Kansas Fights Addiction - Sunflower Foundation

KFA Grant Program

The opioid epidemic continues to take an enormous toll both nationwide and in Kansas, with the number of drug overdose deaths since 1999 nationally surging past 1 million and the numbers of deaths in the state steadily rising in recent years.

Kansas has worked to address the opioid problem by reaching multiple legal settlements with and bringing accountability to major pharmaceutical companies, distributors and related firms that fueled the addiction crisis. In 2021, the Kansas Legislature passed the Kansas Fights Addiction Act, authorizing the state to use money recovered by the Attorney General’s Office through the settlements to tackle substance abuse and help ensure addiction services are provided throughout the state.

The Kansas opioid settlements are split into two funds – 75% going to the KFA fund and 25% to the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund (MFAF), with $200,000 dedicated annually to K-TRACS, the Kansas prescription drug monitoring program. The KFA Act directs all recovery to opioid and SUD abatement. The MFAF 25% is distributed evenly across the 205 participating counties and municipalities. Per the KFA Act, the 75% of settlement dollars allocated to KFA is administered through a grant review board.

The enacting legislation authorized the attorney general to create the 11-member Kansas Fights Addiction Act Grant Review Board. The board oversees the KFA grant program, which will provide funding opportunities for eligible state agencies, local and county governments and nonprofit organizations that provide services in Kansas for the purpose of preventing, reducing, treating, or otherwise abating or remediating substance abuse or addiction.

Sunflower Foundation serves as the administrator for the KFA grant program and provides other support services to the KFA board. The program is providing two rounds of funding in 2023. The first round prioritizes strategies related to treatment, recovery, reducing harm associated with substance abuse, and linking people to support services and care. The second round prioritizes prevention, providers and health systems, and public safety and first responders.

Latest KFA News

Foundation releases RFA for SUD needs assessment

Sunflower Foundation, on behalf of the Kansas Fights Addiction (KFA) Grant Review Board, has released a Request for Applications (RFA) inviting interested and eligible vendors to apply for the opportunity to develop a large-scale, innovative and comprehensive statewide needs assessment of substance use disorder (SUD) systems and related work in Kansas. Results of the needs assessment will be used to guide the long-term investments of the KFA board.

KFA grant program funds, which support SUD and addiction services in Kansas, come from money recovered by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office through opioid legal settlements. The State of Kansas already has secured more than $340 million for the state over the next 18 years. Sunflower Foundation serves as the administrator of the KFA grant program.

The primary goal of the needs assessment is to provide a comprehensive view of the state’s SUD system across the lifespan, including all sectors from early childhood and prevention through treatment and long-term recovery. Ultimately, the hope is that all SUD funders in Kansas would be able to use the results of the needs assessment to fuel implementation of strategies for real systems change that would lead to the reduction of substance use initiation and SUDs, save lives, and improve the SUD systems of care.

Eligible vendors will be able to show proven experience and expertise in conducting large-scale needs assessments, as well as an understanding of the purpose and importance of preventing, reducing, treating, or otherwise abating or remediating substance abuse and addiction. In the spirit of maximizing resources and knowledge, the selected vendor will partner with Sunflower Foundation, subcontractors and third-party consultants, and be asked to develop a needs assessment that accomplishes the following goals:

identify key gaps within the Kansas SUD system(s), with a focus across the continuum of care, lifespan, and disciplines;
assess the impact of the state’s current SUD-related investments; and
outline the available transformative and innovative approaches to SUD systems-related work and those strategies being implemented in other states and countries.

While the KFA board has access to a solid foundation of quality data and information that sheds light on many of the basic needs that exist across the Kansas SUD system – and has used it to jumpstart the KFA grant program – a more comprehensive, cross-systems needs assessment is necessary to augment what is already known and to shed light on what we don’t know.

See the full 2023 KFA 2023 Comprehensive Needs Assessment. Eligible organizations serving Kansans are invited to apply. Applications must be submitted online through the KFA portal. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. CDT Oct. 2, 2023.

Questions should be directed to Alyssa Nava, Kansas Fights Addiction Program Manager, at anava@sunflowerfoundation.org.

