CHARLESTON — The panel of experts who will be guiding members of the nonprofit responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to combat the substance use disorder crisis in West Virginia were officially introduced to the public Tuesday.

The West Virginia First Foundation held a virtual meeting Tuesday afternoon with members of its statewide expert panel as they prepare to review the first applications for the new initial opportunity grant program. The meeting focused on the panel’s responsibilities and expectations.

“We need their wisdom, we need their guidance and their direction and their connection to the local communities that they represent throughout the state,” said Jonathan Board, the executive director of the West Virginia First Foundation.

The memorandum of understanding between Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and county and city governments that created the West Virginia First Foundation required the creation of a governing board, regional entities as needed, and a statewide expert panel.

According to the MOU, the statewide expert panel can consult the West Virginia First Foundation board and make recommendations to the state’s six regions on projects to use opioid settlement dollars for. The panel includes experts in the fields of substance abuse treatment, mental health, law enforcement, pharmacology, finance and health care policy and management.

“The purpose of the Expert Panel is to assist the Board in making decisions about strategies for abating the opioid epidemic in local communities around the state,” according to the MOU.

The MOU requires the foundation to spend 20% of its annual budget in all six regions during the first seven years the foundation exists based on a regional share calculation. The individual regions can spend the distributed funds for approved purposes but are required to consult with the statewide expert panel first.

The foundation’s expert panel committee recommended the seven members of the panel, which the full foundation approved more than a month ago.

“Not only did they come in willingly as volunteers, they immediately went to work,” Board said. “That was the last step that we needed to accomplish and satisfy for the MOU to then start dispersing monies and getting this grant process started here in the State of West Virginia.”

Panel members are: Laura Lander, an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University; Greg Puckett, a Mercer County commissioner and executive director of Community Connections Inc.; Emily Birckhead, the executive director of West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences; William Marshall, the commissioner of the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Christina Mullins; deputy secretary of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders at the state Department of Human Services; Jess Gundy, the Criminal Justice Program director at the state Department of Homeland Security; and Adam Crawford; medical director for the General Division Emergency Department at Charleston Area Medical Center Health System.

Earlier this month, the West Virginia First Foundation approved the creation of the Initial Opportunity Grant program. The $19.2 million program will distribute $800,000 per target area to six regions of the state, with up to four awards per target area per region.

Funding can be used for four targets dealing with the state’s substance use disorder crisis: drug diversion programs and interdiction programs, youth drug prevention and workforce development, child advocacy centers and pregnant/parenting women (PPW) neonatal abstinence syndrome programs and transitional and/or recovery housing expansion.

Those wishing to apply can visit wvfirst.org and click on “grants,” where they can learn more about the Initial Opportunity Grant program and download the application, which are due by midnight on Saturday, Oct. 5. The applications would be reviewed by the statewide expert panel. Foundation member John Dower, the executive director for West Virginia Sober Living and the director of recovery services for Ascension Recovery Services, served on the two committees that selected the statewide expert panel and created the initial opportunity grant.

“The goal here is for this, to the best of my understanding, to be a collaboration between the initial opportunities committee and you serving on the expert panel,” Dower said. “That process hasn’t been totally fleshed out yet. But I think the goal is to work in tandem with you…As the state-level experts, you’re seeing the whole scope of what’s occurring in the state, what’s needed in the state, and who are the good players in the state.”

During a question-and-answer portion of the meeting, Puckett raised concerns about the number of applications likely to be received by the Oct. 5 deadline for the initial opportunity grant. Once approved, grants would be disbursed in phases, with 40% disbursed initially, then tranches of 20% after that. Awards would be announced on or before Dec. 31.

“Everybody’s going to try to throw every single thing at this first round,” Puckett said. “What I’ve tried to remind everybody is that there’s going to be additional dollars down the line, but I just tell everybody to be patient, and that if they don’t get funded in this round, maybe looking at scoring, that would be better down the line if there’s more money.”

Board said the foundation has already received more than 100 applications for the initial opportunity grant program with more applications expected over the next 18 days.

“We’ve just got to get rolling,” Board said. “We’ve got to get money back into the state and back into the hands of West Virginians. That’s what this focus is.”