Rural Communities Opioid Response (Planning) - Joseph Candler, Jr. Memorial Foundation requests $200,000 in RCORP-Planning funding, $100,000 per year, for the project period of September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028, to implement the Madison Parish Rural Opioid and Substance Use Response Planning Project. This rural planning project will build the partnerships, data systems, referral pathways, workforce readiness, and sustainability plan needed to strengthen the opioid and substance use response system in Madison Parish, Louisiana. The project will serve Tallulah and surrounding rural communities, where poverty, transportation barriers, limited behavioral health access, youth substance use concerns, broadband limitations, and fragmented referral systems create challenges for residents affected by opioid misuse, substance use disorder, co-occurring behavioral health needs, and recovery support needs. Madison Parish needs a coordinated planning process focused specifically on opioid misuse, overdose-related risk, substance use disorder service gaps, treatment referral pathways, recovery support connections, and readiness for future implementation funding. The proposed project will be led by Joseph Candler, Jr. Memorial Foundation in partnership with Michelle’s Behavioral Health and Consulting Solutions, Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church No. 2, Madison STEAM Academy, and additional public safety, health care, recovery, youth-serving, faith-based, and community partners. Through the planning process, the project will formalize the Madison Parish Rural Opioid and Substance Use Planning Network and engage youth, families, faith leaders, behavioral health partners, school representatives, people with lived experience, and community residents. The project goal is to develop a coordinated rural opioid and substance use response network that is prepared to improve access to prevention, treatment referral, recovery support, and related social services. Because RCORP-Planning funds support planning activities only, the project will not provide direct treatment, counseling, medical care, recovery housing, client transportation, or direct service delivery. During the two-year project period, JCJMF and its partners will complete six major planning products: a formal rural opioid and substance use planning network, a community needs assessment, a local and regional service map, a referral and coordination plan, a workforce and partner capacity plan, and a sustainability and implementation readiness plan. These products will be combined into the final Madison Parish Rural Opioid and Substance Use Response Plan. The project will use data and community input to identify opioid and substance use concerns, overdose-related indicators, youth substance use trends, service gaps, transportation barriers, provider and workforce needs, referral challenges, and opportunities for future implementation. The final response plan will provide Madison Parish with a practical roadmap for improving coordination among nonprofit, faith-based, behavioral health, education, public safety, health care, recovery, and social service partners. By the end of the project period, Madison Parish will have a functioning rural planning network, shared data, documented opioid and substance use service gaps, clearer referral pathways, stronger partner capacity, and a sustainability strategy for future funding and implementation. The long-term impact will be a more coordinated rural system prepared to improve prevention, treatment referral, recovery support, and related behavioral health access for residents affected by opioid misuse and substance use disorder.
