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To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Health Brigade Grant Contract between the City of Richmond and Health Brigade for the purpose of funding the creation and implementation of a substance use disorder treatment program to combat the opioid crisis in the City of Richmond.
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THE CITY OF RICHMOND HEREBY ORDAINS:
§ 1. That the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, be and is hereby authorized to execute a Health Brigade Grant Contract between the City of Richmond and Health Brigade for the purpose of funding the creation and implementation of a substance use disorder treatment program to combat the opioid crisis in the City of Richmond. The Health Brigade Grant Contract shall be approved as to form by the City Attorney and shall be substantially in the form of the document attached to this ordinance.
§ 2. This ordinance shall be in force and effect upon adoption.
City of Richmond
Intracity Correspondence
O&R Transmittal
DATE: March 24, 2025
TO: The Honorable Members of City Council
THROUGH: The Honorable Danny Avula, Mayor
THROUGH: Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Interim Chief Administrative Officer
THROUGH: Sheila White, Director of Finance
THROUGH: Meghan Brown, Director of Budget and Strategic Planning
THROUGH: Shunda Giles, Interim DCAO for Human Services
FROM: J.D. Ratliff, Policy Advisor
RE: Authorization of Grant Contract with Health Brigade for a Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program
ORD. OR RES. No. ______________________________________________________
PURPOSE: To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Health Brigade Grant Contract between the City of Richmond and Health Brigade for the purpose of funding the creation and implementation of a substance use disorder treatment program to combat the opioid crisis in the City of Richmond.
BACKGROUND: By Res. No. 2018-R094, adopted Nov. 13, 2018, the City Council established a policy to pursue legal action on behalf of the City against drug manufacturers and distributors of opioids. Subsequent ordinances and resolutions - Ord. No. 2021-234 adopted Sept. 27, 2021, and Res. No. 2021-R078, adopted Dec. 13, 2021, - authorized the City’s agreement with the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority and participation in various settlements. In accordance with these agreements, Virginia’s cities and counties, including the City of Richmond, received their first direct distribution payments from the Distributors settlement during FY2022. The City of Richmond will continue to receive annual payments from the Distributors settlement until the year 2038.
Ordinance No 2023-293 authorized the City of Richmond to accept $1,259,411.69 of direct settlement funds that had been received at the time and appropriated these funds to a new National Opioid Settlement Special Fund in what is now called the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services. In keeping with the settlement agreements, the City continues to receive wired payments from the settlements that require appropriation.
Ordinance No 2025-002 authorized the City of Richmond to accept $1,850,287.27 of direct opioid settlement funds for appropriation to the National Opioid Settlement Special Fund in the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the purpose of funding opioid abatement and remediation strategies to combat the opioid crisis.
This ordinance will allow the City of Richmond Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (DNCS) subgrant $508,857 to Health Brigade for creation and implementation of a comprehensive SUD treatment program. This program, provided to residents of the City of Richmond who have opioid use disorders and co-occurring mental and physical health conditions, who are also at risk of opioid overdose death and comorbid health conditions, will provide comprehensive harm reduction services, care management and service navigations for individuals with opioid use disorders, including addiction-specific case management and assistance with accessing community-based services for wraparound treatment. The program will also provide direct substance use disorder (SUD) treatment which includes recovery maintenance, co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder therapy, medication assisted treatment (MAT), medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), Peer Recovery Specialist Support, outpatient recovery-oriented groups, and linkages to substance use disorder detoxification services and inpatient residential treatment. These approaches are considered to be Core Strategies under the Janssen settlement approved use of funds for opioid remediation uses.
The funds for this project will be taken from the National Opioid Settlement Special Fund under the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, specifically payments from the opioid manufacturer Janssen. On October 18, 2022, Janssen paid the City of Richmond $142,694.68 in a payment titled “Janssen Payment 2,” $114,209.65 in a payment titled “Janssen Payment 3,” and $175,364.51 in a payment titled “Janssen Payment 4,” and $194,372.90 in a payment titled “Janssen Payment 5.” On February 28, 2023, Janssen paid the City of Richmond $57,575.21 in a payment titled “Janssen Payment 5, reallocated amount.” The subgrant to Health Brigade will use all $5,477.75 of Janssen Payment 2, all of Janssen Payments 3, 4, 5, and $19,342.19 of Janssen Payment 5, reallocated amount, totaling $508,857.
This Health Brigade investment was identified during the first phase of the City’s opioid settlement efforts following direct distributions from opioid manufacturers and distributors in the fiscal years of 2022 and 2023. Given the urgency of the opioid crisis, and in keeping with the opioid settlement requirements, the Administration set out to make a small number of immediate investments while standing up public facing processes for selecting future community grants and investments. The City of Richmond’s internal team of subject matter experts, led by the DCAO for Human Services and our Policy Advisor for Opioid Response, identified a small number of strategic opportunities that were aligned and informed by priorities identified by the Richmond Opioid Task Force and more than a year of additional stakeholder engagement. The team has subsequently established a competitive process for opioid grants and additional structures for the Richmond Opioid Task Force to identify funding priorities.
This project was among those identified as Health Brigade has a demonstrated fifty-five-year history of service to the City of Richmond. Specifically, Health Brigade became a state-certified Comprehensive Harm Reduction (CHR) site in 2018 and has since served more than six thousand individuals in expanding access to life-saving naloxone, harm reduction supplies, peer support services, and treatment referrals. This investment will allow Health Brigade to expand and serve more individuals at a time when Richmond continues to experience an opioid overdose crisis.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Opioid abatement and remediation strategies utilized by the City of Richmond have been and continue to be informed by significant stakeholder engagement and developed with direct input and support from external agencies and subject matter experts, including those on the Richmond Opioid Task Force.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL: RES. 2022-R013 declaring opioid drug overdose deaths as a public health crisis in the City of Richmond; Richmond Opioid Task Force.
FISCAL IMPACT: The funds used for this project are from the National Opioid Settlement Special Fund. This will decrease the Special Fund Budget by $508,857.00 for FY2025. There is no city match requirement.
DESIRED EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon adoption
REQUESTED INTRODUCTION DATE: May 12, 2025
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING DATE: May 27, 2025
REQUESTED AGENDA: Consent agenda
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL COMMITTEE: Finance and Economic Development
AFFECTED AGENCIES: Budget and Strategic Planning, Finance, Neighborhood and Community Services
RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING ORD. OR RES.: Res. No. 2018-R094; Ord. No. 2021-234; Res. No. 2021-R078; Resolution 2022-R013; Res. No. 2023-R010; Ord. No. 2023-293; Ord. No. 2024-099; Ord. No. 2025-002
ATTACHMENTS: Health Brigade SUD Treatment Program AATF Ordinance Language, Health Brigade SUD Treatment Program AATF Grant Contract, Janssen Settlement Exhibit E Approved Uses
STAFF: Jason Alley, Policy Advisor for Opioid Response Coordination, 804-852-4838, Jason.Alley@rva.gov <mailto:Jason.Alley@rva.gov>
J.D. Ratliff, Policy Advisor, 804-646-6056, James.Ratliff@rva.gov <mailto:James.Ratliff@rva.gov>