55% OneOhio Recovery Foundation Share
Where do these monies live?
The OneOhio Recovery Foundation holds 55% of Ohio’s opioid settlement funds.[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on approved purposes, which the state’s MOU defines to mean the “evidence-based[,] forward-looking strategies, programming[,] and services” described in its Ohio Abatement Strategies list (“Exhibit A” of Ohio’s MOU).[3]
Exhibit A contains three categories of interventions: Strategies for Community Recovery, for Statewide Innovation & Recovery, and for Sustainability.[4] The Foundation has published additional guidance on expenditures from this share, including this resource on how applicants can ensure that projects and programs are presented as evidence-based,[5] and has periodically identified funding priority areas for its grant cycles, including for its 2024 Regional Grants.[6]
The MOU explicitly requires uses of the Foundation’s funds to benefit local communities.[7]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
OneOhio Recovery Foundation Expert Panel guides, Board of Directors decides (regions recommend regional grantees). In general, the OneOhio Recovery Foundation’s Board of Directors (Board) ultimately decides how the Foundation’s 55% share is spent,[8] whether as grants to regions,[9] as statewide programming,[10] or as investments.[11]
Most of the Foundation’s share has been spent as grants to Ohio’s 19 regions,[12] and according to the percentage allocations in the MOU’s Exhibit D.[13] Each region must create its own governance structure to receive input from its local governments and is responsible for making allocation decisions that will “equitably serve the needs of the entire Region.”[14] Regional grantmaking follows a multi-step process:
Eligible entities, including non-profits, for-profits, and governments,[15] apply for funding through the OneOhio Grant Headquarters.
The 19 Regional Grant Review Committees then review the applications and share their recommendations for awards with the Expert Panel.[16]
The Expert Panel conducts a review to ensure alignment with evidence-based practices and approved purposes.[17]
The OneOhio Grant Oversight Committee then reviews the input of both the Regional Grant Review Committee(s) and the Expert Panel input before making its own recommendation to the Foundation’s Board, which exercises final approval power via vote.[18]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
Supplantation is partially prohibited. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation’s Fiscal Policy provides that expenditures by Foundation grantees “should be for new, expanded, or improved services to meet the criteria for Approved Purposes,” and that grant funds received from this share may not be used to “supplant or replace funds currently expended for like services.”[19] This means that grantees’ awarded funds from the 55% OneOhio Recovery Foundation share must be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing resources.[20]
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Review the OneOhio Recovery Foundation's Grant Awards page, which displays the Foundation's grantees and awarded amounts.
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) B.1 (“55% to the Foundation … (‘Foundation Share’)”). See Overview of the Foundation. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 2023. Accessed August 14, 2024 (depicting 55% of “Opioid Lawsuit Dollars” to the Foundation). See also MOU B.6 (allowing funds obtained outside of the opioid litigation to be directed to the Foundation) and FAQs. OneOhio Recovery Foundation website. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“The Foundation can also receive private donations which would not be subject to the settlement terms”). ↑
The Foundation and Local Government (LG) shares may both be used to fund the Local Government (attorneys’) Fee Fund (LGFF), which contains a maximum of 11.05% of the total monies from any settlement. MOU C.1-2 and C.5. See also MOU C.3 (“The first 45% of the LGFF amount shall be drawn from the LG Share. The remaining 55% shall be drawn from the Foundation Share. No portion of the LGFF Amount may be assessed against or drawn from the State Share).” Any unused monies from the LGFF after payment of fees revert to the Foundation. MOU C.8. See also Overview of the Foundation. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 2023. Accessed August 14, 2024 (chart depicts the Foundation’s operating costs as against its investments and grants). ↑
MOU B.2 (“All Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation, shall be utilized in a manner consistent with the Approved Purposes definition”) and MOU A.7 (defining “Approved Purpose(s)” to mean “evidence-based forward-looking strategies, programming and services … as is further set forth in the agreed Opioid Abatement Strategies attached as Exhibit A”). See also MOU Exhibit A (referring to itself as “Ohio Abatement Strategies”). ↑
Unlike the first two components, “Strategies for Sustainability” does not have a standalone section within the MOU’s Exhibit A, but Exhibit A’s first page describes “Strategies for Sustainability” as including “collaborat[ion] to share resources and knowledge” and “build[ing] sustainable financing strategy and infrastructure to reverse the damage that has been done and prevent future epidemics and crises.” ↑
Quick Guide to Meeting the Evidence-Based Requirement: How to Identify and Integrate Evidence into Your Grant Application. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 22, 2024. Accessed August 14, 2024 ↑
See Grant Headquarters. OneOhio Recovery Foundation website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
