SAMHSA increases funding for SUD prevention and treatment
When U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra introduced the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), he noted the department is committed to connecting “all people facing mental health or substance use challenges” to “appropriate services and supports.” The purpose of the survey is, in part, to empower those services and supports with comprehensive data, so they can effectively shape programs to achieve the best possible outcomes.
The 2021 survey results (the latest data available) underscore a stark reality of an urgent public health issue. According to the survey, 46.3 million people ages 12 or older—almost 16 percent of the U.S. population—meets the criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD). Approximately 94 percent of people with SUD did not receive any treatment for the condition.
SUDs can be deadly: in 2021, roughly 106,000 people in the U.S. died from the misuse of prescription and illicit drugs and 140,000 from alcohol. SUDs also cause long-term problems for individuals and communities, including unemployment, family disruption and chronic illness and hospitalization. The Joint Economic Committee released a congressional report estimating the toll of the opioid crisis alone surpassed $1.5 trillion in 2020.
Fortunately, in 2022, the federal government committed $9.7 billion to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), to offer grant funding to a diverse range of local and state SUD treatment and prevention programs (among others). This year,
However, programs and agencies relying on grant funds face challenges. The research and application process can be time-consuming. Time spent can be particularly burdensome for organizations already operating on slim margins (often due to inflation or comparably low reimbursement rates). Moreover, once an organization secures funding, it needs to meet SAMHSA’s performance and accountability standards—which involves managing complex data to comply with SAMHSA’s reporting requirements.
At FEI, we know how committed agencies are to putting the people they serve first, and how arduous it can be to balance direct care with funding-related tasks. That’s why we created our Blue Compass suite of solutions: to alleviate some of the burdensome workload faced by health and human services agencies, including for SUD prevention and treatment organizations.
A prevention module, designed to align with the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) that streamlines the work of managing block grants and state funding through contracts with prevention provider organizations (PPOs), is often implemented with our Blue Compass behavioral health case management platform. Our prevention solution makes it easier for SUD organizations to meet highly-specific grant funding requirements. The module also incorporates a robust prevention planning and approval workflow, and it streamlines and automates aspects of recordkeeping for individual and community-based prevention activities as they’re implemented – making it easier to consolidate key data on a program’s efficacy and allowing agencies to create compelling, evidence-based arguments when applying for competitive grants.
Ultimately, applying for and maintaining grant funding is how organizations involved in SUD prevention or treatment stay solvent. At FEI, we seek to make that process easier for state agencies and providers alike. With our platform to collect planning and prevention data, state and county agencies are better equipped to manage prevention and treatment funding and services.