plan
beyond funding identified
Data and 5 5 pts - Clear and 3 pts - Basic 1 pt - Minimal 0 pts - No
Evaluation practical data evaluation evaluation evaluation
Approach collection and approach strategy plan
evaluation plan present
Budget 5 5 pts - Detailed, 3 pts - Mostly 1 pts - Lacks 0 pts -
Reasonableness realistic budget reasonable detail or Unrealistic
aligned with with minor contains or poorly
program activities questions questionable justified
costs.
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