NOI_W27022.docx

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) Notice of Intent W27022 FY 2026 First Responders - Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (FR-CARA)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS), intends to apply for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) FY 2026 First Responders - Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (FR-CARA) (TI-26-006) Notice of Funding Opportunity. SAMHSA anticipates awarding 44-118 state and local awardees that strengthen comprehensive, community-based overdose prevention and response systems.

The purpose of the FR-CARA program is to reduce opioid overdose deaths by expanding evidence-based overdose prevention, increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), strengthening first responder capacity, and improving linkages to treatment and recovery. The program emphasizes partnerships among first responders, healthcare providers, public health agencies, peer recovery organizations, and trusted community-based organizations to ensure individuals who experience an overdose receive timely engagement and ongoing support.

Grant funding would enable MDPH-BSAS to expand and strengthen statewide post-overdose response efforts by supporting coordinated partnerships among first responder agencies and community-based organizations. The proposed project will increase access to naloxone, field-initiated buprenorphine where appropriate, rapid referral pathways, and ongoing treatment and recovery supports for individuals at high risk of overdose.

The grant requirements include:

· Strengthening first responder capacity to respond to opioid overdoses using evidence-based practices.

· Expanding community-based overdose prevention and post-overdose engagement through trusted community anchor organizations.

· Increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine and methadone, through rapid referral and care coordination.

· Enhancing partnerships among first responders, healthcare providers, and recovery support providers.

· Collecting performance data and evaluating program outcomes to improve overdose response and treatment engagement.

The purpose of this notice is to publicize MDPH-BSAS's intent to submit a federal grant application naming Social Science Research and Evaluation (SSRE) as the project's evaluation partner. MDPH-BSAS intends to contract SSRE because of its demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing evaluations for complex, multi-site overdose prevention and response programs and has an established history of successfully partnering with MDPH-BSAS. SSRE currently serves as the evaluator for Massachusetts’ Bureau of Justice Assistance Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (BJA COSSUP) and SAMHSA Prescription Drug Overdose (PDO) initiatives and has significant experience evaluating post-overdose outreach and response teams across Massachusetts.

As the FR-CARA evaluation partner, SSRE will provide oversight and day-to-day coordination of all data collection and evaluation activities. Responsibilities will include developing and implementing the project's evaluation plan; coordinating data collection across project partners; monitoring data quality, completeness, and timeliness; supporting performance measurement and continuous quality improvement; analyzing program outcomes; and preparing required evaluation reports for MDPH-BSAS and SAMHSA. The organization will also provide technical assistance to project partners to ensure consistent data collection, reporting, and use of evaluation findings to strengthen program implementation and improve outcomes.

SSRE provides over 40 years of experience as a premier research and evaluation firm devoted to furthering basic and applied social science research. SSRE has been awarded grants and contracts funded by federal, state, and local governments and agencies, foundations, and community agencies and organizations to address issues such as substance misuse prevention, opioid overdose prevention, injury prevention, suicide prevention, mental health promotion, training/technical assistance (T/TA) center evaluation, and community health surveillance. This has included successful federal grant collaboration with other units within BSAS and with its local partners.

Through these activities, SSRE will support rigorous monitoring of project performance, document the effectiveness of evidence-based overdose prevention and post-overdose response strategies, and help ensure the FR-CARA project achieves its goals of strengthening overdose response systems and improving access to treatment and recovery services across participating communities.

If you have equal qualifications to the organization mentioned above and would like to be considered for partnership on this grant, send qualifications along with any questions or comments with the subject line: MA FR-CARA- W27022 in writing to Ryan H. Naismith at ryan.h.naismith@mass.gov by August 7th, 2026 at 4pm.