New York, Aug. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE), a private 501(c)(3) national grant-making foundation focused on addressing the nation’s opioid and drug overdose crisis, today announced three new grants totaling nearly $2 million to fund programs at Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Hektoen Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP). Since 2018, FORE has awarded 67 grants totaling $30.8 million to projects focused on solutions to the opioid and overdose crisis at the national, state, and community levels.
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma is receiving a FORE grant of $1,000,000 over two years for a project that will bring together medical and legal expertise to identify and reduce social stressors and increase access to opioid use disorder treatment and recovery services for families. Children of parents with substance use disorder are at increased risk of experiencing family separation, unstable housing, disruptions to school or health care, and other socio-economic problems that often require legal assistance to address. This grant will enable the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, the state’s only legal aid services provider, to pilot a medical-legal partnership for opioid use disorder clients and their children. The project will be led by Michael Figgins, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. This project adds to FORE’s Family- and Community-Based Prevention program launched in March 2022, focusing on addressing adverse childhood experiences and building family resiliency in high-risk families.
Many women with a substance use disorder have experienced intimate partner violence and/or substance use coercion which can include being coerced into using substances by their partners as well as being discouraged and/or prevented from seeking treatment. Substance use coercion receives little attention but is a significant barrier to treatment and recovery. The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health at Hektoen Institute of Medicine in Chicago is receiving a FORE grant of $346,261 to build on its unique Substance Use Coercion Toolkit to increase attention to the problem and develop tools that health care providers can use to address it. Carole Warshaw, MD, director of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health, will lead the project, in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This project builds on FORE’s portfolio of innovation projects, launched February 2022.
State policymakers are navigating changes in substance use policy, such as new flexibilities and expansions in service delivery and harm reduction, increases in federal grants and Medicaid options, and new funding resulting from legal settlements. The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) has received a grant of $634,385 to continue work under the FORE-supported State Policy Center for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Access, which is helping states implement policies and best practices to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment. Jodi Manz, MSW, leads the project.
“These grants represent FORE’s continued work to expand our programmatic areas of Access to Treatment, Innovation, and Family- and Community-Based Prevention. We are continually learning from the field and identifying gaps in current activities where our funds can contribute new knowledge and solutions,” says FORE President Karen A. Scott, MD, MPH. “These latest grants will directly impact individuals and families and will also allow us to expand our knowledge of the most effective ways to combat the devastating opioid and overdose crisis.”
ABOUT FORE
The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) was founded in 2018 as a private 501(c)(3) national, grant-making foundation focused on addressing the nation’s opioid crisis. FORE is committed to funding a diversity of projects contributing solutions to the crisis at national, state, and community levels. FORE’s mission is to support partners advancing patient-centered, innovative, evidence-based solutions impacting people experiencing opioid use disorder, their families, and their communities. Through convening, grantmaking and developing informational resources, FORE seeks to bring about long-term change. To date, FORE has awarded 67 grants totaling $30.8 million.
