Hogan administration awards nearly $10 million in grants to combat opioid crisis in Maryland

The Hogan administration announced Thursday that it will award nearly $10 million in grants to counties for programs to combat the opioid crisis.

In a news release, the state’s Opioid Operational Command Center wrote that the state will award $4 million in block grants to the counties as well as more than $5.6 million in competitive grants for specific programs that focus on “prevention & education, enforcement & public safety, and treatment & recovery programs."

The grants come as the state continues to battle its problem with opioid addiction, which claimed the lives of 2,114 people in 2018 in Maryland. Experts largely blame the increase in overdose deaths on fentanyl, a synthetic opioid magnitudes more potent than heroin.

[ Millions in federal grants come to Maryland to curb opioid-related deaths ]

The funding is part of the Hogan administration’s five-year, $50 million initiative launched in 2017 to award millions to the state’s various counties to combat the ongoing problem.

“The programs and recipients of this funding represent the comprehensive, holistic approach we are taking to address this issue from all angles," Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford said in a statement.

[ https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-opioid-deaths-dip-20190611-story.html ]

According to the state, the grant awards break down as follows:

Competitive Grants

Prevention & Education

• $440,000 to provide training and mentorship in a stress and trauma-relief model to educators, healthcare workers, and addiction and detention programs across Allegany County
• $184,000 to expand law-enforcement-assisted diversion (LEAD) to treatment programs
• $47,000 to provide prevention-focused programming in two Carroll County high schools, four Carroll County middle schools, as well as 4th and 5th grade students from five Westminster-area elementary schools
• $14,000 to support mental & behavioral health counseling for children and families who are surviving victims of the opioid crisis.
• $56,000 for Carroll County public school’s opioid abuse prevention project
• $295,000 to support statewide EMS education initiative for treating opiate overdoses
• $8,000 to support Lower Shore Addiction Awareness Visual Arts Competition
• $137,000 to support informational campaign, education and training, and enhanced data collection in Queen Anne’s County
• $59,000 to support a multi-faceted campaign for opioid prevention and awareness in the St. Mary’s County public school system
• $62,000 to provide a licensed social worker for students in the Bay Hundred area of Talbot County
• $87,000 to support Washington Goes Purple activities to increase awareness of opioid addiction and to encourage students to get/stay involved in school
• $49,000 to support Worcester Goes Purple awareness campaign
• $66,000 to provide support for children whose parent(s) and other close relatives have experienced a fatal or nonfatal overdose in Anne Arundel County/Annapolis
• $60,000 to provide health curriculum in Calvert County public school system focusing on mental- and emotional-health supports and substance-abuse prevention
• $56,000 to support substance abuse prevention groups in the Calvert County public school system
• $97,000 to support prevention efforts in the Cecil County public schools system
• $94,000 to support prevention programming for Cecil County youth
• $59,000 for parenting and family training sessions in Harford County to increase resilience and reduce risk factors
• $49,000 for an anti-stigma campaign in four counties across each region of the state that will create awareness of opioid-use disorder and related stigma
• $50,000 to provide harm-reduction materials at Maryland senior centers
• $20,000 to support opioid-education programming in Talbot County
• $13,000 support drug-disposal boxes in Washington County
• $15,000 to support high-intensity services for justice-involved youth and family members in Washington County

Enforcement & Public Safety

• $580,000 to increase monitoring and regulatory oversight of controlled substances prescribers and dispensers
• $57,000 to support the Washington County Sheriff’s Office day reporting center
• $205,000 to support the Sheriff’s Office efforts to educate the community on opioids, etc. in Allegany County
• $62,000 to support a Heroin Coordinator in Caroline County, which helps to make the link between law enforcement and treatment

Treatment & Recovery

• $380,000 to improve access to naloxone statewide, specifically EMS
• $53,000 for peer-support services at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Anne Arundel County
• $59,000 to reduce barriers to treatment services in Baltimore City
• $97,000 to help women access treatment and recovery services in Baltimore City
• $20,000 to expand behavioral health services (addressing both substance use and mental health issues) in the Calvert County public school system
• $9,000 for trauma-informed training for therapists and counselors in Caroline County
• $97,000 to support three certified peer-recovery specialists in Carroll County
• $109,000 to support recovery housing and support services in Harford County
• $37,000 to support peer counselor in Howard County detention center
• $74,000 to support expansion of Mission House in Kent County, MD certified recovery residence
• $41,000 to develop an integrated process for planning, policy development, and services for inmates with addiction and mental-health issues in Kent County
• $88,000 to support a Family Peer Support Outreach Specialist for Maryland families who are struggling with substance-use disorders
• $20,000 to train women who are incarcerated as certified peer-recovery specialists
• $61,000 to support a care coordinator and peer outreach associate to help individuals and families suffering from a substance-use disorder
• $12,000 to provide alternative pain-management training to clinicians in St. Mary’s County
• $209,000 to support a sober-living facility for women in Washington County
• $532,000 to support a regional substance-use crisis-stabilization center for Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset counties
• $70,000 to expand recovery services in Anne Arundel County/Annapolis with Serenity Sistas
• $66,000 to expand recovery services in Calvert County
• $118,000 to support a psychiatrist in Caroline County
• $178,000 to provide behavioral-health services in the Charles County detention center
• $94,000 to expand outreach to families after an overdose death in Frederick County
• $126,000 for a certified peer-recovery specialist in Harford County who will partner with EMS
• $98,000 to support families impacted by substance use statewide
• $46,000 to provide peer-recovery support in Wicomico County

