Press Release - ONDCP Announces $89 million in Grants, and Upcoming Commission Meeting

ONDCP's Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program announced 719 DFC grant awards totaling $89 million for FY 2017 

The $89 million in DFC Support Program grants to 719 local drug prevention coalitions, announced on September 20, is the largest number of single-year grantees since the program's founding.

The grants will provide local community coalitions funding to prevent youth substance use, including prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol.

The DFC Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation's leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth drug use. Grounded in the philosophy that local problems need local solutions, the DFC Program is designed to support communities as they mobilize individuals and organizations to reduce youth substance use. 

For Fiscal Year 2017, the new DFC grant awards represent a total Federal investment of $12.6 million in grants.  DFC continuation grants represent a total Federal investment of $76.7 million.  The DFC Support Program is a matching Federal grant where each community provides a minimum of one-to-one match in local funding for each Federal dollar awarded, thereby doubling the government's investment while leveraging local support.

Included in these FY 2017 awards are 3 new DFC Mentoring grants totaling $225,000 and 3 DFC Mentoring continuation grants totaling $225,000.  Mentoring grants are awarded to existing DFC coalitions to assist new coalitions build the capacity necessary to apply for DFC funding on their own in the future. 

To learn more about the DFC Program as well as our Fiscal Year 2017 grant award recipients, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/grants-programs.  If you are one of the 719 DFC-funded community coalitions receiving funds in FY 2017 make sure to follow us @ONDCP and use #drugfreecommunities!

TUNE IN: Third Meeting of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis

On September 27, the President's Commission will convene for its third meeting.  This discussion will include statements to the Commission from invited government, nonprofit, and business organizations regarding Innovative Pain Management and Prevention Measures for Diversion, followed by discussion of the issues raised.

Join this meeting virtually at www.whitehouse.gov/live on September 27 starting at 12:30pm.

Written comments or recommendations can be submitted to the Commission by emailing commission@ondcp.eop.gov. 

More information about the Commission can be found on the Commission's webpage at https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/presidents-commission

Recovery Walks!

On Saturday, September 23, ONDCP Acting Director Richard Baum will take part in the Nation's largest Recovery Month celebration, Recovery Walks! A 2.3-mile celebratory walk through downtown Philadelphia that is followed by a rally at Penn's Landing, the event attracted 26,000 participants last year and is expected to be even larger this year. Director Baum will help lead the walk, will address participants at the rally, and will present framed copies of President Trump's  National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month Proclamation to the event's hosts,  PRO-ACT (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization - Achieving Community Together) and the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Disability Services.

You can find more information on the Philadelphia walk at www.recoverywalks.org/.

To find Recovery Month events near you or to learn how you can host one, check out the Recovery Month website: www.recoverymonth.gov.

ONDCP Engagement with the Police, Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTAC)

In coordination with Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC), ONDCP had the opportunity to meet with a number of pre-arrest diversion programs who are part of the Police, Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTAC) on September 13th .  The meeting was hosted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.  The PTAC Collaborative was launched in April 2017 with a mission to strategically widen community behavioral health and social service options available through law enforcement diversion.  The group is named for the collaborative relationship between police, treatment, and community necessary to make police diversion possible, with a stated purpose of providing national vision, leadership, voice, and action to reframe the relationship between law enforcement, treatment, and community. 

The roundtable meeting brought together programs who are utilizing new and collaborative pathways to treatment to include self-referral, active outreach, "naloxone plus," officer prevention, and officer intervention.  While all of these programs provide promising early results and excellent bridges between the law enforcement and behavioral health communities, each community must determine which approach solves its problem, fits the local situation, and can be addressed through current behavioral health capacity. 

For more information, visit http://www2.centerforhealthandjustice.org/content/project/police-treatment-and-community-collaborative-ptac-collaborative

October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month

Join ONDCP in recognizing National Substance Abuse Prevention Month. NSAPM is an annual observance focused on raising the public awareness and encouraging communities to take action and get involved to prevent substance use. Each year families, communities, and organizations across the country come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and the importance of investing in prevention first. This year's theme is the "Power of Investing in Prevention". We encourage communities to join together to ensure evidence-based prevention programs, policies, and practices are implemented at the local level.

As part of prevention month, we encourage coalitions and providers to host community health events and partner with their local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) during DEA's Take Back Day on October 28, 2017. Take Back Day is an opportunity for coalitions and providers to raise awareness about screening and treatment services for those in need. Please continue to utilize DEA's Take Back Day to return unwanted prescriptions and utilize this event to bring together providers.

Click here to find an FQHC near you.