Apr 17, 2023
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in partnership with The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, has $5 million in funding to support focused outreach activities. Organizations may apply for up to $200,000 to implement and strengthen opioid use and stimulant use outreach and community education programs for and within Two-Spirit (2S)/LGBTQ+ communities in California. Funding also will support increasing access to treatment services for opioid use disorder, stimulant use disorder and/or co-occurring substance use disorder through referrals and partnerships.
Applications are due by Monday, May 8 at 1 p.m. (Pacific Time).
Access the Request for Applications (.pdf) for funding opportunity information and application instructions.
The Center will hold a webinar for interested applicants on Monday, April 17 at 1 p.m. (Pacific Time). . The webinar will will be record and posted on the MAT Access Points Project website.
Apr 4, 2023
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a Dear Colleague letter to providers and grantees about the risks of xylazine. According to the press release, “SAMHSA’s goal with this alert is to provide information about the consequences of xylazine exposure, what practitioners can do to mitigate harm, and how SAMHSA is responding to this emerging public health challenge. SAMHSA thanks grantees and providers for their vital role in carrying out this life-saving work.”
For more information and resources on xylazine, visit the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) xylazine webpage. This webpage also includes an issue brief on xylazine, which outlines health risks and harm reduction strategies for xylazine. The issue brief states that health professionals, drug treatment providers, local policymakers, and harm reduction programs can prepare for xylazine by taking these steps:
- Support the development, implementation and scale-up of harm reduction services.
- Scale-up community-based naloxone distribution to people who use drugs.
- Advise health care professionals and first responders to consider xylazine exposure in cases where an overdose is not responsive to naloxone.
- Encourage clinicians to include xylazine exposure in the differential diagnosis of necrotic skin ulcerations in a person who is using drugs.
- Communicate xylazine trends to people who use drugs and those who work directly with them.
- Expand access to medication for opiate use disorder (MOUD).
Mar 20, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded $1.75 million to 25 programs through the California Residency Program Collaborative Project. This collaborative will advance the training of primary care doctors in the field of substance use disorders (SUD), including stimulants and opioids. The training will also improve the patient care experience and promote patient-centric and evidence-based care.
“We must equip physicians in California with skills to recognize, diagnose, and treat substance use disorders. This project continues to give residency programs the tools they need to make this a reality,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
The project is improving education, outreach, and treatment for patients with SUDs and opioid use disorders (OUD), with a particular focus on serving vulnerable populations, promoting harm reduction, addressing fentanyl, and increasing Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services. MAT is the use of medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, which are effective in the treatment of OUDs and can help some people sustain recovery.
Twenty-five entities are receiving awards to help provide MAT services to implement the project from January 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. Grantees include accredited residency programs (by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) that train physicians in emergency medicine, family medicine, general internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. This project helps transform the practices of multiple physician specialties and their care teams and improve patient care in SUD/OUD and addiction.
Additional Background
The SUD training is funded by the State Opioid Response III grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It’s part of DHCS’ broader efforts to address SUD, collectively known as the California MAT Expansion Project, to increase access to MAT, reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose-related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. For more information, please visit the DHCS California MAT Expansion Project Overview webpage.
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s awards continue efforts by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including:
Mar 20, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today announced it will launch the Behavioral Health Virtual Services Platform, a new technology-enabled services solution for all children, youth, and families in California, in January 2024. The platform is part of Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health and the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), a $4.7 billion investment in youth behavioral health.
Why This is Important
This platform will support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services from prevention to treatment to recovery. The platform will also provide support and resources, such as interactive digital education, self-monitoring tools, application-based games, and mindfulness exercises, as well as offer access to free, on-demand one-on-one coaching and counseling supports. It will be available as a downloadable smart phone application (on IOS and Android devices) and via a website portal and telephone.
What State Health Leaders Are Saying
“This platform will increase access to early, upstream supports that over time will reduce the overall need for services delivered in emergency departments and psychiatric hospitals, as well as through crisis services, by providing young people with an outlet to address loneliness, sadness, anxiety, school and family stressors, and other issues affecting children, youth, and young adults,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health & Human Services Agency. “Our goal is to offer an upstream option for young people to get the support they need.”
