Frequently Asked Questions

• Municipalities
• Opioid Abatement Collaboratives
• Nonprofits with Municipal Support
• Coalitions with Municipal Support

Municipalities may apply directly or through a nonprofit partner. Municipalities may also apply in partnership with multiple municipalities as an Opioid Abatement Collaborative (OAC), pooling funding for a shared project. Coalitions that target the opioid crisis with documented support of matching funds from any of the cities/towns within the coalition may also apply.

Opioid Abatement Collaborative (OAC): Any group of municipalities that have agreed to pool some or all of their opioid settlement funds. OAC is a general term that includes shared services arrangements, inter-municipal agreements, memorandums of understanding, and other agreements between municipalities.

We cannot accept applications from religious institutions, for-profit organizations, or individuals and families.

Yes.

The application can be accessed here. If you need assistance with the form, please email us at grants@rizema.org.

No, only one proposal per municipality or OAC is allowed.

RIZE will match up to $50,000 per municipality. Municipalities may apply directly or through a nonprofit partner. Municipalities participating in OACs can combine funds for a joint project and request up to $150,000.

We established specific parameters to ensure a fair and efficient award process. We considered various factors, including best practices and equity considerations, such as the amount of money available for this round, the high volume of applications we expect, and our goal of funding as many projects as possible. Additionally, we want to ensure that communities that have been historically marginalized and have a high rate of fatal overdoses receive an equitable share of the funds.

All awardees will receive their payment in full in February 2025. We’ll ask you to submit a progress report during the grant period to ensure everything is going smoothly. Report templates and technical assistance will be available.

All municipalities contributing funds to the proposed project must provide proof of commitment. However, a municipality may be included in an OAC even if it is not contributing funds to the pool.

Please check the Care Mass Massachusetts Opioid Settlement Funding Expenditures Dashboard for a contact in your city or town. You can also call or visit your city or town hall.

No, only municipal settlement funds qualify for a match.

Municipalities of any size that have received municipal settlement funds can apply for funding.

RIZE will match up to $50,000 per project or single municipality. If municipalities pool settlement funds to apply as an OAC, the grant can be matched up to $150,000.

We can only match municipal settlement funds.

This can be a formal recorded budget discussion and/or a commitment letter. OACs must submit a joint letter signed by each participating municipality that includes the settlement funds. Nonprofits and coalitions must submit documented support of matching funds from the cities/towns that are contributing. The individual with the authority to earmark or allocate settlement funds for the match should sign the letter.

Please refer to the Massachusetts State Sub-Division Agreement for Statewide Opioid Settlements for an explanation of the state categories.

Please refer to the following examples for each care continuum category:

• Prevention (e.g., youth prevention, school-based programs, prevention-focused coalitions)
• Harm Reduction/Outreach (e.g., overdose prevention, naloxone distribution, drug checking, syringe access, street outreach)
• Access to Care (e.g., medication treatment, co-occurring mental health treatment, withdrawal management, residential recovery program)
• Recovery Support Services (e.g., recovery coaching, recovery housing, peer support, wellness)
• Trauma, Grief and Family Supports (e.g., family-based organizations, grief groups)

Care Massachusetts: The Opioid Abatement Partnership provides training and technical assistance to municipalities receiving opioid settlement funds. It is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (MDPH) Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) through a contract with JSI Research & Training Institute. Find more information here.

In the application, you are asked to describe the budget for your proposed project. Be as specific as possible and include:

• The amount committed to the project in municipal abatement funds.
• The amount requested from RIZE.
• How you will spend the funds – include amounts allocated to staff/personnel, services provided, equipment and/or contracts, etc.

Awardees will submit a detailed budget and realistic work plan for project implementation, including approximate dates and steps, with the grant agreement.

The Mosaic Municipal Matching grant program is a one-year grant. Awardees may reapply in years two and three, though they are not guaranteed a grant in subsequent years. Applicants not funded in year one are encouraged to apply in years two and three.

All proposals will undergo a fair, equitable, and timely review process:

• RIZE staff ensures applicants meet eligibility requirements.
• Proposals are reviewed and scored by community members, including people with lived experience/family members, subject expertise, and/or understanding of equity and inclusion who have received training on conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and bias.
• RIZE reviews the recommendations for equitable distribution by geography and continuum of care category and makes the final recommendations.
• Final recommendations are approved by the RIZE Board of Directors and our partners in state government.

The number of grants awarded depends on the number of applicants and the size of the grant requests.

While we would love to provide personalized feedback on individual grant proposals, we cannot due to the high volume of applications we expect to receive and our commitment to a fair and impartial review process.

All applicants will be notified of decisions in January via email.

The dates for the third round of Mosaic funding are to be determined. Please check our website at mosaic.rizema.org in the spring of 2025 for updates.