California Offering Free Fentanyl Test Strips Through The Naloxone Distribution Project

Mar 29, 2024

What You Need to Know

As part of his Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis, Governor Gavin Newsom provided $6 million to distribute free fentanyl test strips to curb the rising deaths resulting from fentanyl contamination.

SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is expanding the Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP) to include fentanyl test strips (FTS), which can be obtained by eligible organizations throughout the state of California. FTS are used to detect the presence of fentanyl in drug samples prior to ingestion. NDP applicants will have the option to request naloxone, FTS, or both at no cost through the online application.

“California is committed to combatting the opioid and fentanyl crisis,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “Fentanyl test strips are a powerful tool for effective opioid-related overdose prevention. We urge our community partners to apply for this additional tool to help us tackle this crisis.”

Why This is Important

Since DHCS created the NDP and began providing free naloxone to California communities in October 2018, the program has distributed more than 3,947,000 kits of naloxone, which have been used to reverse more than 249,000 overdoses. The NDP is part of DHCS’ broader efforts to increase access to medications for opioid use disorder, reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid-related overdose deaths through the provision of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery activities. With the addition of FTS, the NDP hopes to further reduce opioid-related overdose deaths through the early detection of fentanyl.

“The free Narcan provided by DHCS’ Naloxone Distribution Project has saved many lives in California and in Santa Clara County,” said Santa Clara County Opioid Overdose Prevention Project Coalition Lead Mira Parwiz. “We will be applying for fentanyl test strips made available by the project to add another level of protection against overdoses in our communities.”

Fentanyl in California

DHCS partners with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to reduce stigma and protect Californians by increasing awareness of fentanyl and opioid overdose prevention. In 2022, there were 7,385 opioid-related overdose deaths in California, up 227 percent from 2019 and largely linked to fentanyl, which is an extremely potent, synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Illicit fentanyl can be added to other drugs to make them cheaper, more powerful, and more addictive, but the likelihood of a fatal overdose increases when fentanyl is mixed with any drug. Fentanyl has been found in many drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine, counterfeit pills, and cocaine. FTS are a form of drug testing technology that has been shown to be effective at detecting the presence of fentanyl in different drugs and drug forms (pills, powder, and injectables).

“Fentanyl test strips can be a useful addition to time-tested harm reduction strategies, such as never using alone and always carrying naloxone,” said Pike Long, Harm Reduction Specialist for CDPH.

Bigger Picture

Governor Gavin Newsom released the Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis to support overdose prevention efforts. It includes ongoing investments to the NDP, distribution of FTS, grants for education, testing, recovery, and support services, and funding for opioid overdose medications for all middle and high schools in California.

Additionally, in December 2023, the Governor launched Opioids.CA.GOV, a one-stop-shop for Californians seeking resources around prevention and treatment, as well as information on how California is working to hold Big Pharma and drug traffickers accountable in this crisis.

California Continues Comprehensive Approach To Combat The Opioid Crisis

Oct 5, 2023

SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has launched the Empowering Faith Leaders in California project, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation’s Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network, and is investing in hospital emergency departments to continue to assist Californians in need of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and mental health treatment services.

The Empowering Faith Leaders in California project will help address the opioid overdose and addiction crisis at the local level through a collaborative learning opportunity that will empower participating religious leaders from diverse faith traditions to respond to SUDs in their communities, using evidence-informed and compassionate approaches.

“We are pleased to support this project and provide California’s faith leaders with valuable tools to help combat the opioid epidemic,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.

“Faith leaders have a unique ability to help foster change and shape, influence, and inform the attitudes that so often lead to inequities,” said Christian Thrasher, Chief Executive Officer of the Clinton Foundation’s Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network. ”Changing the mindset that addiction is not a moral failing, but rather a treatable brain disease, will be key to fighting and beating this epidemic.”

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Faith leaders are a trusted source of support and often provide information and guidance to individuals, households, and communities. As such, faith leaders are a vital part of the solution to confront the overdose crisis. However, without formal education on addiction and the harmful effects of stigma, many faith leaders may not engage in this work.

Additionally, DHCS announced an investment of $1.65 million to 66 hospitals ($25,000 each) with emergency departments (EDs) to provide them with resources to continue their CalBridge Behavioral Health Navigator Program through April 30, 2024.

WHY THIS MATTERS

CalBridge provides grants to EDs to expand training for behavioral health navigators so they can provide access to SUD and mental health treatment services. By sustaining the number of behavioral health navigators in EDs, people with a SUD or opioid use disorder, or who are experiencing a mental health crisis, will have access to appropriate care to address their needs. CalBridge supports all participating hospitals with access to materials, training, and technical assistance for navigators, clinicians, nurses, community health workers, and other hospital staff and stakeholders.

The latest round of awards aligns with the state’s broad strategy to build a health workforce that represents California’s diverse communities and provides people with the quality care they deserve, while addressing the shortage of health workers across California. To date, $67 million has been invested in the CalBridge program, which aims to train, diversify, and expand the workforce in EDs to address the urgent need for behavioral health patient care. CalBridge has demonstrated exceptional outcomes since 2018, with a total of 362,730 patients treated for SUDs. Of those individuals admitted for treatment, 278,872 patients were identified as having an opioid use disorder, and 112,944 patients were prescribed or administered Medication Assisted Treatment.

FAITH LEADERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

• “Empowering faith leaders is a critical component of faith communities being able to address the growing crisis of substance use,” said Reverend Melissa Maher, Empowering Faith Leaders Program Graduate and Director, New Ministries Strategies, Texas Annual Conference United Methodist Church. “As a pastor for 15 years, I regularly sit with families who suffer in silence from the dark shadows of addiction. Candidly, they suffer in silence because the Church has often been silent (or uniformed) on the disease of addiction. This program provides the tools that faith leaders need to be agents of compassion and change.”
• “Faith leaders are integral in fighting the overdose crisis that has reached unprecedented levels in this country,” said Megan Affrunti, Senior Director of Substance Use Disorders and Recovery of the Clinton Foundation’s Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network. “Many people turn to their faith leaders during times of crisis for guidance and hope, and when they are prepared to provide effective support, they can save lives. We know that many faith leaders aren’t taught how to respond to these issues in seminary, and our program fills this gap by training and mobilizing them to address these issues with evidence-informed and compassionate approaches.”

ABOUT EMPOWERING FAITH LEADERS IN CALIFORNIA

The Empowering Faith Leaders in California project will focus on two new California cities each year for two years and will directly engage and train cohorts of twenty faith leaders per city. The first year of the project includes the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Over the next nine months of the project, the Clinton Foundation will convene faith leaders for discussions, lectures, and trainings about the overdose and addiction crisis, provide evidence-informed strategies for prevention, treatment, and recovery, and introduce faith leaders to local resources, including prevention and recovery organizations.

DHCS provided the project with $1.8 million in state funds to train and mentor faith leaders to address the opioid crisis within their faith community and in their local community. The Clinton Foundation will work with each faith leader to execute a community-based engagement project to raise awareness about addiction, reduce stigma, and share life-saving resources. This will include how to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose with naloxone and other strategies designed to help faith leaders combat the opioid crisis. Faith leaders will also join a statewide and national network of faith leaders who have participated in the project and continue to make a difference in their communities.