UB's Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement to Distribute $2M in Federal Grant Funding for Opioid Intervention
September 28, 2017
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement will manage a $2 million grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the federal program known as Combating Opioid Overdose through Community-level Intervention Initiative (COOCLI). With this grant, the center will fund and study innovative local policy initiatives that provide multi-organizational rapid responses to spikes in overdoses.
The grant will help identify innovative solutions that move beyond traditional health and law enforcement policies. UB’s center, housed in the College of Public Affairs, will act as the authority for all administrative and financial aspects of the grant. It is expected that local government agencies, public and private universities, advocacy organizations and nonprofits will apply to receive funding from the grant.
The Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement, which was announced last April, is a leading regional policy effort to resolve the nation's drug problems and addiction issues, including the ongoing opioid epidemic. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, in 2015 an estimated 12.5 million Americans misused prescription opioids, while more than 33,000 died and hundreds of thousands more experienced an overdose requiring treatment. The drain on the nation's economy, whether it is in healthcare costs, job losses or the breakdown of families, is now in the tens of billions of dollars.
UB's center focuses on initiatives to both reduce the broad range of criminal activities associated with drugs, including trafficking and violence. It also works to advance public-health solutions to addiction.
"This extraordinary work by our center will help identify innovative policy solutions to the opioid crisis at the local level," said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs. "The grant will help leaders work across agencies to solve this enormous and complex problem. I am especially proud that the center beat out better funded institutions to make the University of Baltimore a leading force in drug policy reform."
Tom Carr, executive director for the CDPE, said, "The opioid epidemic continues to plague our communities and harm families at an unprecedented rate. Bringing together public health and safety officials through innovative community-driven programs is the best opportunity we have to develop meaningful solutions for reducing drug overdoses nationally."
CDPE and UB officials expect to begin accepting applications for awards from the grant on or about Oct. 1, 2017. Organizations that wish to apply for funding for their opioid intervention plan may do so here.
Learn more about the University of Baltimore's College of Public Affairs.
Learn more about the work of the Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.