Feds award $26 million to Ohio for opioid fight

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is giving Ohio $26 million to help in its fight against the opioid epidemic (Source: ”Opioid epidemic: Ohio gets $26M in federal grants,” (Willoughby) News-Herald, April 25, 2018). 

The funds are part of $485 million in grants given to states and U.S. territories. This is the second year Opioid State Targeted Response grants were awarded. Ohio received a similar amount of money last year. 

STR grants were created by the 21st Century Cures Act, and are administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within HHS.

HHS stated in a news release that grantees have used the first year of funding to implement medication-assisted treatment; promote use of the opioid overdose reversal medicine naloxone; implement key prevention strategies; and build sustainable systems of recovery support services. According to the department, prevention efforts include communications campaigns and community-based strategies.

Last week HPIO released the first in a series of inventories and scorecards analyzing Ohio's policy response to the addiction crisis and outlining areas where the state could be more effective.