“Through this initiative, we are reimagining behavioral health, emotional well-being, and resiliency for all children, youth, and families in California by delivering equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible mental health and substance use services and supports through an innovative and up-stream focused approach, including accessibility via a smartphone application,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
How We Got Here
Over the past 18 months, DHCS engaged with more than 1,000 unique and diverse stakeholders and key implementation partners across California, including youth, families (including caregivers), local educational agencies and educators, health care providers and payers, behavioral health experts, and community-based organizations, among others.
DHCS prioritized hearing from children, youth, and families, with more than 300-plus children and youth engaged via focus groups, surveys, and regular advisory body meetings. DHCS also engaged diverse populations, regions, and age groups, including individuals from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities, as well as other historically underserved populations (e.g., rural communities, families experiencing homelessness, justice-involved individuals, and foster youth).
In planning and designing this new solution, DHCS vetted more than 450 vendors with existing digital behavioral health platforms and content. This was done through an extensive market scan, a Request for Information, and numerous vendor demonstrations.
DHCS selected Kooth to support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services to youth and young adults (ages 13-25). Kooth will also integrate with other partners to provide a seamless user experience, including providing services and supports to children (ages 0-12) and their parents/caregivers.
Additionally, DHCS is working with potential vendors to provide a statewide e-Consult service for pediatric and primary care providers to connect with behavioral health providers. This will strengthen the workforce and improve the capacity of primary care providers and pediatricians to provide behavioral health treatment to children, youth, and young adults. To date, DHCS has engaged extensively with leading experts on e-Consult services and, in the coming weeks, will launch a workgroup representing primary care providers, pediatricians, and behavioral health experts to inform the design of this statewide solution.
Background on Partnership With Kooth
Founded in 2002, Kooth is a pioneer in youth-focused digital behavioral health. Its platform is accessible to more than eight million teens and young adults, providing a welcoming place for support without barriers, waiting lists, or stigma. “We’re excited to partner with DHCS and the State of California to help transform access to digital behavioral health support for youth across the state. Working together, we believe this represents a step-change in providing early and responsive access to behavioral health care to help address the growing youth mental health crisis,” said Kooth CEO Tim Barker.
In partnership with DHCS, Kooth will conduct extensive user-testing to obtain input from youth, families, and key partners about the design, content creation, and functionality of the platform to ensure it meets the needs of California’s youth. These activities will continue prior to and post go-live in January 2024. Also, through partnerships with key partners, such as schools, primary care providers, and behavioral health experts, Kooth will help build awareness and drive adoption of the platform before and after launch.
For more information, please visit the DHCS CYBHI webpage.
Mar 13, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded $12 million to 44 programs through the California Youth Opioid Response (CA YOR) project, and $9.6 million to 28 entities through the Low-Barrier Opioid Treatment at Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) project. This is the latest investment in a running total of more than half a billion dollars to help prevent opioid overuse and addiction, address opioid use disorders safely and effectively, and reduce overdose deaths.
“DHCS continues to fight for the health of our youth and other vulnerable individuals through programs that strive to increase opioid and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services for people in need. We recognize that early and effective intervention is essential,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
While overdoses and overdose deaths have increased among all populations, the rate among youth has risen faster than other populations. Based upon reports of prior CA YOR grantees, many youth are unaware that methamphetamine, counterfeit benzodiazepines, or other drugs they take may contain fentanyl. The stakes are particularly high given the presence of fentanyl and chemically similar compounds in the illicit drug supply chain. The younger the age of first substance use, the stronger the risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD).
Also, low-barrier treatment actively seeks to identify, reduce, or eliminate hurdles to people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and co-occurring conditions from being able to access, initiate, and continue OUD treatment. A key feature of this approach is the co-location of treatment services, including patient assessment and prescribing with syringe access and other harm reduction services that prospective patients are already utilizing. More than 60 SSPs in California support the health and safety of more than 150,000 people who use drugs each year.
