WASHINGTON, DC – Combating the opioid crisis continues to be a top priority for Congress, the Trump Administration, and communities across the country. Record amounts of resources have been dedicated to this effort, including new and bolstered federal grants to aid in local responses, which are providing families and communities a more complete tool kit to fight this epidemic.
However, our local communities need new tools to better access these resources and catalog information and data so that the best policy decisions can be made.
For example, the recently announced/available grants in the selected list below are all housed through different federal agencies – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), respectively.
- Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response (read more here)
- Tribal Opioid Response Grants (read more here)
- FY2018 Expanding Access to Quality Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Services Grants (read more here)
- Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) Grants through the 21st Century Cures Act (read more here)
One way to help local communities in the fight to combat the opioid crisis would be to put all of this important information in one, easily accessible place.
H.R. 4284, the Indexing Narcotics, Fentanyl, and Opioids (INFO) Act, authored by #SubDCCP Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH), would do just that. Specifically, the INFO Act will direct HHS to create a public and easily accessible electronic dashboard linking to all of the nationwide efforts and strategies to combat the opioid crisis.
H.R. 4284 passed the House in June by voice vote, before being incorporated into H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act. H.R. 6 passed the House in June by a vote of 396-14.
“Combating the opioid crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck response, and that means ensuring local officials and those on the front lines of this epidemic have the best information and resources available,” said #SubDCCP Chairman Latta.
It is imperative that the Senate act quickly, sending H.R. 6 to President Trump’s desk to become law.
To learn more about Energy and Commerce’s comprehensive efforts to combat the opioid crisis, click here. To learn more about the House’s comprehensive efforts to combat the opioid crisis, click here.
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