Blunt commends additional federal grant award to fight opioid crisis

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who continues to lead efforts on Capitol Hill to increase federal resources for programs targeting America’s opioid epidemic, applauded the recent award of additional State Opioid Response grant funds.

“This investment will provide key resources to expand access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services — especially in areas that need it most,” said Sen. Blunt, chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday announced that additional State Opioid Response grants have been awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. The monies will permit states to provide flexible funding to their state governments to support prevention, treatment and recovery services unique to each state.

In addition to the approximately $485 million released earlier this year, SAMHSA this week released another $932 million in continuation funding to support the second year of the State Opioid Response program. Sen. Blunt’s home state of Missouri has been awarded $18.3 million for the second year of the grant.

With this additional funding, Sen. Blunt’s office said that Missouri has received a total of $28 million this year through the State Opioid Response grant program.

“The opioid epidemic continues to hurt people of all backgrounds in communities across our state,” Sen. Blunt said. “Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, from 2017 to 2018, opioid overdose deaths in Missouri increased by about 16 percent.”

Sen. Blunt last year voted to include $1.5 billion for State Opioid Response grants in the Labor/HHS appropriations bill, which became law in September 2018.

“Making sure Missouri communities have the support they need to get this public health crisis under control will continue to be a top priority of mine,” the senator said.