MHRB Receives State Opioid Response Funding

The Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County was awarded $803,559 in federal State Opioid Response (SOR) 2.0 funding to develop and expand programs to prevent, treat, and help people recover from opioid use disorders and stimulant use disorders. Ohio received $96 million during 2020 as part of the 21st Century CURES Act initiative.

“As opioid overdose deaths have been occurring at alarming rates these past several years, there has also been a significant increase in the use and deaths from cocaine and methamphetamines as well,” stated Mental Health & Recovery Board Executive Director Dr. John Garrity. “This crisis is further complicated by the presence of the COVID19 pandemic and the additional challenges it presents.”

“The new funding will allow us to strengthen our continuum of care with new evidence-based-practices for us to offer a full range of recovery-oriented services that will assist individuals in moving towards achieving recovery,” Garrity explained.

Some of the projects the Mental Health & Recovery Board plans to fund include early diversion for at risk adolescents, a new intensive home-based treatment team, expansion of medication-assisted treatment and peer recovery support services, family-centered group treatment for substance abuse, training on trauma, and tobacco cessation therapy for individuals with co-occurring opioid and stimulant use disorders.

The Mental Health & Recovery Board is the local authority responsible to plan, develop, fund, and monitor the community-based mental health and addiction services in Portage County. For more information, visit www.mental-health-recovery.org