Governor Hochul Announces $5.25 Million to Support Addiction Prevention Services in High-Need Communities

Federal Funding Will Allow Six Providers to Establish Substance Use and Prevention Coalitions to Focus on Delivering Services to High-Need Populations 

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced $5.25 million in awards to establish six substance use and prevention coalitions across New York State. Administered by the State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the funding will enable recipients to focus prevention efforts on priority populations; including Black, Indigenous and people of color; veterans; older adults, individuals with disabilities, and youth with a history of incarceration or other contact with the criminal-legal system.

"Addiction impacts New Yorkers from all walks of life, and my administration remains committed to using every tool at our disposal to help struggling individuals receive the supportive services they need," Governor Hochul said. "This expansion of prevention services will allow us to reach more people in need and ensure we are taking all necessary steps to provide a full continuum of addiction care across New York State."

Prevention coalitions are designed to better engage vulnerable and isolated communities and populations in developing and implementing environmental change prevention strategies. This funding will help these six new coalitions - two in the New York City area and four in the rest of state - to develop culturally appropriate and tailored prevention initiatives for the specific communities and populations they serve.

Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham said, "Prevention coalitions are targeted specifically to the communities where they are based and serve an important role in establishing strong prevention services to impact community change. This funding will allow us to further expand these important programs in underserved communities and reach more people with important evidence-based programming, education, and other prevention efforts."

Funding for the expansion was provided to New York State through collaboration with The Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. and SAMHSA's Partnership for Success Grant 2022. Each recipient will receive $175,000 per year for five years, for a total of $875,000.

Central New York

• Access To Independence of Cortland County, Inc.

Finger Lakes

• Partnership for Ontario (Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Ontario County)

Long Island

• Family & Children's Association

New York City

• Research Foundation of CUNY on behalf of Lehman College (The Lehman Prevention Collaborative)
• Riseboro Community Partnership (RiseBoro Partnership for Success Prevention Coalition)

North Country

• Mountain View Prevention Services, Inc. (United Prevention "UP!" Coalition of Lewis County)

New York State has instituted an aggressive, multi-pronged approach to addressing the overdose epidemic, and created a nation-leading continuum of addiction care with full prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services. This includes expanding access to traditional services, including crisis services; inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs; medication to treat addiction; and mobile treatment and transportation services.

Governor Hochul was a member of the New York State Heroin and Opioid Task Force, which made recommendations for new, non-traditional services in 2016. These services include recovery centers, youth clubhouses, expanded peer services, and open access centers, which provide immediate assessments and referrals to care, and have since been established in numerous communities around the state to help people in need access care closer to where they live.

New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state's toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential, or outpatient care can be found using the NYS OASAS Treatment Availability Dashboard at FindAddictionTreatment.ny.gov or through the New York State OASAS website.

If you, or a loved one, have experienced insurance obstacles related to treatment or need help filing an appeal for a denied claim, contact the CHAMP helpline by phone at 888-614-5400 or email at ombuds@oasas.ny.gov.