Senate Appropriations Committee hears about funding needs for SAPT block grant

The opioid epidemic is persisting, calling for the need for more funding, according to testimony on Capitol Hill last month. Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health and single state authority (SSA) for the state's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grant. In addition, it's important to transition from opioid‐focused funding to general funding for substance use prevention and treatment in general, via increasing the block grant, he said.