Opioid Settlement Fund Initiatives

Opioid Settlement Fund Initiatives is sponsored by New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has several initiatives funded through the Opioid Settlement Fund.

* Drug User Health Hubs/Syringe Service Programs The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute has received $35,090,000 to date from the Opioid Settlement Fund.

Using the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board's recommended priority areas for funding allocations, the following initiatives and programs have been executed/implemented or are in the procurement process: For the full list of Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board funding, please see: Opioid Settlement Fund Tracker (oasas. ny.

gov) | **Expansion of NYS Drug User Health Hubs and Syringe Service Programs** | Award Period: 10/1/2025 – 9/30/2027 Number of Awards: 25 (PDF) #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute contracts with 25 community-based organizations designated as Syringe Exchange Programs in New York State to provide additional drug user health services.

Syringe Exchange Programs were established in 1992 to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in injection drug users, provide comprehensive harm reduction prevention services. To become a Syringe Exchange Program, an organization must complete a lengthy process to be authorized by the New York State Department of Health Commissioner in order to distribute syringes to, and collect from, those who inject drugs.

These new contracts expanded Syringe Exchange Program/Drug User Health Hub coverage areas and services provided, including adding mental health, medications for opioid use disorder and reproductive health care education/counseling, to the array of services being provided.

| $12,590,000 over two years | | **Expanding Harm Reduction Services for Priority Populations Who Use Drugs** RFA Release Date: August 14, 2023 | Award Period: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2026 Number of Awards: 10 awards for a total of 13 contracts (PDF) #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information Death by drug overdose remains a statewide crisis, and more resources are needed to support priority populations that are especially vulnerable to overdose and who have been historically marginalized and stigmatized by systems of care.

The goal of this initiative is to expand comprehensive harm reduction services/supplies and culturally competent medical and social services for people who use drugs with a focus on priority populations who experience persistent inequities including but not limited to drug use, overdose, and other negative health outcomes.

The priority populations include Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color, Criminal Legal/Justice Involved, Houseless, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex +, Older Adults, and Pregnant/Parenting People.

Each funded agency will: * increase harm reduction services and supplies through non-stigmatizing care * advance health equity, and address social determinants of health that contribute to perpetuating an individual's vulnerability to repeated overdose, such as lack of stable housing, poverty, stigma, and racism * address the intersectionality of drug user health with other specialty care like sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and hepatitis C * increase engagement of people who use drugs * evaluate and report on activities, trends, and innovations Agencies are expected to work collaboratively with the Syringe Exchange Programs, Drug User Health Hub, Opioid Overdose Prevention programs, and other relevant partners in their region to provide meaningful, non-coercive, client-driven services to reduce overdose and other negative outcomes of substance use.

Examples of activities may include increased access to low-threshold buprenorphine, providing naloxone and training on its use, distributing fentanyl test strips and other harm reduction supplies, as well as targeted interventions for those who have previously experienced an overdose.

| $7,500,000 over two years | | **Coroner/Medical Examiner - Mortality Data Improvement Project** | Award Period: 10/1/2025-9/30/2027 Number of Awards: 45 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Office of Drug User Health's Drug Overdose Report Submission Reimbursement Program was developed to help support counties, and specifically, coroner and medical examiner offices, as they play an important role in providing data and reports on fatal drug overdoses occurring throughout the state while facing increasing costs.

Due to the increasing volume and complexity of drug overdose cases, it is imperative that accurate, timely, data and reports must be completed and submitted to our Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology Unit to develop an evidence-based state and local-level response to the drug overdose epidemic.

The State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, a program that collects data on all fatal overdoses occurring in the state, contacts coroner and medical examiner offices throughout the year to request autopsy, forensic, and toxicology reports. Reimbursement will be provided based on the number of reports received.

| $350,000 over 2 years | | **New York Medication for Addiction Treatment and Electronic Referrals Network (NY MATTERS)** Contractor: University Emergency Medical Services | Award Period: 11/1/2023-10/31/2026 Number of Awards: 1 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute contracts with University Emergency Medical Services to expand the New York section of a secure patient data exchange system, known as Medication for Addiction Treatment & Electronic Referrals.

