Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Competitive Cooperative Agreement Solicitation Combating Opioid Overdose through Community-Level Intervention | ONDCP2

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The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Competitive Cooperative Agreement Solicitation, titled "Combating Opioid Overdose through Community-Level Intervention," is a discretionary federal funding opportunity released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) within the Executive Office of the President. Listed under CFDA 95.007, this announcement seeks to fund research and evaluation work focused on practical, community-based strategies that can reduce opioid overdose and related harms. The core idea is to move beyond broad national discussions and instead support on-the-ground interventions that can be implemented locally, measured carefully, and used to generate evidence about what actually works in real communities.

The purpose of the award is twofold. First, ONDCP is looking for applicants who can implement and evaluate community-level efforts to address the opioid overdose epidemic, meaning the recipient should be capable of designing or improving interventions and then rigorously assessing outcomes. Second, the solicitation strongly emphasizes strengthening partnerships between law enforcement and public health agencies. ONDCP frames this collaboration as essential to reducing overdoses and other consequences of opioid misuse, so projects are expected to actively support and promote cross-sector coordination rather than operating within a single silo.

This opportunity is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally implies a more collaborative relationship with the federal government than a standard grant, often involving substantial federal involvement or coordination during the project. ONDCP anticipated making one award, with an award ceiling of $2,000,000. The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, reflecting that the funded work is expected to produce structured findings, evaluation results, and usable lessons for future overdose prevention and response efforts.

Eligibility is limited to legally recognized public or private nonprofit institutions and organizations, specifically including institutions of higher education (public and/or private) and hospitals (private nonprofit). Beyond basic nonprofit status, ONDCP requires applicants to demonstrate expert knowledge and extensive experience in research and analysis, along with expert knowledge and experience in developing or enhancing programs aimed at reducing opioid overdose through strategic, evidence-based approaches. In practical terms, applicants need to show they can both run real-world interventions and credibly evaluate them, rather than proposing purely conceptual plans.

A key eligibility requirement is formal partnership with a regional High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. Applications must include a letter of support or commitment from the participating HIDTA, and the letter must be signed by the sponsoring HIDTA Director. This requirement signals that ONDCP expects projects to be connected to established regional drug control and enforcement coordination structures, and it reinforces the solicitation's priority on linking public health and public safety efforts.

Applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov, with applicants required to register in advance. The deadline specified in the announcement was 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 26, 2020, and applications needed to have a successful validation message in Grants.gov by that time. The notice also explains that if a due date falls on a weekend, federal holiday, or a Washington, DC-area federal office closure, the deadline would extend to the next business day. For applicants blocked by unexpected Grants.gov technical issues, the announcement provided an alternate emergency process: submitting required materials by email to jdelano@ondcp.eop.gov by the same deadline time, along with a brief explanation of the technical problem and a request for approval to accept the separate submission.

For support, the announcement directs applicants with submission and technical problems to the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline (available 24/7 except federal holidays) and to support@grants.gov. For questions about solicitation requirements beyond technical submission issues, applicants were instructed to contact Jayme Delano at ONDCP by phone at (202) 395-6794 or by email at jdelano@ondcp.eop.gov.

• The Office of National Drug Control Policy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Competitive Cooperative Agreement Solicitation Combating Opioid Overdose through Community-Level Intervention" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 95.007.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 20, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 26, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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