MOU B.9 (“Opioid Funds directed to the Foundation shall be used to benefit the local community consistent with the by-laws of the Foundation documents”). See also Foundation FAQs. OneOhio Recovery Foundation website. Accessed August 14, 2024. (“55% will be set aside for the OneOhio Recovery Foundation to develop and oversee the funding of short-term and long-term planning and supports that local communities need to continue to address this crisis”). ↑
MOU D.11(a) (describing Board’s powers to create its own disbursement procedures) and D.11(e) (describing Board’s powers to determine the expert panel’s role in Foundation operations). ↑
MOU D.11(f) (“Within 90 days of the first receipt of any Opioid Funds and annually thereafter, the Board, assisted by its investment advisors and Expert Panel, shall determine the amount and timing of Foundation funds to be distributed as Regional Shares”). See also MOU D.11(f) (“[T]he Board, assisted by its investment advisors and Expert Panel, shall determine the amount and timing of Foundation funds to be distributed as Regional Shares”). ↑
MOU D.11(b) (“Funds for statewide programs, innovation, research, and education may also be expended by the Foundation”). See also See also Foundation FAQs. OneOhio Recovery Foundation website. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“Funds can be used for both regional projects and statewide programs, innovation, research, and education”). ↑
MOU D.13 (“The Foundation shall consult with a professional investment advisor to adopt a Foundation investment policy that will seek to assure that the Foundation’s investments are appropriate, prudent, and consistent with best practices for investments of public funds”). MOU D.11(f) (“the Board, assisted by its investment advisors and Expert Panel, shall determine the amount and timing of Foundation funds to be distributed as Regional Shares”). See also Overview of the Foundation. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 2023. Accessed August 14, 2024 (chart depicts the Foundation’s investment’s as against its grantmaking and operational costs). ↑
See, e.g., OneOhio Regional Fund Balances. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 30, 2024. Accessed August 14, 2024. (describing approximately $51.19 million distributed as grants to the 19 regions from about $58 million in total funds, i.e., roughly 88%). See the “Regions” drop-down header on the OneOhio Recovery Foundation’s website, which links to information for each of the 19 regions (e.g., Region 1). See also MOU D.1 (“The State of Ohio will be divided into 19 Regions (See attached Exhibit C)”). ↑
MOU D.11(c) ("The Regional Shares for each Region are set forth in Exhibit D”). ↑
MOU D.2 (“Each Region shall create their own governance structure so it ensures all Local Governments have input and equitable representation regarding regional decisions including representation on the board and selection of projects to be funded from the region’s Regional Share”). ↑
2024 Regional Grant Cycle RFP Overview. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“Applicants may be non-profit entities, for-profit entities, or government entities. Individuals are not eligible to apply. All grantees must provide services that align with the Ohio Abatement Strategies and must clear a compliance check in order to be eligible for funding”). ↑
2024 Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. April 16, 2024. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“Each of the 19 OneOhio Regions will create a Regional Grant Review Committee to review and recommend recipients for funding”). See also 2024 Grant Program: Application Process Overview. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2024 ↑
MOU D.11(e) (“Proposed disbursements to Regions of Regional Shares shall be reviewed only to determine whether the proposed disbursement meets the criteria for Approved Purposes”). See also 2024 Grant Program: Application Process Overview. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“The Expert Panel will ensure proposals align with evidence-baed practices and are consistent with the Ohio Abatement Strategies and Approved Purposes”). ↑
2024 Grant Program: Application Process Overview. OneOhio Recovery Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“The OneOhio Grant Oversight Committee will review region recommendations and Expert Panel input before making funding recommendations to the full Board of Directors” and “The Board of Directors must vote to approve grant funding awards”). ↑
OneOhio Recovery Foundation Fiscal Policy Sec. VIII(b) (June 12, 2024) (“Grantee expenses should be for new, expanded, or improved services to meet the criteria for Approved Purposes. No MOU funds shall be used to supplant or replace funds currently expended for like services”). Note that the Foundation is also empowered to expend its share on “statewide programs, innovation, research, and education,” with no requirement that these uses are granted or otherwise within the purview of the “Grant Disbursements” section of its Fiscal Policy. OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) D.11(b). ↑
See also 2024 Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions. OneOhio Recovery Foundation (“The OneOhio MOU prohibits grantees from replacing existing funds with OneOhio Recovery Foundation funds. Replacing existing funding or efforts would be considered supplantation. However, adding to, expanding, or enhancing existing work is allowable. For example, if a city were to decide to reduce or replace previously allocated city funds with OneOhio Recovery Foundation funds to support an existing abatement program, this would be considered supplantation and, therefore, would be unallowable”). Updated April 16, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Grant Headquarters. OneOhio Recovery Foundation website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
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