On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program solicitation as well as the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (COAP) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program solicitation as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). CARA is the first major federal substance use disorder treatment and recovery legislation in 40 years. Signed into law on July 22, 2016, CARA establishes a coordinated, balanced strategy to combat the opioid epidemic through six pillars: prevention, treatment, recovery, law enforcement, criminal justice reform, and overdose reversal.
The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program is designed to develop systemwide initiatives for promoting substance misuse treatment and recovery support services through innovative approaches and evidence-based strategies. The program encourages comprehensive, data-driven, and cross-system planning and collaboration among stakeholders, from law enforcement and court officials to healthcare providers and prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP).
BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program solicitation contains six categories of funding. The funding categories include:
Category 1: Overdose Outreach Projects
Category 2: Technology-assisted Treatment projects
Category 3: System-level Diversion and Alternative to Incarceration Projects
Category 4: Statewide Planning, Coordination, and Implementation Projects
Category 5: Harold Rogers PDMP Implementation and Enhancement Projects
Category 6: Data-driven Responses to Prescription Drug Misuse
For more information about the funding categories, please view the full solicitation here.
How to Apply
Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. The application deadline for both solicitations is on April 25, 2017; the COAP TTA Program solicitation closes at 11:50 p.m. ET, and the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program solicitation closes at 11:59 p.m. ET. Applicants are strongly urged to apply in advance of the deadline.
Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program
BJA welcomes applications from state agencies, units of local government, and federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior).
Prospective applicants are encouraged to leverage existing resources and form multidisciplinary planning teams that include:
- Representatives from public health providers;
- Substance use treatment providers;
- Law enforcement;
- Corrections, probation, and parole administrators;
- Judges from the adult, juvenile, family, tribal, and problem-solving courts;
- Nonprofit organizations providing treatment and recovery services; and
- Persons in recovery.
On February 28, 2017, the Addiction Policy Forum, along with other national partners, is hosting a CARA implementation conference designed for states, counties, cities, tribes, law enforcement, and other agencies applying for BJA's Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program. The conference will promote the use of research and evaluation in the development and implementation of comprehensive strategies to address opioid abuse. This free event will be held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET and will be livestreamed for interested parties who cannot attend in person. Registration is required and is available here.
COAP TTA Program
BJA encourages applications from nonprofit and for-profit (commercial) organizations – including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations – and institutions of higher education with experience delivering TTA nationwide in the criminal justice and substance abuse fields.
Get More Information
To outline program details, application requirements, and expectations, BJA hosted two informational webinars on February 22, 2017:
- To view the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program solicitation webinar recording, please click here.
- To view the COAP TTA Program solicitation webinar recording, please click here.
For more information about both solicitations, please read the Frequently Asked Questions here.