Two Initiatives Will Support Street Outreach Teams and the Delivery of Harm Reduction and Treatment Services
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced more than $5.5 million to support addiction outreach and engagement services designed to reach underserved populations across New York State. Overseen by the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, this funding, distributed through New York State's Opioid Settlement Fund, will help connect high-need individuals to a variety of services they may not have access to otherwise.
These services are being delivered under two models - the Clinic Model and the Street Outreach model. The Clinic Model will be delivered by an OASAS, Office of Mental Health, or Department of Health certified program, while services under the Street Outreach Model will also be delivered by harm reduction providers.
Both models support street outreach teams, who will visit areas where high-risk populations tend to congregate to offer overdose prevention education, naloxone, and other harm reduction supplies, and also work to connect individuals to treatment and other support services. The Clinic Model treatment teams will deliver clinical treatment services like medication to treat addiction, and will also include peers who will deliver harm reduction services.
Capital District
- Rise Housing and Support Services - $312,815
Central NY
- East Hill Medical Center - $309,324
- Farnham, Inc. - $325,000
- Onondaga County Health Dept. $325,000
Long Island
- Community Action for Social Justice - $325,000
- Outreach Development Corp. - $325,000
Mid-Hudson
- Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health - $306,250
New York City
- Center for Community Alternatives - $250,000
- Federation of Organizations Queens - $250,000
Southern Tier
- Southern Tier AIDS Program - $302,000
Western NY
- Allegany Rehabilitation Associates - $243,694
- Evergreen Health - $310,000
OASAS currently funds 20 providers offering these services in New York, Bronx, Richmond, Erie, Monroe, Sullivan, Tompkins and Albany counties, bringing the total number of providers offering this model to 32.
- 820 River Street (Warren and Essex)
- Allegany Council on Alcoholism & Substance Abuse (Allegany & Steuben)
- PROMESA (Chautauqua & Cattaraugus)
- Samadhi Center, Inc. (Delaware and Ulster)
- St. Lawrence Community Services (St. Lawrence)
OASAS currently funds 18 Outreach and Engagement Service providers to deliver the clinic model, and with this funding that number will increase to 23. From June 1st, 2022, through May 31st, 2023, these existing providers reached 7,027 unique individuals with these services.
New York State is receiving more than $2 billion through various settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies that were secured by Attorney General Letitia James. A portion of the funding from these settlements will go directly to municipalities, with the remainder deposited into a dedicated fund to support prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery efforts to address the ongoing opioid epidemic.
The same legislation that established the dedicated fund also created the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, which is tasked with making recommendations on how settlement dollars should be allocated to best serve those in need. Board members issued their first recommendations on November 1, 2022, identifying the expansion of harm reduction services and treatment as top priorities.
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. The state has worked to expand access to traditional services, including crisis services, inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs, as well as medication to treat addiction, and mobile treatment and transportation services.
Governor Hochul was a member of the NYS Heroin and Opioid Task Force, which in 2016, recommended new, non-traditional services, including recovery centers, youth clubhouses, expanded peer services, and open access centers, which provide immediate assessments and referrals to care. These services have since been established in numerous communities around the state and have helped people in need access care closer to where they live.
The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports oversees one of the nation's largest substance use disorder systems of care with approximately 1,700 prevention, treatment and recovery programs serving over 731,000 individuals per year. This includes the direct operation of 12 Addiction Treatment Centers where our doctors, nurses, and clinical staff provide inpatient and residential services to approximately 8,000 individuals per year.
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.
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