CA YOR Project
Awardees will receive funds for the period of April 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, to support prevention, treatment, and recovery services for youth (ages 12-24) with or at risk of an OUD and/or stimulant use disorder (StUD). The CA YOR project aims to strengthen capacity and increase access for the treatment of OUD/StUDs and to reduce opioid overdose-related deaths among youth through evidence-based practices. Eligible awardees are nonprofit or for-profit businesses, Tribal authorities, state or local government agencies, schools, and school districts.
Low-Barrier Opioid Treatment at SSPs
This project supports the integration of opioid treatment services and other harm reduction services into existing sites to increase the number of SSP sites where OUD treatment services are available and the number of SSP participants engaged in treatment. Eligible awardees include SSPs able to provide health care services in California, directly or in collaboration with one or more health care organizations, sufficient to provide assessment, prescription, and management of medication for the treatment of OUD.
Awarded organizations will be required to demonstrate specific ways in which they will promote equitable access to services offered by the project, including, but not limited to, approaches designed to ensure that Black/African-American, Indigenous, and people of color are able to access services safely and equitably. The awarded SSPs will be able to utilize funds from March 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
“It is imperative that California continues to expand not only access to treatment for an opioid use disorder, but to also provide an increase in harm reduction services,” said Tyler Sadwith, Deputy Director of DHCS Behavioral Health.
Both projects are funded by the State Opioid Response III grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are part of DHCS’ broader efforts to address SUD, collectively known as the California MAT Expansion Project, to increase access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose-related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. For more information, please visit the DHCS California MAT Expansion Project Overview webpage.
Additonal Background:
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s project awards are just two of several efforts made by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including $4.6 million to emergency departments to train behavioral health navigators, $2.4 million for the MAT in Jails and Drug Courts Project, $2 million for the California Native MAT Network for Healing and Recovery Project, $4 million to 54 driving under the influence programs for resources and treatment, $52 million invested in opioid prevention and treatment services, $12 million to tackle youth opioid use, $3.4 million to transform medical practices to address the opioid crisis, and $58.5 million for youth substance use prevention.
Mar 3, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded more than $4.6 million to 39 hospitals with emergency departments (EDs), each receiving $120,000 to train behavioral health navigators to help expand access to substance use disorder and mental health services. The awards are part of DHCS’ CalBridge Behavioral Health Navigator Program. To date, 282 hospitals have received funding under CalBridge.
“People with substance use disorders deserve 24/7 high-quality care in every California health system,” said California Health & Human Services (CalHHS) Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. “This program seeks to fully integrate addiction treatment into standard medical practice, increasing access to treatment and saving lives.”
“Behavioral health navigators serve as a critical link for bridging patients with needed community substance use and mental health services, and they are integral to our statewide efforts to combat the opioid crisis and address the systemic need for expanded patient care after an emergency room visit,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
How Grants Help
California general acute care hospitals with EDs (comprehensive, basic, or standby) that receive funding can:
- Establish and train behavioral health navigators to increase patient access to care.
- Identify, screen, and interview patients with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions and link them to appropriate treatment.
- Implement consistent delivery of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT).
- Adopt new models for reaching historically disadvantaged populations.
- Build an environment that welcomes disclosure of substance use and provides rapid evidence-based treatment.
Why This is Important
These awards are part of a larger effort by CalHHS to strengthen California’s health and human services workforce. CalBridge aims to train and expand the ED workforce to address the urgent need for behavioral health patient care.
By increasing the number of behavioral health navigators in EDs, people with a substance use 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.
Additional Background
CalBridge is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 under key initiatives for Medi-Cal’s Home and Community-Based Services.
Opioid drug overdose deaths totaled 7,175 in California in 2021, with 21,016 ED visits related to an opioid overdose. Addiction and mental illnesses sometimes result in life-or-death emergencies, so it is imperative that EDs provide evidence-based treatment in all communities.
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s grant and RFA announcements are just two of several efforts made by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including:
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