Suffolk opens opioid settlement fund applications for local nonprofits

Suffolk County has opened applications for its third round of opioid settlement funding, putting another pool of dollars in reach for nonprofits and community groups that are already working on addiction response across the county. County Executive Ed Romaine and Department of Health Services Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said the money is intended for organizations providing prevention, treatment, recovery and harm-reduction services directly to Suffolk residents.

The county opened the portal on June 1, 2026, and applications must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. on July 6, 2026. Under the county’s supplemental guidance, eligible applicants must be physically located in Suffolk County or have a significant presence there, and proposed projects must align with the New York Opioid Settlement Agreement’s Schedule C approved uses. That means the money is aimed at providers that can show real local reach, not groups with only a paper presence.

The new round is part of a legal fight Suffolk began in August 2016, when the county filed one of the first county-led opioid lawsuits in the country against Purdue Pharma. Suffolk said it reached its first settlement in 2021, and county officials have framed the money as a way to turn litigation proceeds into services rather than a one-time windfall. Public materials have said Suffolk’s opioid settlements were expected to total about $180 million over roughly two decades.

So far, the county says it has completed two funding rounds and awarded more than $57 million to 50 organizations supporting 76 programs across Suffolk. County materials say about half of that money has gone to treatment, with the rest split among prevention, harm reduction and recovery efforts. The first funding round alone totaled $25 million, showing how quickly the settlement dollars have been translated into local programs.

The Suffolk County Opioid Settlement Fund dashboard says the county is spreading the money out over many years to build a sustainable funding source and evaluate which approaches are working. Applications will be reviewed by the Suffolk County Opioid Settlement Fund Selection Panel, which includes county officials and a community advocate. County dashboard materials also say the fund is meant to support the full substance-use care continuum, including outreach to unhoused people and other residents who are hardest to reach before overdose becomes a fatal emergency.