Combating Overdose through Community-Level Intervention | COCLI 2022

Opportunity Information: Apply for COCLI 2022

The Combating Overdose through Community-Level Intervention (COCLI) grant opportunity is a federal cooperative agreement offered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to strengthen local responses to the overdose crisis, which remains the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. The opportunity is framed around alarming CDC provisional figures showing roughly 107,000 overdose deaths in the most recent 12-month windows cited (ending December 2021 and January 2022). While the data suggested a slight dip and a slowing growth rate compared with the prior year, ONDCP emphasizes that communities are still facing record-high mortality, including the highest recorded deaths tied to opioids, stimulants such as methamphetamine, and especially synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The announcement also notes that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the overdose epidemic and complicated the work of public health, public safety, medical providers, and community partners, reinforcing the need for better-prepared regional and local leadership.

At its core, COCLI is designed to fund one nonprofit organization (a non-federal entity) to act as a national or multi-region driver of community-level overdose interventions, with an emphasis on places experiencing the highest fatal and non-fatal overdose rates. Rather than funding a single local program in isolation, ONDCP is looking for an applicant that can coordinate and support multiple community efforts, helping bring structure to what is often a fragmented set of state and local overdose prevention and response activities. The funded organization is expected to both implement or strengthen community-based strategies and generate usable evidence about what works by evaluating outcomes. This is positioned as applied, real-world work: selecting evidence-based approaches, putting them into practice in hard-hit communities, and then measuring whether those approaches reduce overdoses and other substance-use-related harms.

The government lays out several major performance areas. First, the awardee must research and analyze existing community overdose initiatives and the current set of evidence-based and proven strategies to reduce overdose deaths. Second, using what is learned from that review, the organization must implement or enhance community-based programs in the highest-burden regions; proposals are encouraged to distribute funds broadly, with priority given to applicants that will provide subawards to at least eight communities. Third, the awardee must support evaluation of the implemented efforts, focusing on whether interventions are effective at reducing overdoses and related harms in the targeted areas. Fourth, the project must actively support collaboration between public safety and public health, reflecting ONDCPs view that coordinated work between law enforcement and health agencies is essential to a comprehensive overdose response. Finally, the awardee must provide technical assistance so subaward recipients can implement programs effectively and handle evaluation and reporting requirements.

A key feature of the initiative is its alignment with existing federal overdose-response infrastructure and ongoing work by ONDCP and the CDC. The awardee is expected to work closely with both agencies and to coordinate with federally designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Programs. HIDTAs are ONDCP-funded regional partnerships that already work with CDC through the Overdose Response Strategy, and COCLI is meant to complement and build on that ecosystem rather than duplicate it. In practice, this signals that the selected organization should be capable of operating in complex, multi-agency environments and translating on-the-ground intelligence and public health data into coordinated community action.

In terms of funding mechanics, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement, meaning ONDCP anticipates substantial involvement and collaboration with the recipient during the project period (more hands-on than a typical grant). ONDCP expects to make a single award, with an award ceiling of $3,000,000 for a 12-month project period running approximately from September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023. Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The opportunity is authorized under the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, and it is governed by the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200, as adopted by ONDCP). The posting lists a creation date of June 23, 2022 and an original closing date of July 22, 2022, with the award projected no later than September 1, 2022.

Overall, COCLI is best understood as a one-year, $3 million federal effort to identify proven overdose-reduction tactics, deploy them quickly in multiple high-need communities through subawards, and rigorously evaluate results, all while strengthening coordination between public health and public safety and integrating the work with HIDTA and CDC overdose response efforts.

• The Office of National Drug Control Policy in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Combating 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 Jun 23, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 22, 2022. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for COCLI 2022

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