Sen. Claire McCaskill is encouraging Missouri community organizations, health providers and local governments to apply for $70 million in new grant funding to combat the opioid epidemic recently announced by the Department of Health and Human Services.
“While progress stalls out in Jefferson City, I’m encouraged by President (Donald) Trump’s administration’s efforts to help crack down on the opioid crisis with these new resources,” said McCaskill, a former Jackson County prosecutor. “So many Missouri communities are doing incredible work to combat an epidemic that’s ravaging our communities, and I hope they’ll compete for this funding to further those efforts.”
Administered through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the $70 million in grant funds, which include up to $41 million for first responders, will be made available through the Medication-Assisted Treatment and Prescription Drugs Opioid Addiction grant, First Responders grant and Improving Access to Overdose Treatment grant.
Missouri communities and other entities can apply for the grants at www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements-2017
McCaskill recently urged Gov. Eric Greitens to call a special session of the Missouri Legislature to move on a statewide prescription drug monitoring program — supporting State Rep. Holly Rehder’s request after the legislature yet again failed to pass such a program this session. Missouri is the only state in the country without a statewide program. Despite the lack of statewide action, 26 cities and counties across the state have joined the St. Louis County monitoring program, which will cover more than half of Missouri’s population.
The motion shaped by McCaskill that was successfully included in last year’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act — federal legislation that provides resources to states to combat the number of prescription drug and heroin deaths across the country — enables Missouri’s network of county-level monitoring programs to be eligible to apply for federal resources. Without this provision, eligibility for this federal grant funding would have been limited to states.
Continuing her commitment to fighting the opioid epidemic, McCaskill wrote to Trump, “There is no question that it is going to take all levels of government to fight this public health crisis in our country, and I am committed to working with you and your administration to do everything we can to stop the endemic in its tracks.”