Officials: Over $22 million going towards tackling heroin and opioid epidemic in MD

Maryland's Opioid Operation Command Center, the Department of Health and the Governor's office of Crime Control and Prevention said on Friday that more than $22 million will go towards fighting the heroin and opioid epidemic. 80 percent will reportedly go to the state's 24 local jurisdictions and service providers to put money towards prevention, enforcement and treatment efforts in Maryland.

Governor Hogan says, Finding real solutions to the heroin and opioid crisis that is ravaging our communities is a top priority of our administration and a cause that myself and Lt. Governor Rutherford have been personally committed to since before we took office. This new funding will make real differences in people's lives as we work together to turn the tide in this deadly fight"

Officials say that the funding for Fiscal Year 2018 involves the first $10 million of Governor Hogan's $50 million commitment to discussing the crisis which was announced in March 2017, the first $10 million from the federal 21st Century Cures Act and $2.1 million from the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention.

Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis Schrader says, "With this funding plan, Maryland reaffirms Governor Hogan's commitment to helping equip our local communities as we work together to battle this epidemic throughout the state. For example, $2 million of the Cures Act funding is being committed to establish a 24-hour crisis center in Baltimore City."

Clay Stamp, executive director of the Opioid Operational Command Center says, "Here in Maryland, we continue to face a crisis situation with the number of overdoses rising every day. I am confident that with these resources we are announcing today, we have a balanced approach to fighting this epidemic – and we are giving the majority of our resources to the local level where we have the greatest opportunity to save lives. It is important to note our successes will continue to be driven by the significant support and cooperation of our federal and state agencies and local coordinated teams, including key advocacy groups, supporting our important work to combat the opioid crisis."

Last March when Governor Hogan declared a state of emergency,  officials say that he also announced a supplemental budget of $50 million in new funding over a five year period. 12 state agencies along with the Opioid Operational Command Center reportedly worked to create a work plan and goals that have shaped how funds will be spread. The work plan and funding allocations reportedly also included feedback from local Opioid Intervention Teams, which work with the community and are led by the jurisdiction's emergency manager and health officer.

Officials say that the Maryland Department of Health was given a $20 million grant under the 21st Century Cures Act from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA,) to go towards the prevention and treatment of opioid abuse over two years.

Glenn Fueston, who is the executive director of the office, says "The funds from the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention will be used to continue the collaboration and coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement. By promoting such collaboration, we feel that we will be in a better position to disrupt the flow of drugs coming into our region."

Officials say that as Maryland's opioid crisis has continued, so has the state's response to it which involves tackling the epidemic from every angle. Governor Hogan's office says that education and prevention along with treatment and enforcement are all important traits of the state's efforts to turn the tide in this heroin and opioid crisis. Efforts that will get more funding in FY 2018 include:
Prevention
•    $4 million total given to local Opioid Intervention Teams (as noted in table below) for each jurisdiction to find out how best to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic, which may increase current prevention, enforcement, and treatment efforts
•    $1.4 million for a public awareness campaign to cut stigma, increase patient-physician communication, and educate Maryland's school children on potential opioid dangers, along with more support for local jurisdictions' prevention efforts
•    $700,000 to train community teams on overdose response and linking to treatment
•    $200,000 to teach a program that establishes school-based teams for early identification of the problems related to substance use disorders
•    $200,000 to give to opioid information to health care facilities and providers that offer treatment for opioid use disorder
Enforcement
•    $1.25 million to add to existing efforts to disturb and dismantle drug trafficking organizations
•    $850,000 to continue heroin coordinator program, which assists in making the link between law enforcement and treatment
•    $450,000 to increase the Department of Health's regulatory oversight of controlled dangerous substances
Treatment
•    $3.2 million to expand treatment beds statewide, along with a tracking system – the Maryland Healthcare Commission will help in accelerating the certificate of need application process for treatment beds
•    $2.7 million to advance access to naloxone statewide
•    $2 million to create a 24-hour crisis center in Baltimore City
•    $1.6 million to increase use of peer recovery support specialists
•    $1 million to increase Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to hospitals and parole, probation, and correctional facilities
•    $780,000 to increase access to medications that assist recovery from substance use disorders
•    $183,000 to support the expansion of existing law enforcement assisted diversion programs
•    $143,000 to improve the statewide crisis hotline.

Officials say that knowing about the need for naloxone in Baltimore City, $750,000 will be given to buy 10,000 units (20,000 doses) of the life saving drug that can erase an opioid overdose. The city will reportedly get $830,429 for individual jurisdictional funding, $2 million to create the crisis center asked for by city leadership along with money for localized treatment and enforcement initiatives. With the opportunity to apply for grants, officials say that Baltimore can get about $6 million in funding. Last year's annual report released by the Maryland Department of Health reportedly found that of the 2,089 overdose deaths in the state last year, 694 happened in Baltimore City.

This announcement reportedly comes amid the July 1, 2017 roll out of Maryland's medicaid programs that make substance use disorder treatment options more available for Maryland residents. Chief among them is the ability of home treatment centers of a certain size to get Medicaid reimbursement for treatment — taking away a federal prohibition that had served as a barrier to treatment for many people.

Officials say that many of these efforts are possible because of the passage of recent legislation that gave the state more tools to respond to the heroin and opioid crisis such as the Heroin and Opioid Prevention Effort (HOPE) and Treatment Act of 2017 (HB 1329/SB 967) a bipartisan bill that reportedly has provisions to advance patient education, increase treatment services and involves the administration's Overdose Prevention Act which helps all citizens to access life saving naloxone. The HOPE Act builds on many of the 33 recommendations of the administration's Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force, and involves improvements to the statewide crisis hotline for assistance in making diagnoses and referrals, the assessment of drug court programs to find out how to increase programs in a manner sufficient to meet each county's need and the creation of the 24 hour crisis center.

Governor Hogan's State of Emergency declaration reportedly opened the governor's emergency management authority and helped increased and faster coordination between the state and local jurisdictions. The Opioid Operational Command Center, created by Governor Hogan in January through an Executive Order, eases the partnership between state and local public health, human services, education and public safety entities to tackle the heroin and opioid crisis and its impact on Maryland communities.