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The Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) was established in 2021 as an independent body of the Commonwealth of Virginia to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic through financial support in the form of grants, donations, or other assistance, for efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids in the Commonwealth. The allocation of opioid settlement funds in Virginia is based on a distribution formula that was agreed to by all cities and counties in the Commonwealth, and in accordance with the statute that created the OAA. 

§ 2.2-2365 et seq. (title 2.2, Chapter 22, article 12) establishes the OAA’s statutory authority, governing structure, powers, and directives in the provision of financial assistance to cities and counties (participating political subdivisions) and state agencies for efforts to abate and remediate the opioid crisis in the Commonwealth. 

The OAA serves to build partnerships between Virginia’s cities and counties, state agencies, and providers of services in order to assist individuals suffering from opioid use disorders and co-occurring substance use and mental illness. These partnerships address the full range of services providing education about substance use, prevention, treatment, and recovery supports.

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• Supporting the continuation of ongoing local and state agency programs due to declining opioid settlement payments to the Commonwealth over time based on the structure and payment duration of the various settlements

• The use of settlement funds by recipients for unapproved abatement and remediation or non-abatement purposes

The OAA is funded entirely with nongeneral fund dollars.  Financial assistance offered through the OAA consists of settlement funds paid to Virginia by prescription opioid manufacturers and companies in the prescription opioid distribution network.

The distribution of opioid settlement funds in Virginia is governed by (1) the specific agreement(s) with the settling companies (and incorporated in a Virginia court order) and in accordance with (2) the statewide settlement allocation MOU and (3) the statute establishing the Opioid Abatement Fund and the Opioid Abatement Authority. In accordance with the statewide MOU and statutory limitations, the OAA distributes funds exclusively to Virginia’s cities, counties, and state agencies as these are the parties involved in the litigation.

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*Reflects biennial appropriation in Chapter 2, 2024 Special Session I, Acts of Assembly.

City and County and State OAA Funds Distributed

Since beginning operations in late 2022, the OAA has awarded a total of over $65.0 million in opioid settlement funds to cities, counties, and state agencies, including:

• $46.1 million to cities and counties


• $19.3 million to state agencies

Outreach and Educational Supports – Abatement Academy and Workshops

The Abatement Academy is composed of a series of regularly scheduled webinars to highlight examples programs that align with nationally recognized principles for the use of funds from opioid litigation. The intended audience includes local government representatives, state agency professionals, and groups or individuals who provide services or support to people suffering from opioid use disorders.

Since 2023, the OAA, in partnership with the Virginia Institute of Government, has conducted the following informational webinars, with over 2,500 attendees/viewers across the Commonwealth.

• 2023 – 14 webinars conducted


• 2024 – Two webinars conducted (as of 8/21/2024); seven more webinars scheduled through December 2024

In 2023, the OAA established a first-of-its-kind series of regional opioid abatement workshops for community leaders. The workshops provide city and county leaders with strategies and best practices for the use of opioid settlement funds to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic at the community level. 

To date, the OAA has conducted the following workshops, with hundreds of attendees:

• 2023 – Three workshops conducted


• 2024 – One workshop conducted; two more workshops scheduled through October 2024

Awards and Recognition

In the 3rd Quarter of 2023, a coalition of more than 60 national public health organizations, led by Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, awarded the OAA its “Award for Excellence in the Application of the Opioid Litigation Principles”

This goal broadly envisions working with and assisting our local and state agency partners, and other governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders to effectively abate and remediate the opioid epidemic, and to otherwise reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids in the Commonwealth.

This objective broadly describes the OAA’s core focus of distributing opioid settlement dollars to eligible recipients for a variety of evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies aligned with local, community-based, regional, and statewide efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids in the Commonwealth.

• Continue to bring awareness and provide education and training opportunities for state and local current and prospective eligible OAA funding recipients regarding obtaining and utilizing settlement funds.

• Regularly engage with grant recipients and other stakeholders to maximize the success of OAA grant-funded abatement efforts.

• Regularly engage with private/non-governmental organizations and governmental service providers and relevant associations to assist in aligning resources for the provision of local and community-based abatement programs.

• Collaborate with local and state agency partners and other stakeholders whose mission, goals, and objectives align with those of the OAA for the purpose of bringing a “whole of government” approach to combating the opioid crisis.

This goal reflects the OAA’s commitment to lead and administer the organization in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner, leveraging human capital and technology to increase success in this endeavor.

This objective reflects the OAA’s commitment to optimize staff levels and operating costs to effectively lead and manage the organization, maximizing the resources to be used for opioid abatement and remediation in the Commonwealth.

• Optimize the OAA’s personnel complement and other operating costs to keep overall administrative costs as low as possible without compromising performance

• Leverage technology to best manage grant resources for accuracy, accountability, and transparency, to include the deployment of a grants management web-based portal by October 2024 and a public facing dashboard by February 2025

• Provide staff with the training and resources to be successful in their roles and align professional growth opportunities with organizational success

Efforts to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth through grants, donations, or other assistance, for efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids.