The State Opioid Response (SOR) funding will enhance the Idaho's Response to the Opioid Crisis (IROC) program. IROC will increase access to Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and stimulant use disorder services, including Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), expand community recovery support services and reduce the number of opioid and stimulant related deaths in Idaho. Idaho intends to accomplish this by supporting the continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support services for OUD and other concurrent substance use disorders.
Idaho's 2022 SOR Needs Assessment top gap and need identfied was the lack of access to treatment and recovery support services. Idaho will continue to address this need by increasing access to OUD and stimulant use disorder services, including MOUD, through several methods. To reach as many Idahoans as possible, SOR funding will be used to expand MOUD services and reduce the total number of counties in Idaho with no MOUD prescribers from 10 to 6 by the end of the grant. This will be accomplished by increasing the number of OBOT services in underserved counties and by opening 2 Safe Syringe Program (SSP) low barrier buprenorphine clinics. Using the Managed Services Contractor's, BPA Health, provider network, community-based providers will deliver treatment services, including MOUD, to 500 individuals during the grant period. In addition to increasing access to MOUD, Idaho will also increase access to psychosocial treatment services by opening 1 new co-occurring outpatient treatment facility within the state.
Idaho will increase access to community recovery support services to 200 individuals each year of the grant for a total of 400 persons served. This will be achieved by providing recovery coach services within Idaho's recovery centers and expanding support services through correctional reentry initiatives and warm handoff programs. Additionally, funding will be available to Idaho's 5 federally recognized tribes to support any prevention, harm reduction, treatment, or recovery support services needed within their communities.
The second top need identified in Idaho's 2022 SOR Needs Assessment was lack of public education and public awareness on behavioral health issues. To address this need, safe and sober educational community activities and awareness campaigns will be provided monthly in all of Idaho's 7 regions through Idaho's recovery centers; and to address our youngest population and provide their schools and communities with evidence-based tools and activities, prevention and education programming will be implemented or expanded in at least 3 schools over 2 years.
The third top need identified in Idaho's 2022 SOR Needs Assessment was lack of access to safe and stable housing. To address this need, Idaho will increase access to recovery housing by providing financial housing assistance to 400 eligible individuals over the 2 years of the grant.
With a 43%- increase in deaths related to opioid overdoses in Idaho between 2020 and 2021, reducing the number of opiate and stimulant related deaths is the overarching goal for the IROC program. To achieve this the Division of Behavioral Health will partner with the Idaho Harm Reduction Project (IHRP) who will distribute a total of 44,620 naloxone kits over the 2 years of the grant. To support the use of naloxone, IHRP will also distribute 1,200 naloxone educational materials and train 100 individuals on the use of naloxone each year. Additionally, harm reduction services will be expanded through IROC funding by increasing access to HIV/HEP C testing within 8 community treatment and/or recovery support agencies by the end of the grant.