D.C. Update – December 23, 2015

News from the States

  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo releases new heroin and prescription drug toolkit
  • Unite to Face Addiction rally featured on front cover of South Carolina’s Fall 2015 newsletter

Around the Agencies

  • SAMHSA accepting applications for Youth Treatment Implementation Grants
  • SAMHSA announces Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grants
  • SAMHSA releases issues brief on heroin prevention strategies
  • NIH Strategic Plan now publicly available

In the News

  • Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law by President Obama
  • Vera Institute of Justice releases new interactive tool tracking mass incarceration
  • Jeff Levi leaves Trust for America’s Health

Upcoming News

  • SAMHSA and CADCA announce dates for 26th National Leadership Forum & SAMHSA’s 12th Prevention Day

News from the States

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo releases new heroin and prescription drug toolkit
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the release of a new heroin and prescription drug toolkit last week. The new “Kitchen Table Toolkit” was released as part of New York’s Combat Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse campaign, and contains two videos for parents, teachers, and community members to reference when discussing heroin and prescription opioid misuse with young adults. Both videos discuss the wide-reaching impact of substance use disorders and provide information on how to help those in need receive treatment.

Arlene González-Sánchez, the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), has developed various resources to help combat opioid misuse in her State, including the NY State HOPEline, a 24/7 hotline offering motivational interviewing and referrals for those with addiction issues.

Read the announcement of the Kitchen Table Toolkit and view the videos here.

Unite to Face Addiction rally featured on front cover of South Carolina DAODAS’s Fall 2015 newsletter
The Unite to Face Addiction rally held in Washington, DC in October was featured on the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services’ (DAODAS) Fall 2015 newsletter. The newsletter provides a summary of the rally’s performers and attendees, noting that DAODAS Director Bob Toomey attended the event. The Unite to Face Addiction rally’s organizers assert that one in three American households is affected in some way by substance use disorders. The organizers plan to build a national movement providing a voice for those affected by or living with substance use disorders.

Around the Agencies

SAMHSA accepting applications for Youth Treatment Implementation Grants
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for Cooperative Agreements for Adolescents and Transitional Aged Youth Treatment Implementation grants. The purpose of this grant program is to provide funding to States, Territories, and Tribes to improve treatment for adolescents and transitional aged youth with substance use disorders or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. The program helps provide youth access to evidence-based assessments, treatment models, and recovery services. SAMHSA expects that grants of up to $800,000, per year for up to three years, will be provided to up to two selected grantees. Applications are due January 26th, 2016.

To apply, please visit both http://www.grants.gov and the SAMHSA website to download the required documents you will need to complete the application.

SAMHSA announces Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grants
Last week the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grants. The DFC Support Program aims to reduce substance use among youth and adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. Eligible applicants are community-based coalitions addressing youth substance use that have never received a DFC grant.

SAMHSA releases issue brief on heroin prevention strategies
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT) released a new issue brief on heroin prevention strategies last week. The new resource discusses ongoing trends associated with heroin use and prescription drug misuse, and contains a list of data sources for heroin-related information. The brief outlines several promising strategies for confronting the growing prevalence of opioid overdoses throughout the country.

NIH Strategic Plan now publicly available
Last week the National Institutes of Health (NIH) submitted their FY 2016- FY 2020 Strategic Plan to Congress, and it is now publicly available. In the plan, the NIH presents a framework that describes their mission in the context of the changing healthcare landscape. The plan is designed to coordinate decision-making across the Agency, and it will complement, not replace, the strategic plans of the individual Institutes, Centers, and Program Offices, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

In the News

Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law by President Obama
Last week Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; S. 1177), a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This Act includes provisions regarding substance use disorder prevention, and it will provide funding for evidence-based drug prevention in schools. The passage of the ESSA does not appropriate a specific amount of money towards drug prevention, but it does require local educational agencies to use at least 20% of academic enrichment grant funding for drug and violence prevention.

Read the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s (CADCA) overview of ESSA here.

Vera Institute of Justice releases new interactive tool tracking mass incarceration
Last week the Vera Institute of Justice released a new interactive tool for tracking mass incarceration growth between 1970 and 2014. A report discussing mass incarceration and a related fact sheet accompanied the release of the new tool. The Vera Institute found that since 1970 the number of individuals held in jail increased four-fold from 157,000 to 690,000 per year. Jail populations were observed to grow more quickly than prison populations, especially in small and mid-sized counties across the country. The report asserts that African Americans comprise approximately 40 percent of the jail population, and that the number of incarcerated women rose fourteen-fold from 8,000 women in 1970 to 110,000 women in 2014.

Access the tool here.

Access the report here.

Access the fact sheet here.

Jeff Levi leaves Trust for America’s Health
Jeff Levi, Executive Director of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), will be returning to academia full-time in his position as professor of Health Policy and Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University. During his time as Executive Director, Dr. Levi prioritized issues ranging from obesity to HIV/AIDS. Rich Hamburg will serve as Interim President and CEO until Dr. Levi’s position is filled long-term.

Upcoming Events

SAMHSA and CADCA announce dates for 26th National Leadership Forum & SAMHSA’s 12th Prevention Day
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) announced the dates for the 26th National Leadership Forum last week. The event will be held from February 1-4, 2016 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference will feature a number of presentations from substance use disorder professionals on recent research as well as several training workshops.

Access more information and register for the event here.

Should you have any questions, or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Robert Morrison, Executive Director, (202) 293-0090 or Shalini Wickramatilake-Templeman, Public Policy Associate, at (202) 293-0090.