Oneida County Announces Opioid Response Fund AwardsView

County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced today that the Oneida County Department of Mental Health (OCDMH) has awarded over $1 million to five local organizations to fund projects addressing the opioid crisis.

"Oneida County is deeply committed to addressing the opioid crisis through targeted and impactful solutions," Picente said. "This funding will support our partners in this fight by implementing innovative projects to focus on critical areas that will create lasting positive impacts. These investments are crucial to not only reducing suffering, but also improving the overall well-being of our community."

Oneida County issued an Opioid Response Request for Proposal in 2023 to fund local projects that improve the system of behavioral services integration to best treat co-occurring disorders, service equity, and meaningful evaluation that demonstrates reduced suffering and positive impacts on the social determinants of health that have been affected by the opioid crisis.

The RFP's goal was to establish projects whose priority areas include harm reduction, treatment investments across the service continuum, priority populations, housing, recovery, prevention, transportation, public awareness and research. The funds for this RFP were made available through Opioid Settlement Funds received by Oneida County.

The awardees for the projects are as follows:

Center for Family Life and Recovery

Amount Awarded: $99,000

Project Summary: Center for Family Life and Recovery (CFLR) requested funding to enhance the pre-existing Peer Alliance to address priority areas across the service continuum, priority populations and recovery/prevention. This project will improve the capacity of the peer alliance and hire three Certified Peer Advocates to facilitate groups and provide training, support, anti-stigma, campaign messages, outreach and more. CFLR will provide structured wellness activities to encourage individuals to engage in recovery services and show them that life can be fun without the use of addictive substances.

Helio Health, Inc.

Amount Awarded: $183,955

Project Summary: Helio Health, Inc. requested funding to expand Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) services to target rural regions of Oneida County. Specifically, Helio Health will offer full time Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and dually diagnosed SUD/mental health clinic services in Camden, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) via Telehealth, and full-time Peer Support Services.

Integrated Community Alternatives Network (ICAN)

Amount Awarded: $420,000

Project Summary: ICAN requested funding to provide intervention of youth opioid use through school-based trainings and supports for students in grades 6-12 in high-risk schools in Oneida County. These interventions will include four core evidence-based components: 1) In-school trainings for up to 4,000 students from the evidence-based Opioid Lifeline This is Not About Drugs Training Program; 2) Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training for school staff and community-based service providers; 3) Overdose Lifeline School Naloxone Opioid Overdose Training for up to 400 school staff including nurses at high-risk schools and 4) Individualized training and technical assistance to school administrators to address opioid misuse in their schools. ICAN also requested funding to facilitate educational preventative programming to focus on the social, emotional, behavioral health and wellbeing of young people in Oneida County.

Partnership to End Addiction

Amount Awarded: $16,977

Project Summary: Partnership to End Addiction requested funding to pay for, manage and promote small incentives for Oneida County residents to sign up for the Partnership's EndODNY automated text program, especially those at risk of overdose, their loved ones and the people who work to keep them safe. Registrants receive educational texts, so they are better equipped to prevent or respond to overdoses and "spike alerts" when overdoses occur in Oneida County.

Upstate Caring Partners

Amount Awarded: $299,970

Project Summary: Upstate Caring Partners (UCP) requested funding to support/expand peer-recovery centers, which may include support groups, social events, computer access or other services for persons with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and any co-occurring SUD/MH conditions and provide/support transportation to treatment or recovery programs or services for persons with OUD and any co-occurring SUD/MH conditions within the support people in treatment for and recovery from OUD and any co-occurring SUD/MH conditions approved use. The target population includes individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability, those transitioning from carceral settings and those moving from crisis stabilization, withdrawal services, or inpatient rehabilitation services, through the developing a walk-in center located at 1427 Genesee St., and co-located with planned Crisis Respite and Residential Services. The goals include promoting prevention, stabilization and recovery services for the targeted population; providing integrated care addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and enhancing accessibility to community-based Behavioral Health services.

"Opioid addiction and drug overdoses remain a serious health crisis facing our community," said Oneida County Commissioner of Mental Health Ashlee Thompson. "With this funding we will address the multiple crises that have stemmed from the opioid epidemic. These investments will help Oneida County expand and build upon initiatives that save lives and provide support and services to those who need it."

For more information on the OCDMH's Opioid Response Fund, please contact Commissioner Thompson, at [email protected] or (315) 768-3660.

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