FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 28, 2020

Contact: Press@michigan.gov

Michigan announces $80 million for opioids crisis response

Investments in prevention, treatment and harm reduction services will save lives

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Michigan Opioids Task Force announced $80 million in federal funding to respond to the ongoing opioids crisis. The funds will support prevention, treatment and harm reduction services, with a focus on evidence-based practices that save lives.

The funding includes $36.4 million from the new State Opioid Response II (SOR II) grant and $43.1 million from an extension of the current State Opioid Response I (SOR I) grant. Over the last five years, opioid overdoses have killed 8,000 Michiganders. In 2018, five people died on average every day from opioid overdoses. The crisis has become even more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic; calls to emergency medical services for opioid overdose were 22 percent higher from April to July 2020 than during the same period in 2019.

“The opioid epidemic has devastated families across Michigan, and we must continue to do everything we can to end it. This funding will help prevent more opioid deaths and help those struggling with addiction recover,” said Governor Whitmer. “I will continue working closely with Dr. Joneigh Khaldun and members of the Michigan Opioids Task Force to keep Michiganders safe.”

Michigan’s opioids crisis response is supported by the grants from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. The SOR II grant begins Sept. 30 and continues for two years. MDHHS also received approval to extend the SOR I grant for a third year from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021. The MDHHS Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Administration, Office of Recovery Oriented Systems of Care is the recipient and administrator of the grants.

“Opioid overdose continues to be an ongoing crisis in Michigan and MDHHS is acting with utmost urgency to expand services that save lives, including medications to treat opioid use disorder and naloxone, the life-saving opioid reversal medication,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy director for health at MDHHS. “We urge local governments, health providers, law enforcement and organizations around the state to partner with us in this vital mission.”

Funding from the SOR I and SOR II grants will deepen the state’s investment in the most effective tools to reduce overdose deaths, including widespread naloxone distribution and expanding access to medications to treat opioid use disorder. The grants will support start-up costs for new and expanding treatment providers offering medications, as well as providing free training and clinical supports. A new program will seek to increase retention in treatment by offering incentives to patients who attend consistently.

A focus of SOR II will be improving medical care following an overdose by making medications to treat opioid use disorder available in emergency departments and creating follow-up programs to conduct wellness checks on overdose survivors. Other steps to reduce harm from the opioid crisis, including distributing sterile syringes, building trust with individuals actively using substances and conducting extensive naloxone distribution, will continue to expand as well.

Many programs in the SOR I and SOR II grants address intersections between the opioids crisis and other systems. For example, programs will support diversion of individuals from the criminal justice system to treatment, expansion of treatment in correctional facilities and courts and assistance with reentry for individuals leaving incarceration. Other work focuses on pregnant and parenting women; social determinants of health like housing and transportation; and reducing racial disparities in overdose mortality. Finally, the grants will continue successful work to prevent substance use disorders through prevention education, again with a focus on how social determinants of health impact health outcomes.

A summary of how the new SOR II grant supports the state’s opioids strategic plan is available online, and a summary of projects supported by SOR I funding is available here.

Many prevention and treatment programs are implemented by region in Michigan. Organizations interested in participating in these programs – including treatment providers, hospitals, community organizations, law enforcement agencies and others – are encouraged to reach out to regional representatives. Inquiries about statewide strategy can be directed to MDHHS-OpioidsTaskForce@michigan.gov.

For more information on the state’s opioids crisis response, please visit Michigan.gov/Opioids.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 28, 2020

Contact: press@michigan.gov   

Governor Whitmer and Lt. Governor Gilchrist Highlight Significant Reduction in Racial Disparities of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths

State announces Rapid Response Grants for local organizations to continue addressing disparities. 

LANSING, Mich. – Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Governor Gilchrist today highlighted new data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services showing significant progress has been made toward reducing the disparate impact COVID-19 has had on communities of color. The State of Michigan has created the Rapid Response Grant program to help local organizations continue the administration’s efforts to tackle racial disparities.

“The aggressive action we have taken in Michigan has no doubt saved thousands of lives, especially among our most vulnerable communities – people of color, seniors, and people with disabilities,” said Governor Whitmer. “The work of the Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, spearheaded by Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, has helped us dramatically reduce the number of African Americans who have been impacted by COVID-19. We are not out of the woods yet, and must continue to do our part to save lives and protect our brave frontline workers. The Rapid Response Grant Program will help us continue this hard work and create a blueprint that states across the country can follow to protect their most vulnerable.”

While Black residents only make up 15% of Michigan’s population, they represented a staggering 29.4% of the cases and 40.7% of the deaths in the early days of tracking COVID-19 data based on race. In the past two weeks of available data, the state has seen significant progress in limiting the disparate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, with Black residents accounting for 8.2% of cases and 9.9% of deaths.

“We have reason to be proud of the hard work and progress made to reduce the disparate impact of COVID-19 on Black people,” Lt. Governor Gilchrist said. “However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we are still in the midst of a pandemic that continues to take the lives of our friends and family. We still have work to do to tackle generations of racial disparities and inequality to ensure that all Michiganders can lead happy and healthy lives. And more than anything else we need to keep the Governor’s emergency measures in place to limit the spread of this virus, which we know causes disproportionate harm among people of color who start out in a more vulnerable position.”

• MI Closing COVID-19 Racial Disparities Gap.pdf