AZYP's CARE Network for Rural Arizona (Community Awareness, Access, Response, and Education): Expanding Naloxone Access, Safe Medication Disposal, and Overdose Prevention - Arizona Youth Partnership (AZYP) proposes the CARE Network for Rural Arizona (Community Awareness, Access, Response, and Education) to strengthen overdose prevention and response systems by expanding access to FDA-approved opioid overdose reversal medications (OORMs), increasing community overdose prevention capacity, and improving connections to treatment and recovery services across Arizona's rural and frontier communities. The project will provide intensive implementation in Gila, Pinal, Pima, Graham, Greenlee, and Mohave Counties, including collaboration with the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Tonto Apache Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, and the Tohono O'odham Nation, while making CARE Network resources, training, and technical assistance available statewide. Rural and frontier communities in Arizona experience significant barriers to overdose prevention, treatment, and recovery due to geographic isolation, limited healthcare and behavioral health infrastructure, workforce shortages, transportation challenges, and stigma. These barriers contribute to reduced access to naloxone, delayed emergency response, limited awareness of overdose risks, including counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, and fewer opportunities to engage individuals in treatment and recovery. The CARE Network will serve individuals, families, and communities affected by opioid and other substance use-related overdose risk, prioritizing individuals at risk of overdose, people who use drugs, individuals with substance use disorders or co-occurring behavioral health conditions, veterans, justice-involved individuals, people experiencing homelessness, youth and young adults, families, and other underserved rural residents. Building on AZYP's statewide prevention experience and community partnerships, the CARE Network will engage healthcare providers, behavioral health organizations, public health agencies, first responders, pharmacies, Tribal partners, schools, faith-based organizations, recovery organizations, employers, local governments, and community coalitions. Project strategies include expanding access to FDA-approved OORMs; delivering evidence-based overdose prevention and naloxone training; increasing awareness of counterfeit pills, overdose risks, stigma reduction, and safe medication storage and disposal through the CARE Toolkit and community education campaigns; strengthening referral pathways to treatment, recovery, and behavioral health services; establishing a multidisciplinary Community Prevention Collaborative; and implementing continuous quality improvement. Over the three-year project period, AZYP will expand access to OORMs, educate healthcare professionals, first responders, community organizations, and laypersons, strengthen referral systems, and increase documented linkages to treatment and recovery services. By building sustainable community capacity and strengthening cross-sector partnerships, the CARE Network will advance SAMHSA's priorities of saving lives, preventing overdose, expanding equitable access to prevention services, and strengthening recovery-oriented systems of care for Arizona's rural and frontier communities.
