Sep 12, 2023
The survey, commissioned by Song for Charlie and funded by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), shows four-in-10 Californian young adults, and half their teen counterparts, aren’t knowledgeable about the misuse of prescription pills.
DHCS acts to better educate and inform parents about the current risk factors and update the way parents talk with their kids about drugs.
SACRAMENTO – Only three-in-10 young Californians, both teens and young adults, report having talked to their parents about the misuse of prescription pills, reveals a new survey commissioned by Song for Charlie, the national family-run nonprofit charity dedicated to raising awareness about fake pills made from fentanyl.
However, parents overwhelmingly tell a different story, with 70 percent saying they have had at least one conversation with their child about prescription pill use. This disconnect between parents and their children is one of the important issues addressed in a new partnership between Song for Charlie and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). The New Drug Talk: Connect to Protect is a first-of-its-kind educational web platform designed to equip California families to educate themselves about the widespread availability of fentanyl-laced pharmaceutical pills (“fentapills”), the dangers of self-medication and experimentation, and how to have meaningful, high-impact conversations about the rapidly changing drug landscape.
This new critical data and platform come as California teens and young adults are exposed to potent chemicals like fentanyl and many are suffering with stress and anxiety. The result has been record overdoses in recent years, overwhelmingly driven by fentanyl, which has been involved in more than 80 percent of youth drug deaths nationally. Song for Charlie began after founders Ed and Mary Ternan’s son, Charlie, passed away after taking a pill he didn’t know was laced with fentanyl. Ed and his wife Mary have now dedicated their lives to increasing awareness of fentapills.
“Opioids are killing our kids. Song for Charlie was borne out of loss and devastation. Charlie’s parents have turned that loss into action, working to warn other families about the risks of fentanyl and laced substances often being sold on social media,” said Governor Newsom. “Far too many families have been ravaged by the opioid crisis – we will continue our work to keep Californians safe.”
“The California Department of Education is leading education, substance abuse prevention, and intervention efforts to ensure our students are safe as it relates to drugs,” said California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “We’re incredibly grateful that with The New Drug Talk, our state can lead the charge in reshaping the way education is used as a tool for families to have honest, informed discussions that keep our kids safe.”
The survey, conducted by strategic communications and insights consultancy, Breakwater Strategy, was designed to assess this deadly gap in knowledge given the rapidly changing drug landscape and the prevalence of deadly synthetic drugs. Key findings include:
- Nearly 46 percent of young adults and 34 percent of teens are broadly aware of people taking prescription pills without prescriptions.
- Less than 60 percent of parents, while having awareness that people take pills without a prescription, know that people their children’s age are taking prescription pills without prescriptions.
- Four-in-10 young adults and half of teens say they aren’t knowledgeable about the issue.
- Young adults cite fear of judgment, lack of comfort, and potential consequences as some of the most significant obstacles to discussing prescription pill misuse with their parents.
- Parents report “lacking enough knowledge” as a key barrier that keeps them from talking with their children about the issue.
“There is a clear and pressing need to provide an easy way for parents to understand the drug scene their kids are facing and to get the tools they need to connect with them on a topic that can be challenging,” said Song for Charlie President Ed Ternan. “We are giving parents and caregivers the confidence they need to have an informed discussion with their kids. In the current environment, it can be a matter of life and death.”
TAKING ACTION: To help parents navigate the crisis alongside their children, DHCS has partnered with Song for Charlie to create The New Drug Talk portal. Also collaborating on this effort are a variety of corporate and nonprofit partners, including Meta, Google, AdCouncil, Wondros, PeachJar, BeMe, Playbl, and SAFE Project. The portal is organized into sections entitled “What to Know”, “What to Say”, and “What to Do”, and features video lessons, toolkits, and resource guides.
The goal of The New Drug Talk is to inform parents about the current risk factors and update the way parents talk with their kids about drugs based on current best practices around effective communication strategies. The portal’s content, which leverages the expertise of professionals in youth mental health, addiction science, adolescent medicine, and drug education, is designed to help families connect so that both parents and kids feel heard and engaged in protecting each other from harm. Anchoring the portal is an original film, Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl, which serves as a compelling tool for families, teachers, and communities to understand and help educate about the fentanyl crisis.
