In December 2018, the Board of Health authorized a grant application in response to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funding opportunity for Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) – Planning. In May 2019, the District received a Notice of Award for $200,000 from June 1, 2019, through May 31, 2020 (Exhibit A). As a result of COVID-19, that grant has been extended until November 30, 2020.
The program is part of a multi-year opioid-focused effort by HRSA that will include: improving access to and recruitment of new substance use disorder providers; building sustainable treatment resources; increasing the use of telehealth; establishing cross-sector community partnerships; implementing new models of care, including integrated behavioral health; and providing technical assistance.
All activities supported by this program must exclusively target populations residing in HRSA-designated rural counties or rural census tracts in urban counties, and the consortium overall must be representative of rural entities. Within Snohomish County, the only two eligible census tracts are in the Darrington area, and in southeast Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar, and Index.
The first deliverable for the Planning grant was to create a consortium with signed memorandums of understanding with partners. The current members are:
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AIDS Outreach Project/Snohomish County Syringe Exchange
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Community Health Centers of Snohomish County
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Town of Darrington
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Darrington Prevention and Intervention Community Coalition
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Darrington School District
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EvergreenHealth Monroe Recovery Center
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Ideal Option
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Monroe Community Coalition
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Providence Regional Medical Center (in the process of being added)
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Sea Mar Community Health Center – Monroe Behavioral Health Clinic
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Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management
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Snohomish County Sheriff's Office
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Snohomish Health District
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Sno-Isle Libraries
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City of Sultan
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Sultan School District
In January 2020, HRSA released the funding announcement for the next phase for the RCORP programming. On January 21, 2020, the Board of Health authorized staff to submit grant application for HRSA’s Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Implementation funding opportunity. That application was submitted to HRSA on May 31.
On August 6, staff received its notice of award for $1M effective September 1 for a three-year period, with the Snohomish Health District as the lead agency. The tentative budget as proposed is included as Exhibit B.