In 2016, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (“SAMHSA”) National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that 11.8 million people misused opioids, including prescription pain relievers and heroin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2016 is estimating that drug overdose deaths, most of them due to opioids, will exceed 60,000. In order to expand treatment and recovery services, SAMHSA is issuing funding through six grant programs. Details of the programs from SAMHSA’s online grant announcements are set forth below.
- First Responders – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act – $44.7 million. The purpose of this program is to allow first responders and members of other key community sectors to administer a drug or device approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. This grant will be awarded for up to four years.
- State Pilot Grant for Treatment of Pregnant and Postpartum Women – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act – $9.8 million. The purpose of the program is to enhance flexibility in the use of funds designed to: 1) support family-based services for pregnant and postpartum women with a primary diagnosis of a substance use disorder, including opioid disorders; 2) help state substance abuse agencies address the continuum of care, including services provided to women in nonresidential-based settings; and 3) promote a coordinated, effective and efficient state system managed by state substance abuse agencies by encouraging new approaches and models of service delivery. The grant will be awarded for up to three years.
- Building Communities of Recovery – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act – $4.6 million. The purpose of this program is to mobilize resources within and outside of the recovery community to increase the prevalence and quality of long-term recovery support from substance abuse and addiction. These grants are intended to support the development, enhancement, expansion and delivery of recovery support services as well as promotion of and education about recovery. Programs will be principally governed by people in recovery from substance abuse and addiction who reflect the community served. The grant will be awarded for up to three years.
- Improving Access to Overdose Treatment – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act – $1 million. SAMHSA will award Overdose Treatment Access funds to a Federally Qualified Health Center, Opioid Treatment Program or practitioner who has a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine to expand access to Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs or devices for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. The grantee will partner with other prescribers at the community level to develop best practices for prescribing and co-prescribing FDA-approved overdose reversal drugs. This grant will be awarded for up to five years.
- Targeted Capacity Expansion: Medication Assisted Treatment (“MAT”) – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction – $35 million. The purpose of this program is to expand/enhance access to MAT services for persons with an opioid use disorder seeking or receiving MAT. This program targets states identified with having the highest rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin and opioids per capita and includes those states with the most dramatic increases for heroin and opioids based on SAMHSA’s Treatment Episode Data Set. This grant will be awarded for up to three years.
- Services Grant Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women – $49 million. The purpose of this program is to expand comprehensive treatment, prevention and recovery support services for women and their children in residential substance use treatment facilities, including services for nonresidential family members of both the women and children. This grant will be awarded for up to five years.
These grants are separate from the award of $485 million in grants in April 2017 provided by the 21st Century Cures Act. Funding will be distributed through these grants to 58 recipients, including states, cities, health care providers and community organizations in all 50 states and other territories.
Practical Takeaways
- Funding is available to health care entities combating the opioid epidemic.
- Health care entities should evaluate existing treatment and recovery services and determine ways to expand and enhance its programs.
- Review policies and procedures related to existing behavioral health programs to ensure expansion of programs will continue to allow entities to comply with state and federal compliance obligations.
If you have questions regarding behavioral health compliance issues related to expanding and enhancing opioid-related programs with the use of the available SAMHSA funding, please contact Charise R. Frazier at cfrazier@hallrender.com or (317) 977-1406 or your regular Hall Render attorney.
