W/B HIDTA Receives over $2.5 Million in Discretionary Funds for Drug Prevention Initiative and Programs that Facilitate Public Health/Public Safety Partnerships for Addressing the Opioid Epidemic

The W/B HIDTA has received over $2.5 million in discretionary funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to support a $554,000 initiative that focuses on preventing fentanyl use among middle school-aged children age 11-14; and three other initiatives that facilitate public health/public safety partnerships for addressing the opioid epidemic. The latter includes $1,235,522 for the Overdose Mapping Application Program (ODMAP); and $837,832 for “A Division for Advancing Prevention and Treatment” (ADAPT).

The “11-14 Fentanyl Campaign” will reduce the rate of fatal and non-fatal overdoses related to fentanyl in 11-14 year olds in HIDTA communities where fentanyl is identified as one of the top two drug threats. The program’s goals are 1) to increase the awareness of 11-14 year olds and their caregivers of the dangers of fentanyl, the Good Samaritan Law, and resources available to them; 2) to train middle school students and their caregivers on evidence-based interventions to prevent substance use and fatal overdoses in 11-14 year olds; and 3) to evaluate the effectiveness of the 11-14 Fentanyl Campaign.

ODMAP provides near real-time suspected overdose surveillance data across jurisdictions to support public health and public safety strategies efforts in mobilizing an immediate response to an overdose spike in a jurisdiction or region. It links first responders on scene to a mapping tool that tracks overdoses, stimulates real-time responses, and provides for strategic analysis across jurisdictions. Agencies must sign a teaming agreement to access the ODMAP database, and, in doing so, agree to share their data with other participants.

Approximately 21 states have implemented a statewide ODMAP strategy. The Bureau of Justice Assistance has also funded four tribal sites to implement ODMAP through the Tribal Responses Project.

The funding will ensure that ODMAP continues free of charge to users in all 50 states and U.S. territories. It supports ODMAP’s continued expansion to jurisdictions that have not yet developed an overdose surveillance system. Further, the funding supports additional statewide implementation strategies connecting statewide data systems to ODMAP with the Application Programming Interface.

This fiscal year, the discretionary funds will support the development and evaluation of a naloxone availability layer within ODMAP. This will further support public health and public safety efforts to save lives by identifying the availability of naloxone.

ADAPT’s purpose is to operationalize and support the HIDTA Prevention Strategy as a training and technical assistance provider for all 33 regional HIDTA programs. Its mission is to advance knowledge, skills, and quality outcomes in the field of substance use prevention while supporting successful integration of strategies informed by the best available evidence into communities. Its goals are: 1) to advance substance use prevention strategies through essential training and technical assistance services and resources; 2) to promote public health and public safety partnerships in substance use prevention; and 3) to prepare the future public health and public safety workforces through student engagement in ADAPT operations.