Community Overdose Engagement

2019 Funding Opportunities for Rhode Island Municipalities

Rhode Island communities are experiencing the opioid overdose epidemic at the state and local level.

 

Addiction and overdose are claiming the lives of fellow Rhode Islanders, destroying families, and undermining the quality of life across the state. In 2017, 323 Rhode Islanders lost their lives to overdose, more than the number of homicides, motor vehicle accidents, and suicides combined.

As a part of the State’s comprehensive efforts to address the overdose crisis and save lives, Governor Gina M. Raimondo’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force developed an Overdose Prevention Action Plan to promote prevention, rescue, treatment, and recovery and reduce the negative perceptions of addiction.

 

In December 2017, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH) hosted the first statewide Community Overdose Engagement (CODE) Summit to address the opioid crisis at the local level. During this event, municipal leaders were charged with the task of developing comprehensive overdose response plans that aligned with the State’s Overdose Action Plan. In June 2018, 25 of Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities submitted approved overdose response plans and were awarded Governor Raimondo’s Overdose Prevention Leadership designations.

 

To continue the momentum of this work, RIDOH is pleased to announce a second round of Community Overdose Engagement (CODE) grant awards to Rhode Island municipalities in 2019.  Details on these two separate funding opportunities are listed below.