• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Addiction Treatment Forum

Addiction Treatment Forum

Addiction Treatment Forum reports on substance use news of interest to opioid treatment programs and patients in medication-assisted treatment.

  • Newsletter
  • Addiction Resources
  • Methadone
  • Buprenorphine
  • Patient Brochures
  • Events

SAMHSA Issues Opioid STR Grants

June 2, 2017 by Alison Knopf

On April 19, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the first round of funding for the two-year State Targeted Response (STR) to the Opioid Crisis grants: $485 million for the first year of the program. The funding went to the single state authorities (SSAs) in charge of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant. Funding was authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act, signed by President Obama on December 13, 2016.

On December 4 the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the funding opportunity to the SSAs, all of whom are members of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors. Applications for funding were due February 17.

The funding in the STR grants must be used for treating opioid use disorders (OUDs).

Below are the states and territories with their award amounts.

State
Award Amount
grants
Alabama $7,967,873
Alaska $2,000,000
Arizona $12,171,518
Arkansas $3,901,297
California $44,749,771
Colorado $7,869,651
Connecticut $5,500,157
Delaware $2,000,000
District of Columbia $2,000,000
Florida $27,150,403
Georgia $11,782,710
Hawaii $2,000,000
Idaho $2,000,000
Illinois $16,328,583
Indiana $10,925,992
Iowa $2,728,077
Kansas $3,114,402
Kentucky $10,528,093
Louisiana $8,167,971
Maine $2,039,029
Maryland $10,036,845
Massachusetts $11,742,924
Michigan $16,372,680
Minnesota $5,379,349
Mississippi $3,584,702
Missouri $10,015,898
Montana $2,000,000
Nebraska $2,000,000
Nevada $5,663,328
New Hampshire $3,128,366
New Jersey $12,995,621
New Mexico $4,792,551
New York $25,260,676
North Carolina $15,586,724
North Dakota $2,000,000
Ohio $26,060,502
Oklahoma $7,283,229
Oregon $6,564,425
Pennsylvania $26,507,559
Rhode Island $2,167,007
South Carolina $6,575,623
South Dakota $2,000,000
Tennessee $13,815,132
Texas $27,362,357
Utah $5,537,458
Vermont $2,000,000
Virginia $9,762,332
Washington $11,790,256
West Virginia $5,881,983
Wisconsin $7,636,938
Wyoming $2,000,000
Territory Award Amount
American Samoa $250,000
Micronesia $250,000
Northern Marianas $250,000
Palau $250,000
Puerto Rico $4,811,962
Virgin Islands $250,000

“Through a sustained focus on people, patients and partnerships, I am confident that together we can turn the tide on this public health crisis,” said HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD. “Opioids were responsible for over 33,000 deaths in 2015; this alarming statistic is unacceptable to me,” said Dr. Price.  “These grants aim to increase access to treatment, reduce unmet need and reduce overdose-related deaths.”

Tom PriceDr. Price’s subsequent comments did raise some questions about how the second installment of the funding will be handled. “I understand the urgency of this funding; however, I also want to ensure the resources and policies are properly aligned with and remain responsive to this evolving epidemic. Therefore, while I am releasing the funding for the first year immediately, my intention for the second year is to develop funding allocations and policies that are the most clinically sound, effective and efficient. To that end, in the coming weeks and months, I will seek your assistance to identify best practices, lessons learned, and key strategies that produce measurable results. Thank you for your collaboration and partnership as we move forward in this critical work together to help the millions of Americans hurt by this public health crisis.”

SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality prepared an interactive  medication-assisted treatment (MAT) map to help states identify their areas of greatest need for treatment for opioid use disorders. That map was not made public until May 10, but Kimberly Johnson, PhD, director of SAMSHA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, told AT Forum about it in the last issue (see http://atforum.com/2017/04/samhsa-develops-maps-project-determine-where-otps-needed/.

For the interactive MAT map identifying underserved areas, go to https://www.samhsa.gov/data/mat_map.

Problems exist with the methodology used to develop the map. The map defines risk based on all substance use, not just use of opioids, and it looks at areas of high poverty as especially needy, without recognizing that even in wealthy areas there are poor people with opioid use disorders, H. Westley Clark, MD, Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health at Santa Clara University, told AT Forum. He added, “I appreciate the complexity of the task presented to SAMHSA to come up with a useful algorithm to assist in making the decision on how to allocate the funding under STR.” Dr. Clark retired as CSAT director in 2014.

The Opioid STR grants are meant to “address the opioid crisis by increasing access to treatment, reducing unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment and recovery activities for opioid use disorder,” according to SAMHSA. The term opioid use disorders includes misuse of prescription opioids and use of illicit opioids, such as heroin. The grants were to be awarded based on two factors: the unmet need for OUD treatment, and overdose deaths.

Also see the AT Forum story on how California plans to use its funding: http://atforum.com/2017/04/california-cures-act-80-million-expand-treatment-hub-spoke-system/.

Filed Under: 2017, 28-3, Newsletter

Primary Sidebar

Upcoming Events

AMERSA’s Annual Conference
November 2-4, 2023

AMERSA’s annual conference will be held November 2-4 in Washington, DC. For more information, go to https://amersa.org/2023-conference/

The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Annual Symposium
December 7-10, 2023

The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry annual symposium will be held December 7-10 in San Diego. For more information, go to https://www.aaap.org/training-events/annual-meeting/2023-annual-meeting/

The 2024 AATOD Conference
May 18-22, 2024

The 2024 AATOD conference will be held May 18-22 in Las Vegas. For more information, go to https://aatod.eventscribe.net/

 

View More Upcoming Events…

ATForum.com

  • Newsletter
  • Addiction Resources
  • Rx Methadone & Safety
  • Patient Education Brochures
  • Events
  • Related Websites

Addiction Resources

  • Addiction and Recovery
  • Addiction Treatment Forum
  • Books and Booklets of Interest
  • Drug Screening and Testing
  • Evidence-Based Addiction Medicine
  • Federal Government
  • Health Care Reform
  • Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS
  • Medication-Assisted Treatment
  • Mental Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Online Continuing Education Free Training Modules

Footer

Addiction Treatment Forum is produced by an independent medical communications agency. Commercial advertising is not accepted.
Published by Clinco Communications, Inc. & Communication Clinco, NFP.
About Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Follow Us

Sign up for News!

© 2023 Addiction Treatment Forum · All Rights Reserved