KFA board awards nearly $6M to organizations

The Kansas Fights Addiction Grant Review Board has awarded a total of nearly $6 million for 35 projects across Kansas in support of substance abuse and addiction treatment services.

The Office of Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced the list of organizations that received funding through the KFA grant program’s first round of funding, which prioritized treatment, recovery, reducing harm associated with substance use, and linking people to support services and care. Funding through the grant program comes from money recovered by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office through opioid legal settlements.

The KFA board received so many quality treatment applications that its members moved to double the amount of funding, originally expected not to exceed $3 million, to more than $6 million. That allowed the board to fund 35 applications instead of the anticipated 17.

“These grants go to organizations working to abate the crisis across the state, working to help treat individuals with opioid and substance-use disorders, help develop communities of recovery, reduce the harm of the crisis, and ensure people seeking treatment are able to connect with providers offering care,” said Christopher Teters, assistant attorney general.

The Kansas Fights Addiction Act, enacted in 2021 by the Kansas Legislature, authorized the creation of the KFA board. Sunflower Foundation serves as the administrator for the KFA grant program. Through settlements with major pharmaceutical companies, distributors and related firms, Kansas has secured more than $340 million to be paid to the state over the next 18 years.

“We are proud to be part of this process as it aligns with our mission at the Sunflower Foundation – to serve as a catalyst for improving the health of all Kansans,” said Krista Machado, Sunflower Foundation’s KFA director. “As the grant administrator, we are excited to support these grantees as they combat the opioid crisis in our state.”

The KFA board approved grants to the following organizations:

The Mirror, Inc., $187,397

Church of the Resurrection, $199,946

Kansas Department of Corrections, $200,000

31st Judicial District Drug Court, $200,000

Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc., $199,293

DCCCA, $200,000

Friends of Recovery Association, $200,000

Lorraine’s House, $57,000

New Chance Inc., $197,980

The University of Kansas Health System, $200,000

Cornerstones of Care, $105,831

Heartland Community Health Center, $200,000

Crawford County MHC, $200,000

High Point Advocacy & Resource Center, Inc., $200,000

Hunter Health Clinic Inc., $199,171

The Mirror, Inc., $48,785

Riley County Community Corrections, $200,000

Unified Government Public Health Department, $200,000

High Plains MHC, $87,819

Valeo Behavioral Health Care, $200,000

Valley Hope Association, $182,577

Mental Health Association of South Central, $150,621

Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, $200,000

The Center for Counseling & Consultation, $177,375

Community Health Center of Southeast KS, $200,000

Kanza Mental Health & Guidance Center, $200,000

Third Judicial District of Kansas, $200,000

DCCCA, $200,000

CKF Addiction Treatment, $200,000

Saint Francis Community & Residential Services, $200,000

Substance Abuse Center of Kansas, $200,000

Heartland RADAC, $30,000

The Cedar House Foundation, $25,000

Empower House Ministries, $200,000

New Beginnings Inc., $95,000

According to the Office of the Kansas Attorney General, estimates show that more than 107,000 people died from a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2021. Of those, 75% involved opioids. In 2019, Kansas reported 393 overdose deaths, compared to 477 in 2020 and 678 in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

Eligibility for the KFA grant program is limited to state agencies, local and county governments, and nonprofit organizations that provide services in Kansas for the purpose of preventing, reducing, treating, or otherwise abating or remediating substance abuse or addiction. Applicants also must release all legal claims arising from covered conduct against each defendant named in the opioid settlement agreements.

Applications for a second round of KFA funding, which is expected to make $2 million in grants available for prevention, providers and health systems, and public safety and first responders, are being reviewed. Funding notifications for prevention grants are anticipated on or before Oct. 2.

Media Releases

KFA Resources

See the RFA for the KFA 2023 Comprehensive Needs Assessment

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Grant Opportunities

On Sept. 1, 2023, the Kansas Fights Addiction Grant Review Board announced it had awarded nearly $6 million to 35 projects in the areas of treatment, recovery, reducing harm associated with substance abuse, and linking people to support services and care

Applications for the second Request for Proposal (RFP), anticipated to make $2 million in grant funding available in the priority areas of prevention, providers and health systems, and public safety and first responders, currently are under review. Funding notifications for prevention grants are anticipated on or before Oct. 2.