Phase 2 Begins!
We are very happy to announce the start of Phase 2 of the Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust (PSDORT) grant making work. We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to support students and communities harmed by the opioid epidemic, and that you share it with districts and district partners, civic officials and school communities.
The application portal is now open (Application Portal). Applications will be due on November 15, 2026. We expect to announce the winning proposals by April 18, 2027.
We strongly encourage public school districts to think about applying and to register their intent to apply (Intent to Apply Registration) so that we can contact them and share information during the application process and beyond. District partners can join our distribution list by emailing [email protected] and registering their interest.
First Phase Summary
As a reminder, last June PSDORT announced more than $24 million in grants to 39 school districts nationwide. The awards—totaling 51 grants of up to $500,000 each — funded programs to help schools address the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on students and their families selected from more than 200 applications from school districts across 34 states and American Samoa. To learn more about Phase 1 please refer to the PSDORT Award Press Release. To learn more about the PSDORT Award Application and Selection process, please visit the Award Selection Documents or the Award Selection FAQs pages. For a list and description of the awards, please see Appendix E – PSDORT Award List, Appendix F – PSDORT Awards by State, and Appendix G – PSDORT Award Application Summaries.
Overview of the Trust and Phase 2
The Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust (“the Trust”) aims to help public school districts recover from the opioid epidemic and develop responses to enhance educating students harmed by the opioid epidemic. By students harmed by the opioid epidemic we primarily mean students born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, but we also mean students who have suffered traumatic family loss and educational interruptions because of the opioid epidemic. Proposals focusing on students with disabilities born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome will receive priority consideration.
Funding from the trust will go where it will have the greatest help, whether classroom services, school-based behavioral and mental health supports, instructional innovations, or other district and school-based supports that directly affect students harmed by the opioid epidemic.
The grants will be awarded to independent public school districts who demonstrate a clear need for opioid recovery and support services and a plan to integrate these services into their existing support frameworks. The grants cannot supplant funding for legally mandated or existing services. The Trust will consider grant applications from districts applying in partnerships with external civic and community partners or with partner districts but in all cases grant funds will be awarded directly to the lead district applying for the grants. Proposals from districts applying in partnership with other districts will receive special consideration.
Types of Grants
Districts will be able to apply for funding for up to three types of grants, each with a maximum grant value of $500,000, which has to be drawn down and used over a period of three fiscal years following the distribution of the grant. For more information about the types of grants, please refer to the Phase 2 Request for Proposals Link (RFP) and the Phase 2 FAQs Link (FAQs).
Grant Type |
Description |
District Improvement Grants(maximum grant value of $500,000) |
Intended to help districts of all sizes respond to system-wide challenges triggered by the opioid epidemic. In applying for these grants, districts should consider how they coordinate and align their resources with complementary resources in their wider communities in support of services for students harmed by the opioid crisis. These grants might include efforts to improve: • The identification of these students in need, as well as the processes and structures that channel these students into available services, especially special education services, We encourage districts to partner with external agencies and organizations in applying for this type of grant. We strongly encourage districts to partner with other districts to leverage resources and achieve economies of scale, share learning and achieve greater collective impact. |
Model Programs and Best Practices Grants(maximum grant value of $500,000) |
These grants will help districts build or adopt model programs, based on evidence, to support students harmed by the opioid crisis, including programs and best practices in areas such as teaching approaches, curricular modifications, extended learning opportunities, mental health supports and restorative practices, forms of acceleration and enrichment, and using technology to foster student engagement and increase student learning, etc.
Districts can apply for these grants with external civic and community partners or with partner districts. We are primarily interested in improving special education programs serving these students, but we are also interested in the development and improvement of programs that address the needs of these harmed students before classification or in cases when these students have not been classified. |
Innovation Grants(maximum grant value of $500,000) |
These grants will enhance the ability of districts to introduce and test new, innovative approaches to support students impacted by the opioid crisis. These approaches can be at the level of the student, the class, the school and/or the district in relation to the family and community and include areas such as teaching approaches, curricular modifications, extended learning opportunities, mental health supports and restorative practices, forms of acceleration and enrichment, and using technology to foster student engagement and increase learning, etc.
Districts can apply for these grants with external civic and community partners or with partner districts. We are primarily interested in improving special education programs serving these students, but we are also interested in the development and improvement of programs that address the needs of these harmed students before classification or in cases when these students have not been classified. |