The Illinois Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (IPDO) project will address three goals: expand infrastructure for assessing, planning, and implementing strategies to prevent opioid-related overdose deaths and overdose disparities in the county that accounts for more than 50% of these events in Illinois; create networks of services to support people who are at risk of overdose; and measure short and long-term outcomes.
The Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS-SUPR) submits this application in response to SAMHSA-CSAT Funding Opportunity Announcement SP-21-002 Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug - Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths. The IDHS/SUPR Bureau of Prevention Services is the unit that manages the prevention set-aside from the Substance Abuse Block Grant. Illinois proposes to reduce the number of prescription drug/opioid overdose-related deaths and adverse events among individuals 18 years of age and older through Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution services focusing on areas of significant overdose impact and mortality disparities. Five sub-recipients will serve the City of Chicago and surrounding Cook County by delivering two major categories of activities: Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) services, and service area relationship-building focused on creating networks of collaborators that include primary healthcare, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Mental Health (MH) treatment, and other wraparound social services. While Cook County represents 5,106,780 residents or 40.43% of the total population of over 12,630,000 Illinois residents, in 2019, it accounted for 54.06% of fatal overdoses. This points to a significant disparity in mortality for Cook County driven by the population hub of the City of Chicago.
Sub-recipients will be responsible for coordinating outreach and educational activities, delivering training activities for traditional and non-traditional first responders (law enforcement, Emergency Management Services/fire departments, probation offices and re-entry programs, substance use disorder treatment programs, and non-profit organizations serving high-risk populations, people who use drugs, and friends/family of people who use drugs), distributing naloxone kits, collecting data associated with stated outcomes, and assisting IDHS/SUPR in complying with SAMHSA/CSAT reporting expectations. Sub-recipients will assist IDHS/SUPR in a local needs assessment and strategic planning activities, as well as contribute to the development of state and local policy changes and legislation. In year one, it is estimated that more than 2,500 naloxone kits will be distributed and over the course of the five-year grant period more than 12,500 unique individuals will be trained in overdose prevention, recognition, and response.
