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 “Heroin and other opioid drug use is at crisis levels in Illinois.
Substance use is ripping apart families and severely impacting our
communities,” said IDHS Secretary James Dimas. “The $8 million in
grants will enhance our efforts for individuals dependent on heroin
and other opioids. We continue to work diligently to secure
additional federal funding that will help support community-based
prevention and treatment efforts. IDHS is committed to working with
schools, community-based organizations and the recovery community,
to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorders and
ensure access to treatment.”
The Medication-Assisted Treatment Prescription Opioid Addiction
grant was awarded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to the
IDHS Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. This three year, $3
million grant will support an expansion of outpatient methadone
treatment services and will reduce the waiting lists for heroin and
other opioid dependent individuals seeking these services in
Illinois. This grant will also support medication assisted treatment
for offenders released from Sheridan Correctional Center who are at
high risk for returning to heroin use (and high risk for overdose)
upon release.
IDHS’ Division of Family and Community Services received the
Prescription Drug Opioid Overdose Prevention Grant from the Center
for Substance Abuse Prevention. This five year, $5 million grant is
expected to reduce the number of overdose deaths in the following
six high need counties: Cook, Lake, DuPage, Will, St. Clair, and
Madison. A key component to this program will be the purchase and
distribution of Naloxone kits to first responders. Naloxone is the
opioid overdose reversal drug that is critical to saving lives so
people can get the treatment they need.
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“Illinois, like the rest of the country, is in the midst of a drug overdose
epidemic and we must act now,” said Illinois Department of Public Health
Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D. “According to the CDC, prescribing and sales
of opioids have quadrupled since 1999 and more than three out of five drug
overdose deaths involve an opioid. This epidemic is devastating families and
communities. To stop this trend of opioid overdose, we must provide support and
treatment to those suffering from opioid use disorders. And to save lives, we
must provide first responders with the resources needed for an individual who
has overdosed. It will take all of us, substance abuse and mental health
providers, law enforcement, public health, first responders, communities, and
others, to put an end to this epidemic.”
[Marianne Manko, Director of
Communications, IDHS]
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