The Gila River Indian Community, is a federally recognized tribe and the population of
the focus for the proposed Tribal Opioid Response Project are youth ages 10 to 17 and adults
who are GRIC members and or AI AN members residing in the community. The proposed
catchment area for the Tribal Opioid Response Project is the GRIC located on 372,000 acres of
land south of the Phoenix Metropolitan area in both Pinal and Maricopa Counties. The tribal
membership includes both the Akimel O odham - Pima and Pee-Posh - Maricopa people. The
project will be successfully implemented under the guidance and management of the Gila River
Health Care. The focus of this project includes, 1 supplementing the current
programming within the community with a strategic plan to advance prevention efforts through
community awareness of opioid use disorder, stimulant use disorders and co-occurring
substances; 2 increase treatment efforts with Medication for Opioid Use Disorder ; 3
build infrastructure to implement contingency management for stimulant use disorder; 4
enhance the strategic system of collaboration between specific community departments to
identify community members needing treatment and or recovery support and finally, 5 enhance
the avenue for recovery support/sober living housing. The current Indian Health Service User
Population for GRIC is 34,438. Of the population, it is estimated 8,642 or 37.7 per cent do not reside
within the boundaries of the community. Arizona Department Health Services reported
in the 2020 Primary Care Area Statistical Profile estimated the population to be 14,260 residing
in GRIC.1 GRHC will design the collaborative coalition of partners to oversee the progress of
the program, regularly evaluate program data, and collaborate with a Program Evaluator to
ensure continuous improvements through a process known as Plan, Do, Study, Act to
ensure that the program meets its goals and objectives. A coalition of partners will consist of
approximately ten members, including the Gila River Health Care Behavioral Health Services
Prevention and Treatment teams, GRIC Department of Rehabilitation Services, GRIC Police
Department, GRIC Tribal Social Services, and other community representatives.