Southeast alaska tribal prevention & community resilience initiativeeducating communities

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska $895,401 on September 30, 2026, under the Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) program (CFDA 93.788) for a five-year project period ending September 29, 2031.

The recipient will expand naloxone access, overdose-recognition training, and culturally grounded prevention education across nine Southeast Alaska hub communities—Juneau, Angoon, Kake, Klukwan, Saxman, Thorne Bay, Hydaburg, Klawock, and Kasaan—to reduce opioid- and stimulant-related overdose morbidity and mortality among tribal citizens and community residents. The project serves individuals at risk for opioid or stimulant misuse and overdose, their families, youth ages 10–24, parents and caregivers, elders, school personnel, and tribal citizens across the nine-community catchment area, accessible only by air or sea. Over the five-year project period, the project will provide prevention services to an estimated 5,000 unduplicated individuals and opioid overdose/infectious disease prevention services to an estimated 6,000 unduplicated individuals. The project does not deliver direct treatment or clinical recovery support services. Place of performance is Juneau, Alaska, with service delivery across the nine-community area of Southeast Alaska's Alexander Archipelago.

Empowering first responders. Saving lives. - the central council of tlingit & haida indian tribes of alaska (tlingit and haida), the federally recognized tribal government representing more than 38,000 citizens across 19 southeast alaska community council chapters, requests $3,750,000 over a five-year project period (september 30, 2026 - september 29, 2031) under samhsa's tribal opioid response (TOR) program. The project will expand naloxone access, overdose-recognition training, and culturally grounded prevention education across nine southeast alaska hub communities - juneau, angoon, kake, klukwan, saxman, thorne BAY, hydaburg, klawock, and kasaan - to reduce opioid- and stimulant-related overdose morbidity and mortality among tribal citizens and community residents. Services will reach individuals at risk for opioid or stimulant misuse and overdose, their families, youth (ages 10-24), parents and caregivers, elders, school personnel, and tribal citizens across the nine-community catchment area, accessible only by air or sea across the alexander archipelago. The population spans both sexes and the full adult and youth age range and reflects the socioeconomic conditions common to rural southeast alaska, including seasonal-economy employment, high cost of living, and geographic isolation. Clinical characteristics of concern include opioid and stimulant misuse, CO-occurring mental health conditions, and historical and intergenerational trauma; some individuals served have system involvement through criminal justice, social services, or child welfare systems. Over the five-year project period, the project will provide prevention services to an estimated 5,000 unduplicated individuals and opioid overdose/infectious disease prevention services to an estimated 6,000 unduplicated individuals; IT does not deliver direct treatment or clinical recovery support services, and individuals needing those services are connected through referral and warm hand-off agreements with regional partners. To reduce overdose morbidity and mortality and strengthen community protective factors, tlingit and haida will implement three integrated components: community education, delivering semi-annual community forums, annual health fairs, monthly village outreach through local community navigators, and a culturally tailored PSA/social-media campaign produced in tlingit, haida, and english; overdose prevention, delivering semi-annual, in-person overdose-recognition training for community members and tribal citizens, with fentanyl and stimulant CO-use awareness embedded throughout; and naloxone access, distributing naloxone kits and establishing fixed distribution sites and vending machines/emergency cabinets in all nine communities by year 3. Programming draws on four evidence-based/evidence-informed practices - gona/goan, botvin lifeskills, overdose education and naloxone distribution (oend), and the tribal practices for wellness in indian country (tpwic) cultural framework - delivered in partnership with eight regional organizations, including the southeast alaska regional health consortium, bartlett regional hospital, jamhi health & wellness, and the juneau school district. By the end of the project period, tlingit and haida will have established naloxone distribution capacity in all nine communities (by year 5), distributed 5,000 naloxone kits, trained 250 tribal citizens, community members, and school/human-service personnel in overdose recognition and naloxone administration, delivered at least 160 prevention/training events (32 per year), and documented a measurable increase in reported overdose reversals by year 3. Progress will be tracked through samhsa's performance accountability and reporting system (spars) via the quarterly SOR/TOR program instrument.