The Louisiana State Opioid Response (LaSOR) Program will enhance existing statewide prevention, treatment, and recovery support services for individuals with or at risk for opioid use disorder (OUD) and stimulant use and misuse and use disorders (SUM). Special populations to be served by this grant are (1) racial/ethnic minorities, (2) LGBTQ+, (3) older adults, (4) reentering citizens from the criminal justice system, (5) birthing persons or people with infants experiencing neonatal opioid withdrawal symptoms (NOWS), (6) people who inject drugs, and (7) youth. While services will be delivered is statewide, the focus will be on the areas with the highest overdose rates and the highest overdose volumes, in addition to areas with limited access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) based on the LaSOR needs assessment. The goals of LaSOR 3.0 include 1) reduce opioid and stimulant-related deaths and incidents by implementing high-quality, evidence-based (EB) treatment services for individuals with or at risk for OUD and other concurrent substance use disorders; 2) increase access to EB harm reduction services and mechanisms for priority populations; 3) increase access to community recovery support services for individuals with OUD and/or SUM; and 4) decrease opioid and stimulant use and misuse by supporting EB prevention and education efforts for priority populations. Funds will support treatment services for 1,400 individuals (400 in year 1 and 1,000 in year 2), recovery support services for 980 individuals (280 in year 1 and 700 in year 2), and prevention services for 4,000 individuals (2,000 in year 1 and 2,000 in year 2).
LaSOR 3.0 will enhance and expand MOUD treatment availability statewide by building the capacity of the Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) and Office Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) providers through the hub and spoke model. As part of this initiative, OBH will utilize funds to support the implementation of mobile medication unit to target high-need areas and priority populations. To increase workforce capacity and quality of care, providers across the state will receive education and consultation through academic detailing and Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO). Outreach for these services will focus on OBOTs and community pharmacy providers. To optimize maternal access to evidence-based treatment of OUD and promote practices that improve infant health outcomes, hospital-based improvement teams across the state will implement best practices to support and enhance the care for substance-exposed mothers and newborns. These services will address Louisiana's leading cause of pregnancy-associated death while building statewide capacity for more targeted identification and support of pregnant and postpartum persons with SUD. OBH will develop a centralized harm reduction distribution hub. This hub will allow organizations across the state to request harm reduction products, such as safe storage and disposal products, naloxone, fentanyl testing strips, naloxboxes, vending machines, and more, to distribute to the areas in need. Recovery support services for individuals with OUD and SUM will be enhanced and expanded by establishing new homes across the state. Additionally, mobile outreach and peer recovery support services will be provided throughout the state to educate communities about OUD services and address stigma. LaSOR will utilize the existing Strategic Prevention Framework-based infrastructure as a basis to implement prevention EBPs statewide. Strategies include education through the new Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Module of Life Skills Training and Generation Rx.