Arizona Awarded $31.6 Million in Federal Grant Funds to Combat the Opioid Crisis

Arizona will receive more than $31.6 million per year for two years to provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services to individuals affected by opioid use disorders and/or stimulant use disorders.

Using the State Opioid Response II (SOR II) two-year grant, provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) will administer work with other state agencies, contracted health plans, and community partners to address specific initiatives that:

• Increase access to medication-assisted treatment in metropolitan and rural areas in Arizona.
• Increase distribution and public awareness of the overdose reversal medication Naloxone.
• Expand access to recovery support services including housing, peer support, and job search assistance.
• Increase localized community opioid and stimulant primary prevention efforts including a statewide toolkit on psychostimulants, fentanyl, and targeted strategies on counterfeit pills.
• Establish new substance abuse prevention coalitions in three, to-be-determined areas of need in Arizona.
• Reduce recidivism with “reach-in” care coordination for individuals who transition from correctional settings, and replicate the successful Yavapai Re-entry Project in additional counties.
• Increase street-based outreach in an attempt to identify high-risk individuals, get them into treatment, and provide them with resource options in a more timely manner.
• Enhance support for opioid-exposed newborns and pregnant women who have opioid use disorder.

Efforts will focus on populations that have identified unmet needs, including individuals in rural and isolated areas; veterans, military service members and military families; pregnant women and parents with opioid use disorder; individuals experiencing homelessness; tribal populations; individuals who have experienced trauma, toxic stress or adverse childhood experiences; and individuals re-entering the community from correctional settings.

The SOR II grant extends services to underinsured and uninsured Arizona residents regardless of Medicaid eligibility.

AHCCCS will distribute SOR II funding through many community partners and state agencies, including but not limited to: Arizona Department of Health Services; Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith, and Family; Arizona Department of Child Safety; Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry; Arizona Department of Veterans' Services; Arizona State University; Gila River Health Care; Pascua Yaqui Tribe; Mercy Care; Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan; Health Choice Arizona; Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency; Phoenix Police Department; and the University of Arizona.