Iowa to get $9 million to fight opioid crisis

The White House on Friday said the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services would receive $9 million in a state opioid response money, as part of the $1.5 billion it announced in nationwide funding to help combat the nation’s opioids epidemic.

A White House official said the grant funding is being distributed as soon possible, through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services, but no timeline has been set.

The grants are to fight against “the devastating impact the overdose epidemic has had on this nation — reaching large cities, small towns, tribal lands, and every community in between,” the White House said in a statement Friday.

“Addressing the opioid crisis in our state is a top priority for Iowa HHS,” Iowa Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand responded in an email. “These funds will ensure we can continue to grow and build upon the programming, preventions and services we have put in place.”

The funding would supplement current efforts started with previous federal grants and address emerging priorities across the state to respond to the opioid crisis, according to information provided by the White House.

The Biden administration estimates 1,100 Iowans will receive treatment and/or recovery support services during the two years of the grant funding, with an additional 11,000 individuals in the state receiving prevention and/or harm reduction services.

“The focus of this project is to increase community capacity for a successful local response to the opioid and stimulant crises,” the White House said in its statement.

Rod Courtney of CRUSH of Iowa, a Cedar Rapids based not-for-profit that provides support, resources, education and referrals for individuals with substance use disorders, called Friday’s White House announcement “encouraging” — in particular, a planned $104 million investment to expand prevention services for substance use disorder in rural communities.

The federal funding also will allow states to increase investments in overdose education, peer-support specialists in emergency departments and other strategies Courtney said can help save lives in hard-hit communities.

“Personally, I think that would be a game changer,” he said of the funding to help create new sites to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in rural communities, “because it brings the cost of care down and accessibility up.”

CRUSH of Iowa opened a peer-led recovery community center in Cedar Rapids in June. The drop-in center uses a peer-centered approach that promotes recovery through support groups and services, advocacy, outreach and treatment and resource referrals.

“That’s just a huge piece of it,” Courtney said of increased investments in peer-support specialists and coaches.

“For somebody that dedicated their life to fighting the opioid epidemic, it’s hopeful. It’s encouraging,” Courtney said.

“I very much look forward to see what else comes out of this.”

Cedar Rapids-based Area Substance Abuse Council has participated in the State Opioid Response Grant since 2019.

ASAC provides substance use and gambling disorder prevention, treatment and recovery programs in Linn, Jackson, Jones, Clinton, Benton, Delaware and Dubuque counties.

“We will continue to do so utilizing the funds that we will continue to receive in assisting us in the treatment of our patients,” ASAC Clinical Director Cassandra Collins said in a statement.

“ASAC supports and is appreciative of any funding that assists in combating the opioid epidemic that are patients in Iowa are facing. We will continue to serve our patients to hopefully reduce opioid overdoses and support their recovery.”

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