NASADAD releases updated timeline of STR and SOR funding

Last month, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) released an updated timeline of the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grant programs. The key dates, including when the grants were authorized, when Congress appropriated funds and when funding opportunity announcements were released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and funding award period for states are listed, as well as more information. The updated version reflects two recent developments.     

How STR and SOR grants helped ‘Dark Ages’ rural Iowa add MAT

The State Targeted Response (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have helped rural Iowa tremendously, by increasing the capacity for treatment with methadone and buprenorphine.     

SAMHSA grantees can't use funds for medical cannabis

Some states are adjusting their contracts to the recent edict from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) banning grantees, including Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grantees, from.     

Texas pharmacist works with harm reduction on STR naloxone distribution

Legislatively, Texas may have its problems in addressing opioid overdoses and evidence‐based treatment, but the Texas Targeted Opioid Response (TTOR) grant, from the Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is changing all of that. “We have amazing folks in the TTOR department at the Texas Health and Human Services department who are aggressively minded and are focused on trying to do the right things with the money,” said Lucas Hill, Pharm.D., clinical assistant professor in the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy and director of Operation Naloxone, which is funded by TTOR.     

STR grants: How one physician in rural Florida is trying to help

If the State Targeted Response (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants are like an elephant — large, especially relative to funding for addiction treatment in general — they are also almost impossible to generalize about. But seeing one piece in context of the whole is essential in trying to find out where the money is actually going. The money goes to the single state authority (SSA) in charge of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grant in each state, the person who knows most about what is needed in that state. The funding comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These grants added $2 billion‐plus to addiction treatment services for opioid use disorders for four years — and many expect this number to be doubled. For perspective, the entire SAPT block grant is under $2 billion and has been for decades.     

Senators call for $2 billion in supplemental SAMHSA funding

As the fourth stimulus bill, the HEROES Act, awaits action by the Senate, 19 senators sent a letter last week to Senate and House leadership calling for increased investments in substance use disorder programs during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The letter, from Senators Tammy Baldwin (D‐Wisconsin) and Jeanne Shaheen (D‐New Hampshire), along with 17 other senators (all Democrats), calls for “$2 billion in funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to administer supplemental grant allocations under the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant program and the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant program.”     

SAMHSA to write new application for new SOR with stimulants included

The addition of stimulants as an allowable use for State Opioid Response (SOR) grants will require a new application, which the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is working on, ADAW has learned. The change was in the FY 2020 appropriations bill passed last month by Congress (see ADAW, Dec. 23, 2019; “FY 2020 Appropriations: Stimulants added to SOR's $1.5 billion,” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32573 ), along with funding for other SAMHSA programs, including the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant (SAPT BG). After the bill passed before Christmas, Washington went away for the holidays.     

Transitioning SOR to the SAPT BG: Why not?

It's time to think about transitioning the State Opioid Response (SOR) grants to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grant, Robert Morrison, executive director of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), told the House Energy and Commerce Committee at its March 3 hearing on opioid legislation. The STR and SOR grants went directly to single state authorities (SSAs) in charge of the SAPT block grants — NASADAD members — so this makes perfect sense. These are the officials who best know how funding should be spent in their states — on what substances, including alcohol. Instead of having a designated amount set up for opioids — although that was expanded to include stimulants as well (see “FY 2020 Appropriations: Stimulants added to SOR's $1.5 billion,” ADAW, Dec. 23, 2019, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32573 ) — each SSA should just have this funding added permanently to the block grant.     

What does $8 billion for coronavirus say about opioid funding?

Last week, Congress gave $8 billion to the fight against coronavirus, seemingly overnight. Certainly, compared to the extra $2 billion a year for addressing the opioid epidemic, the money came much faster. It took years for the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) grant to be included, as it was in the Cures Act passed by Congress in 2016 and signed into law by President Obama in December of that year. The State Opioid Response (SOR) grants continue. How did the coronavirus $8 billion — $6 billion more than the White House had asked for — materialize so quickly? We asked two Capitol Hill experts.     

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Congress Votes to Increase SCHIP Funding with Tobacco Taxes Study Finds 3.8% of Pain Patients Abuse their Opioid Medication Recovery Home Gets Grant from OxyContin Agreement New York State and the MSA NASADAD Makes Case for Increase in Block Grant Legal Community Pitches in to Prevent Underage Drinking Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Second Chance Act Briefly Noted Names in the News State Watch Resources Coming up     

FY 2020 Appropriations: Stimulants added to SOR's $1.5 billion

Appropriations bills for FY 2020 released last week detail some good news for the field. In the State Opioid Response (SOR) grants, there would be more flexibility: specifically, these could be used for stimulants.     

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Researchers Call Rapid Opioid Detox Unsafe ‘Charitable Choice’ Still in Flux as Religious Organizations Compete for Treatment Grants Payers and Ultra Rapid Detox Resource One State's Missive on Charitable Choice Charitable Choice and Access to Recovery Tainted Heroin Caused Cardiovascular Effects in First Part of 2005 Coordination Urged Between Corrections and State Substance Abuse Directors State Prison Population Briefly Noted Resources Coming up     

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EHR Costs for Addiction Treatment Programs: $100,000 and up Unit Reinforces Addiction Medicine via Affiliation with Yale School SAMHSA Workforce Report Has Landed Florida Cities Lobby to Restrict Sober Homes Statewide Five Reasons a Recovery Focus Strengthens Everything Aetna Uses Pharmacy Benefit to Discourage Opioid Abuse Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

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Treatment Expansion in Washington State Funded by Medicaid Cost Offsets Study Finds No Harm in Religious use of Peyote; Supreme Court Impact Possible Treatment Expansion in Washington State Thumbs Up for Parity Recommendations, Down for Merging SA and MH Issues Older Problem Drinkers Medicating Pain with Alcohol Use of Alcohol to Manage Pain Among Male Non‐Problem and Problem Drinkers, Ages 55 to 65 Years Offender re‐entry Bill Gets Strong Support in Hearings State Prison Population and Substance Abuse SAMHSA Presenting Forums on New Medication for Opioid Addiction Briefly Noted Resources Coming up     

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SAMHSA Plans Dramatic Changes as Health Reform Proceeds Kansas Professionals See License Law as Pivotal to Elevating Counseling NIDA Heralds New Delivery Systems to Treat Opioid Addiction Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly Wins Two Azbee Awards SAMHSA Grant Will Help Odyssey House Develop Peer Workforce Briefly Noted State Watch Names in the News Obituary Resources Coming up     

ONDCP issues first ‘treatment plan’: Not part of Strategy

Last week, in a surprise move, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) issued its first National Treatment Plan for Substance Use Disorder, along with its National Drug Control Strategy. If anyone was expecting an additional windfall like the $1 billion annual State Opioid Response grant program, it's not there.     

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NIATx Pushes Treatment Programs to Operate More Like Medical Businesses Sierra Tucson Enhancing Assessment by Using SPECT Imaging Technology Benefits of Keeping Mom on Methadone Outweigh Risks to Baby How the Probuphine Trial was Done CSAT to Review Ways to Switch Patients From Opioids to Vivitrol Massachusetts Treatment Chain to Offer Vivitrol for Opioid Dependence TRI Issues Roadmap for Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment With Health Care Briefly Noted State Watch Coming up