Wisconsin state opioid response 4 - the overdose crisis has created unprecedented challenges for individuals, families, and communities

These challenges are compounded for individuals with opioid, stimulant, and/or concurrent substance use disorders, especially for diverse racial/ethnic populations and rural communities that are often underserved. The wisconsin state opioid response (SOR) will focus on expanding access to evidence-based opioid and stimulant use disorder treatment and recovery services, advancing opioid and stimulant use prevention and harm reduction, and reducing opioid and stimulant-related overdose deaths. The SOR-funded initiatives and programs outlined in this application continue to build on the infrastructure and progress made with previous SOR grants and seek to further evolve wisconsin's response to the opioid epidemic. The wisconsin department of health services (DHS) completed a needs assessment in may 2024 that identified high-need geographical regions and vulnerable/underserved populations. The assessment was used to prioritize decision making regarding program development and resource allocation to these areas. Due to systemic barriers and social factors, health inequities exist for african american and native americans in wisconsin, as well other minority populations. African americans are the largest racial minority group in wisconsin, and predominantly live in southern and southeastern wisconsin. Wisconsin also contains 11 federally recognized tribes. Tribal lands are located mostly in rural areas of wisconsin. The top ten high-need counties have large populations of either african americans or native americans. Additionally, half of the identified high-need counties are considered over 60% rural. DHS plans to support 120,000 unduplicated individuals with substance use and overdose prevention services, 3,600 unduplicated individuals with treatment services, and 3,000 unduplicated individuals with recovery support services throughout the three-year grant cycle. The SOR grant will be used for the continuation of community prevention strategies and will expand the number of community events held across the state. IT will also aid in the development, evaluation, and distribution of media prevention campaigns to actively target diverse populations such as racial/ethnic minorities, lgbtqi+, youth, older adults, and rural populations. Topics to be addressed will include opioids, counterfeit fentanyl pills, stimulants, and stigma. Statewide distribution of naloxone according to the naloxone saturation plan will occur along with the distribution of drug checking technologies. DHS will seek to increase access to all three forms of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) by expanding low threshold MOUD programs to include carceral settings. DHS will target new populations through this grant, such as providing the continuum of care for transition aged youth. The support and expansion for the recovery helpline and website that connects people to addiction recovery resources and services will continue as well as recovery coaching and peer support initiatives. DHS plans to continue training medical professionals to develop highly efficient teams of emergency department (ED) clinicians to deliver best-practice treatment to individuals that present with OUD and provide a robust professional training curriculum on ebps and implementation to wisconsin's SUD workforce. Through all of these initiatives, DHS will focus on addressing behavioral health equity and improving identification and delivery of culturally appropriate services to individuals in wisconsin.