First Foundation talks guidelines, goals for funding and oversight in April meeting

Stakeholders and members of the West Virginia First Foundation met for the first time in the Truist building in Charleston, W.Va., on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. (Caity Coyne | West Virginia Watch)

In a free-flowing meeting on Thursday, members of the West Virginia First Foundation outlined potential goals and guidelines the organization could follow as it gets closer to distributing money for programs and initiatives to confront the ongoing drug and overdose epidemic in West Virginia.

It was the board’s first full meeting since accepting the resignation of now-former board member Jonathan Board, who on May 6 will begin working as the private nonprofit’s first executive director.

There was no formal action taken Thursday regarding discussions held by the board, which included talks on what kinds of programs it should prioritize for funding and the mechanisms it could use to track where money goes, outcomes from initiatives funded by that money and oversight for programs receiving funds.

Dr. Matthew Christiansen, vice chair of the foundation’s board and director of the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy, said he would like to see the organization focus on “outcome-based” funding when it comes to granting funds. This means, Christiansen said, ensuring that money going out to organizations or programs is prioritized based on strategies proven to have the greatest impact for communities.

“Addiction has its tentacles in nearly everything across the spectrum … I could just go on and on and on about the impact addiction has had, and that is really representative of many of the funding requests we’ve gotten at this point,” Christiansen said. “One of the things that comes to my mind [is] ensuring that we are driven by outcomes … [that there are] very clear expectations of what we hope to achieve with the dollars we put out.”

Board members discussed the possibility of making money available early to conduct community needs assessments to get a better understanding of where service gaps exist and what kinds of funding and programming could help fill those gaps.

Alys Smith, an attorney and philanthropist who sits on the board, suggested the board create some sort of rubric or checklist to ensure entities and individuals applying for funds have proper guidance to do so. Board Chairman Matt Harvey commended the idea, and said that it could help support transparency between the board as it makes its funding decisions and the organizations looking to receive funding.

Another crucial aspect of that transparency — mentioned in the meeting by Jeff Sandy, former secretary for the state Department of Homeland Security — will be how the foundation will go forward with auditing organizations that receive funding from it to ensure that money is spent properly.

Harvey said that First Foundation leaders have had “talks” with the state auditor’s office — which regularly performs audits on spending units and localities within the state — about performing these duties, but it’s unlikely that the state agency will take the lead on the initiative. Harvey said there may be legal issues with involving the auditor, potentially due to the First Foundation being a private nonprofit despite the fact that it is dealing with state dollars.

Harvey and other board members discussed the potential for a future public “dashboard,” which would be used to help anyone follow where money goes from the foundation and into communities.

The only official action taken at Thursday’s meeting was setting the date for its next meeting, which will be held virtually at 2 p.m. on May 16.

At that meeting, Harvey said more information will be available on Board’s employment terms, including his salary, which has yet to be made public.

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