American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, Lead of National Coalition, Awarded $18.5M for Opioid Response Network Initiative
Providence, RI – September 30, 2024 – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has issued a notice of award to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) to continue the Opioid Response Network (ORN) initiative. The funding falls under SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response (SOR)/Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) Technical Assistance (TA) program. The award provides $18,500,000 per year for up to three years.
ORN is an initiative, representative of national organizations and academic institutions, led by AAAP in close collaboration with the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network, at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and Columbia University Division on Substance Use Disorders. ORN provides no-cost education, training and consultation, known as TA, to enhance efforts addressing opioid and other co-occurring substance use disorders.
“The scale of the substance use disorder and mental health crisis in our country demands a significant, national collaborative effort with the agility and knowledge to meet the needs of diverse communities. ORN is comprised of parties from across the continuum of care to support educational needs at the local level,” explained Kathryn Cates-Wessel, CEO, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and ORN Principal Investigator. “The promise of ORN is its ability to help build sustainability across efforts tackling serious public health issues.”
Drug overdose deaths in the United States decreased in 2023 for the first time since 2018, according to CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. It takes all of us working together with states and communities to continue the downward trend.* ORN partners represent over 2 million constituents and provide education and training opportunities across the prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction of opioid, stimulant and other substance use disorders. ORN’s hallmark is its TA request system, which has received more than 7,500 submissions since ORN’s inception in 2018. Anyone can submit a request for no-cost education and training at OpioidResponseNetwork.org. Within one business day, the requester’s local ORN team will reach out to learn more about the need and determine how ORN can help.
“We thank Congress and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for their ongoing commitment to this incredibly important and critically needed work. This support allows us to continue to advance trauma-informed, culturally relevant and evidence-based substance use-related interventions across the country. And, it’s working,” added Cates-Wessel. “ORN is a sought after and embedded resource for individuals and communities across the country.”
As part of the new funding cycle, ORN plans to increase outreach to under-resourced and underserved communities, continue to build the capacity of the substance use workforce and continue to deliver localized, tailored, and culturally responsive educational resources and training. The award from SAMSHA is posted online.
*Source: CDC/National Center for Health Statistics
About the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) is a national professional society that focuses on evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery approaches, particularly for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders. AAAP’s primary focus is to: promote high quality evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery approaches; strengthen Addiction Psychiatry specialty training, foster careers in Addiction Psychiatry and promote Addiction Psychiatry as a recognized specialty; provide evidence-based substance use disorder education to healthcare trainees and healthcare professionals; and educate the public and influence policy on substance use, co-occurring psychiatric disorders and related issues. Visit www.AAAP.org for more information.
About the Opioid Response Network
The Opioid Response Network (ORN) was established in 2018 in response to a grant award to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). ORN provides no-cost training and education, known as technical assistance (TA), to address opioid, stimulant and all substance use disorders. AAAP leads the large network in collaboration with the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network, at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and Columbia University Division on Substance Use Disorders. Currently, ORN is funded through SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response/ Tribal Opioid Response – Technical Assistance (SOR/TOR-TA) program. Visit www.OpioidResponseNetwork.org for more information.