Block Grants

Allegany County: $124,612

• Educate and provide outreach about the growing crisis of opioid prescription drugs and heroin misuse in the community.
• Reduce illicit supply of opioids.
• Support peer-recovery services.
• Increase availability of naloxone for first responders.

Anne Arundel County: $278,074

• Expand public outreach programming to increase awareness and decrease morbidity and mortality from opioid overdoses, as well as reduce the stigma associated with opioid addiction.
• Continued support for Safe Stations.
• Support start-up funding for recovery center.

Baltimore City: $793,719

• Continued support for mobile clinic.
• Support access to harm-reduction materials and community-outreach activities.
• Support treatment program for access to medication assisted-treatment and care coordination, case management and health literacy services.

Baltimore County: $409,565

• Continued support for peer recovery services.

Calvert County: $108,966

• Provide peer-recovery support in the local emergency department.
• Expand access to clinical services and medications that support recovery from substance-use disorders.
• Support medication assisted treatment (MAT) coordinator.
• Increase community awareness.

Caroline County: $91,323

• Enhance data collection and analysis.
• Support treatment and recovery services.
• Decrease growth in opioid misuse by supporting K-9 program.

Carroll County: $137,594

• Continuation of mobile crisis services.

Cecil County: $130,937

• Support youth risk-prevention program.
• Support over-the-counter medication safety training for youth.
• Provide transportation assistance to those in treatment and recovery.
• Support Drug Free Cecil - Youth Leadership Project.
• Expand peer-recovery specialist services in the community.

Charles County: $112,960

• Support for Opioid Intervention Team (OIT) coordination.
• Expand peer-recovery support services.
• Support harm-reduction programming.
• Increase availability of naloxone for first responders.
• Support and facilitate outreach and public-awareness events.

Dorchester County: $90,324

• Support for Opioid Intervention Team (OIT) coordination.
• Continued support for drug-free fun and structured youth and young adult activities.
• Support peer-recovery services.
• Support SBIRT (screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment) services.

Frederick County: $155,237

• Expand peer-recovery support services.

Garrett County: $85,664

• Support Community Resource Team to provide a bridge between identified potential clients and opioid-addiction services.
• Support program to eliminate barriers to recovery.
• Support drug prevention and education program in the school system.
• Support for Opioid Intervention Team (OIT).

Harford County: $169,552

• Support a central intake, navigation, and recovery team to enhance early identification and interaction for those with substance-use disorder.

Howard County: $124,279

• Support SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment) services and connection to treatment providers.

Kent County: $86,662

• Continue to support peer specialist(s) for Opioid Community Intervention Project.

Montgomery County: $162,894

• Support public-awareness campaign.
• Host four or more community forums on opioid and substance misuse.
• Continue to increase community and police access to naloxone.
• Continued support for Stop Triage Engage Educate Rehabilitate (STEER).

Prince George’s County: $191,190

• Support public-awareness campaign.
• Support outreach efforts to overdose survivors and their families for service connection.

Queen Anne’s County: $92,654

• Support naloxone distribution and training program.
• Support Queen Anne’s Go Purple Campaign.
• Support peers-recovery services.
• Support access to medications that support recovery from substance use disorders.

Somerset County: $88,992

• Expand law-enforcement support.
• Support peer-recovery support specialist.
• Promote Somerset County Opioid United Team (SCOUT) initiative.

St. Mary's: $107,634

• Support peer-recovery support specialist.
• Support for Opioid Intervention Team (OIT) coordination.
• Support treatment services to persons with substance-use disorder who are incarcerated.

Talbot County: $92,654

• Support for Talbot’s Early Intervention Project to connect women during the prenatal period when drug use is identified/suspected with counseling and other support services.
• Provide prevention and intervention for high-risk students and families.

Washington County: $148,913

• Continued support of opioid crisis response team.
• Support Washington Goes Purple, which educates youth and community about the dangers of prescription pain medication.

Wicomico County: $117,288

• Support heroin and opioid coordinator for the Wicomico County Goes Purple campaign.
• Support for Opioid Intervention Team (OIT) coordination.
• Support First Responder’s Appreciation Dinner.
• Reduce illicit supply of opioids through enforcement.
• Support education and prevention campaign.

Worcester County: $98,313

• Support peer-recovery specialist assignment in hospital ER.