Feds Pledge $300M in New Grants for Opioid Programs

More than $300 million in new federal grants will go to programs to improve substance-abuse counseling and treatment for young people, veteran and others at risk from the continued opioid epidemic.

In a statement accompanying the announcement Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the COVID pandemic should not obscure the risks from a “precipitous rise in opioid and stimulant misuse and overdoses.”

According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation recorded an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths during the 12-month period ending in April 2021—representing an increase of 28.5 percent from the same period in the previous year.

Calling the substance use crisis “a persistent and deadly problem for decades,”  Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon, who heads the Office of Justice Programs  (OJP), warned “illicitly manufactured fentanyl and synthetic opioids have tightened the grip drugs have on our society.”

The funds will come largely from OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. An additional $34 million has been earmarked for first responders in communities dealing with “public safety and public health emergencies, including crises that result from substance use disorders.”

The main targets of the grant program include

• The Adult Drug and Veteran Treatment Court Program with beefed-up operational support ($61M);
• Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Abuse Site-Based Program, aimed funding treatment, version and recovery ($29.6M);
• the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Program,which helps states develop and implement residential substance use treatment programs, including medication assisted treatment within correctional and detention facilities $16M).
• The Mentoring for Youth Affected by the Opioid Crisis and Drug Addiction ($16M) which supports services for youth who are currently using or at-risk for using drugs or to youth with family members who have a substance use disorder.
• Family Drug Court Program ($13.8M) will target capacity-building for state and local courts, and tribal governments in 14 jurisdictions.

Youth programs are a major target of the latest round of grants.

Additional funding ($7.9M) is allocated to the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program  to establish or enhance juvenile drug treatment courts; and $8.9M to  support the Opioid Affected Youth Initiative, which will support states, communities, tribes and nonprofits implementing programs and strategies that treat children, youth and families impacted by the opioid epidemic.

To download the full statement, click here.