COLUMBUS – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today the application process is now open for Ohio law enforcement teams to apply for $3 million in new state grant money that will replicate or expand Drug Abuse Response Teams (DARTs) and Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to address the opioid epidemic in Ohio.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office will distribute the $3 million over FY 2018 and 2019, as designed by a budget amendment sponsored by Senator Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) and signed into law last month. The grants will be awarded to local law enforcement agencies and must include a partnership with a treatment provider. Preference will be given to applicants that include other partners such as a mental health recovery board, peer specialists, fire department, emergency management system agency, faith-based organizations, children’s services organizations or other appropriate agencies.
“The goal of Drug Abuse Response Teams and Quick Response Teams is to save lives by getting those addicted to opioids into treatment and leading them to resources so they can stay clean,” said Attorney General DeWine. “The teams established now have a collaborative partnership in their community to address addiction and help Ohio families. That’s what we will see more of with this grant money, and it’s something Ohio desperately needs.”
Specifically, the grant funding will support efforts similar to the QRTs in Colerain Township (Hamilton County) and Summit County, as well as the DART in Lucas County.
Lucas County DART provides 24-hour assistance to overdose survivors and their families. Since 2014, DART has assisted nearly 2,300 opioid survivors and has had a 74 percent success rate in getting survivors into detox and linked to treatment programs.
Colerain Township in Hamilton County estimates that their Quick Response Team has conducted 250 investigations with nearly 80 percent of the overdose survivors they have encountered entering treatment. Summit County’s QRTs are based on the Colerain Township model and are now operating in Cuyahoga Falls, Green, Barberton, Norton, Tallmadge, Stow, Munroe Falls, Akron, Coventry, and Hudson.
The application process for this law enforcement grant program can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/LawEnforcementGrants. The application deadline is 5pm EST on Friday, August 18, 2017. For technical assistance with any requirements, contact [email protected].
Grant recipients will be notified on Thursday, August 31, 2017.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
