Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) began distributing the first-year funds of its two-year State Opioid Response (SOR) and Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) grant programs.
The two programs ultimately will award nearly $3 billion over two years to help states and tribes provide community-level resources for people in need of prevention, treatment and recovery support services.
Florida is penciled in for $100,170,437 in the first round of HHS funds.
“The Trump administration continues to provide historic levels of support for treating Americans with substance use disorders, because the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t put a pause on our country’s opioid crisis,” said U.S. HHS Sec. Alex Azar. “We’re committed to a science-based approach for fighting the opioid crisis, focusing these State and Tribal Opioid Response grants on providing the gold standard for treatment: medication-assisted treatment with appropriate psychosocial services and community supports.”
Through SOR, states across the country are funded to develop tailored approaches to prevention, treatment, and recovery from opioid use disorders and/or stimulant use disorders. The program provides access to lifesaving, evidence-based medication to treat opioid use disorders, along with psychosocial services and community supports. The TOR program enables the development of these same comprehensive approaches among tribal communities.
The grant programs are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to combat the nation’s opioid crisis and the HHS’ Five-Point Opioid Strategy. Both programs have included new flexibility to allow for stimulant misuse to also be addressed.
“Programs such as these are instrumental because they facilitate greater access to evidence-based treatment,” said U.S. Asst. Sec. for Mental Health and Substance Use Elinore F. McCance-Katz. “Now, more than ever, this access to treatment for those with substance use disorders is especially critical.”
Through these existing funding streams, states and tribes have been able to develop and utilize integral systems of comprehensive care to address their jurisdictions’ individual needs. This new round of funding will help continued and expand these efforts.
Author