“California has dedicated significant resources for various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities to fight the opioid crisis,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “Song for Charlie will support our efforts with a parent/caregiver tool to help make it easier for families to talk about the current drug landscape, substance use, and mental health.”
The California survey and portal are just the first steps in Song for Charlie’s state-by-state effort to increase fentanyl education and awareness. They are in conversations with states across the country to create bespoke programs for their constituents.
View the full set of survey questions and results across key audiences. For more information about the educational platform, visit https://songforcharlie.org/the-new-drug-talk/.
Aug 22, 2023
SACRAMENTO — California, through the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), today announced it will expand Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) to jails and drug courts. The $2.9 million funding announced today will go to 29 counties to support the development or expansion of access to MAT.
“California is committed to ensuring that justice-involved individuals receive Medication Assisted Treatment to reduce unmet treatment needs in criminal justice settings. This project supports county jails and drug courts with best practices to engage individuals with an opioid use disorder and provide treatment,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
By bringing county teams together in a learning collaborative, county agencies and providers serving justice-involved residents can more effectively coordinate and further build system capacity to ensure access to effective treatment and recovery supports. This expansion will better serve residents in need, and MAT, specifically, has been shown to reduce criminal activity and reincarceration to better serve the entire community.
What They’re Saying
- Sacramento County Department of Health Services, Adult Correctional Health: “With the assistance of this training and guidance, health and custody staff feel more informed and have greater buy-in overall to implement new processes surrounding MAT.”
- Solano County Sheriff’s Office: “The learning collaborative has been directly responsible for Solano County being able to implement MAT in our jails.”
- Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office: “Santa Cruz County has benefited from the learning collaborative by having experts readily accessible to offer best practices regarding MAT in our jail systems.”
Additional Information
The MAT in Jails and Drug Courts Project is funded through the state General Fund through June 2025. Grant funds and participation stipends are available to all California counties interested in developing or expanding access to MAT for opioid use disorders in their jails and drug court systems. Counties participating in the project will receive technical assistance through individualized monthly coaching, topic-specific webinars, and quarterly learning collaboratives.
Bigger Picture
This project builds upon the previous “Expanding Access to MAT in County Criminal Justice Settings” and “County Touchpoints for Access to MAT for Justice-Involved Individuals” programs and complements the Systems of Care project, all funded through federal State Opioid Response (SOR) I and II grants. From 2018 to 2022, 39 counties participated in these projects, representing 67 percent of California’s counties and 83 percent of the state’s population.
More information about the MAT in Jails and Drug Courts Project and a list of awarded counties, as well as information about previous projects, is available on the Addiction Free CA webpage.
Aug 21, 2023
Due Date: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 5 p.m. PST
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is releasing a Request for Applications (RFA) to support California non-profit organizations to expand access and utilization of behavioral health recovery services through a health equity approach that seeks to remove barriers to care for communities of color, Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and others who have faced discrimination and unequal access to behavioral health care systems.
Application Information:
Request for Applications
Apply Online
RFA webinars will be hosted on Tuesday, August 22, and Wednesday, August 23, at 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Send questions and inquiries related to this funding opportunity to recoveryservices@shfcenter.org with the subject line: HEAR US RFA Question.
Jul 31, 2023
SACRAMENTO – The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has made more than $41 million in grant funding available to tribal and community-based organizations to expand youth substance use prevention programs. Organizations can apply for grants up to $1,000,000 to implement the Elevate Youth California (EYC) program in low-income communities of color, prioritizing organizations with a demonstrated track record of effectively and equitably serving individuals in these communities.
“Elevate Youth California is a funding opportunity designed to overcome programming gaps and focus on youth from communities of color and other marginalized populations impacted by the war on drugs, criminalized for substance use, and with historically low access to prevention services,” said Jacey Cooper, State Medicaid Director and DHCS Chief Deputy Director for Health Care Programs. “With each round of funding, DHCS continues to expand the number of youth and young adults receiving youth empowerment, mentoring, and peer support services.”
Why This is Important
This funding opportunity is part of DHCS’ broader plan to strengthen California’s substance use prevention programs. EYC aims to empower community-based and tribal organizations throughout California to use evidence-based and community-driven practices for substance use disorder prevention among youth and young adults ages 12 to 26.
