Courtney Announces Nearly $600,000 in Federal Opioid Funding for Eastern Connecticut | Congressman Joe Courtney
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Courtney Announces Nearly $600,000 in Federal Opioid Funding for Eastern Connecticut

September 21, 2018

(Norwich, CT) - Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that health centers in eastern Connecticut will receive $574,250 in grants to fight the growing prescription opioid and heroin epidemic. Specifically, United Community and Family Services in Norwich will receive $289,250 and Generations Family Health Center, Inc in Willimantic will receive $285,000. Several health centers with multiple statewide locations including in eastern Connecticut will receive additional funding as well.

"The number one thing I hear around the district from both medical professionals and first responders is that they need more funding if we are ever going to stem the rise in drug addiction," said Courtney. "For years, we have been saying that we need to start treating this crisis like a medical emergency as well as a law enforcement issue. This funding does just that by providing funding for hospitals and clinics on the frontlines."

Jennifer Granger, President & CEO of United Community and Family Services, said, "The ability to apply for these HRSA grants that support critical services to treat substance use disorder, including opioid use, is the reason that UCFS becoming a grant-funded FQHC was so important to our region. As a direct result of these two grants, UCFS will expand our medication assisted treatment program to our New London Health Center, adding a primary care APRN, a recovery coach and transportation assistance for clients; and UCFS will increase our current capacity as a training site for University of Connecticut Social Work students pursuing careers that focus on helping those with substance use disorders."

The funding breakdown is as follows:

  • Connecticut received $22 million ($11 million per year over two years) in State Opioid Response Grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to support the state's comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic and to expand access to treatment and recovery support services. The funding will be used for the following initiatives:
  1. Expand access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) including shelter- and street-based MAT in two urban locations;
  2. Increase the number of hospital emergency departments having access to on-call recovery coaches;
  3. Support the Department of Correction to provide pre- and post-release treatment and overdose prevention to inmates with opioid use disorders; and,
  4. Purchase 10,000 doses of naloxone (also known as Narcan), a medication to reverse opioid overdoses, for distribution throughout the state.
  • The Connecticut Department of Public Health received $3.6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support state efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, including to support work by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
  • The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $4.8 million to 16 Connecticut community health centers to expand access to integrated substance use disorder and mental health services. The following Connecticut community health centers received funding:

Organization Name

City

Amount of Award

UNITED COMMUNITY AND FAMILY SERVICES INC

NORWICH

$289,250

GENERATIONS FAMILY HEALTH CENTER, INC.

WILLIMANTIC

$285,000