Tribal Opioid Project - Project Abstract: The Cheyenne and Arapaho (C&A) Tribes are applying for the 2024 Tribal Opioid Response Project Grant funded by SAMHSA. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe located in western Oklahoma. This typical Tribal jurisdictional/service area is comprised of eleven (11) counties: Beckham, Blaine, Canadian, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Kingfisher, Major, Roger Mills, Woodward, and Washita Counties. This program is aiming to serve the Tribal jurisdiction area often and expanding to other Native communities throughout Oklahoma and will provide virtual as well as mail-out services to interested clients outside the typical service area. The C&A Tribes' jurisdiction is vast, spanning 8,996 square miles across eleven (11) Oklahoma counties. The service area has pockets of rural disparities. Some areas of Canadian County are located in a suburb of Oklahoma City, with access to a wide variety of services. The other counties (including large areas of Canadian County) are in rural and medically underserved communities, with many barriers and service gaps. A significant number of C&A Tribal members live in areas far from the Tribe's headquarters that house critical programs serving our communities; it is not unusual for a tribal member to reside 100 miles roundtrip from services. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes will put forth efforts to address the SUD epidemic by providing a continuum of culturally appropriate evidence-based prevention and mentoring strategies. The Tribes Opioid Response (TOR) Program has a strong relationship with the Native Community as well as general population due to multiple awareness events addressing substance use throughout Oklahoma to reduce the chance of overdose through substance use to the Native Community, which has resulted in C&A TOR earning the 2024 7th Generation Tribal Community Impact Award. Section A.2: The tribal population has limited access to prevention/recovery services. Due to its large service area with many of the people being in rural areas most are not exposed to any preventative measures or have the knowledge of what DUD/SUD truly is. Additionally, there are very limited resources for the public in Western Oklahoma both private and state funded which has limited all residents of Western Oklahoma in finding resources and materials for Recovery. Most tribal members don't have quick access to healthcare and have to travel great distances to see their primary care provider which in most instances is conducted through the Indian Health Service (IHS). Our goal will be to go to the individual's community and provide education, cultural healing, and supply harm reduction materials since transportation has been a major obstacle for rural Oklahoma, they are often not able to come to larger events in the Oklahoma City Metro area. The current TOR office is located in Canadian county OK which has the highest rate of hospitalized youth that have overdosed, additional data for Tribal areas is not available due to the rural nature and data disparities are prevalent in western Oklahoma1. Currently, the only program providing outreach services regarding recovery and harm reduction is the TOR Project which is critically understaffed. There is a dire need for increased awareness campaigns and harm reduction approaches throughout all of Oklahoma however, the vast area the Tribe serves is not able to be met with current staffing limitations.