To date, DHCS has awarded nearly $206 million through 290 grant awards. This Request for Application marks the fifth consecutive year of funding to support widespread implementation of the EYC program. Applications are due by August 28 at 1 p.m. (PDT). Once awarded, EYC program grantees will be funded from November 16, 2023, through November 15, 2026.
Community Impact of Grants
- “Elevate Youth California has enabled us to provide the desperately needed healing spaces for our youth and young adults, who are often left out of critical programming after age 18,” said Ami Admire, Executive Director of For the People. “We are extremely thankful to Elevate Youth California for providing the resources, supporting the work, and sharing in our vision for healed youth and families in California’s tribal communities.”
- “Elevate Youth California funding has created a transformational opportunity for our organization to grow in our ability to support authentic youth engagement and partner with youth to lead efforts that support community healing and the prevention of youth substance use disorder,” said Daisy Lopez, Senior Director of Program Services of California Health Collaborative. “The impacts have trickled throughout our organization, providing the support and training to engage our teams statewide to lead culturally rooted youth development efforts that promote youth voice and youth agency.”
Services Supported by EYC Grants
The EYC program provides DHCS-funded grants to youth- serving tribal and community-based organizations with records of effective and equitable service delivery that will:
- Empower youth to create policy and system changes through civic engagement, specifically in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
- Implement culturally and linguistically proficient youth development, peer support, and mentoring programs that are healing-centered and trauma-informed.
- Prioritize harm reduction and public health solutions that create resiliency and prevent substance use disorder.
Additional Background
EYC began in 2019, and DHCS has since announced and awarded four funding rounds. Four cohorts were awarded through the standard track program focusing on policy, system, and environmental change through youth activism, mentorship, and peer-led support. Three cohorts were awarded through capacity building grants, with a focus on strengthening the operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational structure of youth-serving community-based and tribal, grass roots organizations. One cohort was awarded through the innovation track, with a focus on evaluating youth-serving entities with innovative approaches to policy, systems, and environmental change through appreciative inquiry. These grants are made possible through funding from the Proposition 64 Youth Education, Prevention, Early Intervention, and Treatment Account of the California Cannabis Tax.
EYC creates access to healing-centered, culturally proficient programs in rural and urban communities that have historically been impacted by the war on drugs. In fiscal year 2023-24, DHCS has invested more than $100 million in funding to support statewide substance use prevention programs, with approximately $57.8 million in primary prevention funding allocated to county behavioral health agencies through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, $1.6 million in funding to support statewide implementation of the California Friday Night Live program, and more than $41 million in the EYC program.
For more information about the EYC program, visit ElevateYouthCA.org.
Jan 13, 2023
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (also known as the Omnibus bill). Section 1262 removes the federal requirement for practitioners to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI), also known as the “X-waiver,” to prescribe medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). The removal of this requirement means that practitioners are no longer required to submit the X-waiver to prescribe medications like buprenorphine.
Effective immediately, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will no longer accept X-waiver applications. All practitioners with a valid Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration that includes Schedule III authority may now prescribe buprenorphine for OUD, if permitted by applicable state law. SAMHSA and the DEA are working on implementation of a separate provision of the Omnibus bill for DEA registration training requirements. This provision will be effective in June 2023.
Additional updates and guidance will be posted to the SAMHSA X-waiver webpage.
Oct 11, 2022
On September 30, President Biden issued a proclamation recognizing October 2022 as National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month. This is a time to connect others to evidence-based prevention resources, thank those who work on the front lines to prevent youth substance use, and renew our commitment to building a healthier and more supportive country.
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) supports a variety of projects to prevent youth substance use, including:
- California Youth Opioid Response, which works with local communities, service providers, and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce opioid and stimulant misuse among youth.
- Elevate Youth CA, a prevention program that invests in youth empowerment and development for youth of color, tribal youth, and LGBTQIA+ youth across the state.
- The California Friday Night Live Program, which aims to engage youth as active leaders and resources in their community and build partnerships for positive and healthy youth development.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has several evidence-based prevention resources available for individuals and organizations:
