On Wednesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a $100 million investment of federal State Opioid and Stimulant Response (SOS, formerly SOR) funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to help communities fight opioid addiction and prevent overdose deaths.

The  funds are  a continuation of year one funding received by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) that will strengthen and sustain an array of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and long-term recovery supports for Ohioans struggling with an opioid or stimulant use disorder. More than 7,800 Ohioans were served in year one of the SOS initiative.

“Ohio continues to make good progress in our effort to stem the tide of opioid addiction, but our work is far from over,” said Governor Mike DeWine. “While the rate of unintentional overdose deaths is slowing, our work must continue. This funding will help us save lives and promote stronger, healthier communities.”

OhioMHAS Director Lori Criss received the Mary E. Pettus Excellence in Public Policy Award from The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers on Wednesday during the Council's Annual Conference at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. The Ohio Council presents the award annually to individuals or organizations in recognition for making a major public policy contribution to improving the financing, delivery, and/or quality of behavioral health and family services for Ohio's citizens and communities. Director Criss, pictured at right and above with Ohio Council CEO Teresa Lampl, also provided an update on Ohio’s behavioral health priorities.

The Ohio Council is a statewide trade association representing more than 160 private and not-for-profit organizations providing community-based mental health, alcohol and other drug addiction treatment and family services throughout Ohio.

OhioMHAS is pleased to announce funding for the Black Youth and Young Adult Suicide Prevention Initiative. The goal of the project is to strengthen and amplify multi-sector efforts across the continuum of care in Ohio communities to prevent suicide, reduce stigma, and address social determinants of health to reduce the rates of suicide in the Black community. This Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit applications from statewide prevention organizations, Ohio Centers of Excellence, and universities to provide opportunities for community-based organizations to develop the knowledge and skill to be able to implement evidence informed strategies to prevent Black youth and young adult suicides. The responsibilities of the selected applicant will include the development and facilitation of a community of practice (CoP) approach to build capacity and infrastructure for communities to reduce Black youth and young adult suicides. OhioMHAS will award funding only to qualified non-profit organizations or governmental entities that provide statewide development, evaluation, and a CoP approach with experience in suicide prevention, strategic prevention framework, and strategies to impact social determinants of health.

All questions must be submitted electronically no later than 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 1, to OhioMHAS at: MHAS-OPWGRANTS@mha.ohio.gov. Applications must be submitted electronically to MHAS-OPWGRANTS@mha.ohio.gov  by by 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 10.

OhioMHAS, in partnership with The Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center (GRC), is pleased to announce a series of upcoming Zoom-based Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) training opportunities. These trainings are for staff who collect and enter GPRA data for the State Opioid and Stimulant Response (SOR/SOS 3.0) grants. Click on the links below to register. For questions about the GPRA trainings, please email GRC staff at SOSEval@osumc.edu.  

GPRA Data Collection: Learning How to Complete the Required GPRA Interview – Dr. Margaret Baughman, Case Western Reserve University, offers a comprehensive overview of the GPRA tool.

• Oct. 25 | 2:00–3:30 p.m. | Register Here
• Nov. 8 | Noon–1:30 p.m. | Register Here
• Nov. 30 | 9:30–11:00 a.m. | Register Here
• Dec. 12 | 12:30–2:00 p.m. | Register Here

iPortal Data Entry: Learning How to Enter a GPRA Interview into iPortal - Staff from the GRC team offer an orientation to the iPortal data management application.

• Oct. 19 | 9:30–10:30 a.m. | Register Here
• Oct. 31 | 9:00–10:00 a.m. | Register Here
• Nov. 17 | 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Register Here
• Dec. 7 | 1:00–2:00 p.m. | Register Here
• Dec. 15 | 3:00–4:00 p.m. | Register Here

The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) this week released an updated fact sheet that provides an overview of the landscape of methamphetamine use in the United States. The fact sheet, originally released in 2015, provides current data on trends in use and admissions to treatment, the effects/risks of methamphetamine use, effective treatment services, and the role of key federal programs and agencies in addressing issues related to methamphetamine use.

The latest episode of the Nord Center's Nordcast podcast examines the importance of early intervention and treatment in a person's first episode of psychosis. 

Founded in 1947, the Nord Center is a nonprofit community mental health center serving Lorain County. The Center provides trauma-informed servcies in four key areas: core mental health; crisis and suicide prevention; supportive housing; and sexual assault.

Click HERE to listen to more episodes of the Nordcast podcast and HERE to learn more about OhioMHAS' work to address first episode psychosis.

As part of its Public Service Perspectives series, the Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service will present "Health Equity in Public Service: A Collaborative Opportunity" featuring OhioMHAS Prevention Manager Dr. Dawn Thomas on Oct. 25 from noon-1:00 p.m. This presentation will define health equity terminology and intersectionality of those terms, provide an overview of social determinants and how they impact health, and explore the value of cross-sector collaboration for improved health outcomes.