The Town of Barnstable is pleased to announce a new partnership with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. (AHP), to support the administration and oversight of the Town’s Opioid Settlement Funds (OSF). This partnership will help ensure that settlement dollars are managed efficiently, transparently, and in a manner that best serves Barnstable residents, while strengthening the Town’s capacity to direct resources where they can have the greatest impact.
During 2024 the Town of Barnstable hosted a community engagement process to solicit input from residents, service providers, and community stakeholders who have been directly impacted by the opioid crisis. This process included a large, facilitated community conversation, four focus groups, and one feedback session with the Town of Barnstable Opioid Settlement Fund Design Team. The input received through this process was incorporated into funding decisions. Since November 2024, the Town of Barnstable has distributed $559,036.00 to fourteen organizations.
“The Town of Barnstable is pleased to partner with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. to manage and maximize the impact of the Town’s share of the Opioid Settlement Funds,” said Andy Clyburn, Assistant Town Manager. Mr. Clyburn emphasized that the funds are strictly directed toward evidence-based strategies across four core areas.
Core Funding Pillars
- Treatment: Expanding access to clinical interventions and therapies.
- Harm Reduction: Implementing strategies to reduce overdose deaths and risks.
- Recovery Support: Providing resources to sustain long-term sobriety and stability.
- Prevention: Educating the community to stop substance misuse before it starts.
AHP brings 40 years of experience advancing behavioral health, public health, and human service systems nationwide, including over a decade of focused work addressing the opioid crisis. The organization has extensive expertise in opioid settlement fund administration and the management of large‑scale public grant programs for state and local governments. This includes serving as the Regional Care Coordination Agency for the State of Illinois, where AHP administered 19 rounds of opioid settlement funding to more than 70 organizations statewide.
Headquartered in Sudbury, Massachusetts, AHP maintains a strong local presence, with many staff members living and working across the Commonwealth, including on Cape Cod. The Barnstable project team includes Massachusetts‑based staff with direct municipal experience and deep familiarity with local prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery systems. This combination of national experience and local expertise positions AHP to function as an extension of Barnstable’s capacity, allowing Town staff and community partners to remain focused on outcomes rather than administrative complexity.
Through this partnership, AHP will support Barnstable with key elements of opioid settlement fund administration, including:
- Developing and issuing clear, accessible funding opportunities
- Facilitating fair and transparent application review processes
- Providing grantee coaching and implementation support to meet reporting requirements and performance expectations
- Strengthening compliance, monitoring, and outcome reporting
Together, the Town of Barnstable and AHP will work to ensure that opioid settlement funds are invested in ways that align with allowable uses, respond to community‑identified needs, and demonstrate measurable impact over time.
A Notice of Funding Availability will be released in the near future.