NY MATTERS is a collection of resources to initiate care and quickly link patients to appropriate treatment. It utilizes an electronic platform hosted by New York State Department of Health to efficiently refer patients with opioid use disorder to community-based clinics.

New York State Department of Health has recognized a need to enhance existing mechanisms to meet the expanding needs of New York State residents who are battling opioid addiction.

The system is intended to develop efficient linkage of patients to care, provide access to integrated telemedicine evaluations, allow for medication/ transportation vouchers to be issued to patients in need, provide a mechanism to continuously engage patients, coordinate harm reduction supplies, provide social determinants of health support and evaluate ongoing retention in treatment.

Funding supports expansion of the NY MATTERS network to regions throughout the state that do not have a robust service infrastructure, including rural communities, counties with low health rankings, high opioid burden counties and communities of color. This funding allows the NY MATTERS team to integrate more comprehensive follow-up services for those being referred through the platform.

| $8,000,000 over three years | | **Naloxone** Contractor: Emergent Devices, Inc. | Number of Awards: 1 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information Through this contract with Emergent Devices, Inc., the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute purchases Narcan®, a 4mg intranasal formulation of naloxone.

This medication reverses potentially fatal opioid overdoses and has been successfully deployed in the community among more than 700,000 non-medical persons. These "citizen responders" are trained by more than 1,200 New York State Department of Health registered Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs to recognize overdoses and to respond to them by calling emergency medical services and administering Narcan.

Naloxone is central to the State's response to the opioid overdose crisis.

| $4,250,000 over two years | | **Harm Reduction Supplies** Contractor: Foundation for AIDS Research | Number of Awards: 1 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute funds a five-year (5) contract with Foundation for AIDS Research to support the expansion of Syringe Exchange Programs, Technology Enhanced Access to Syringes program and the vending machine pilot program.

This expansion provides increased access to supportive and health-related services for people who use drugs who live in remote or rural areas. These programs provide individuals with syringe/harm reduction supplies, naloxone, and safer sex supplies.

| Total Annual Amount for Initiative: $1,000,000 | | **Program Expansion of Telemedicine for Opioid Use Disorder** | Award Period: 5/1/2024 – 4/30/2026 Number of Awards: 1 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health has awarded the REACH Project Inc., a medical practice that provides support and care to marginalized populations with a special emphasis on people who use drugs.

The organization engages individuals with respect and equitable access to compassionate care without judgment. The REACH Project will provide telehealth care for medications for addiction treatment/opioid use disorder and increase access to medical and social services to underserved populations within rural communities.

| $1,000,000 over two years | | **Coroner/Medical Examiner - Development of a Coroner Training Program** RFA Reissue Date: August 15, 2024 | Award Period: 6/1/2025–5/31/2027 Number of Awards to be Awarded: 1 #### + "Click to Expand")Expand for more information The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) AIDS Institute (AI), Office of Drug User Health, has awarded Syracuse University’s Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute (SU).

For 25 years, SU has offered a comprehensive range of forensic science programs, including the M. S. in Medicolegal Death Investigations (MDI) and the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Medicolegal Death Investigations, FEPAC-accredited M.

S. in Forensic Science, M. S.

in Digital Forensics, J. D. /M.

S. in Law/Forensic Science, and M. S.

in Biomedical Forensic Sciences. SU maintains a strong partnership with the Onondaga County Health Department, Center for Forensic Sciences (CFS), which includes the ME's Office via an existing MOU to foster joint research, curriculum development, and professional training.

SU also has existing partnerships with the Falk College, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and other institutions, further strengthening their collaboration efforts and resources.

| $400,000 available, $262,572 awarded over two years | ## Opioid Settlement Related Resources * CDC Data on Fatal Drug Poisonings, November 2024 Update (PDF) * CDC Data on Fatal Drug Poisonings: Summary (PDF) * CDC Data on Fatal Drug Poisonings: Update (PDF) * New York MATTERS by the Numbers (PDF)