The MHDAS Board of Logan & Champaign Counties received word from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services that the agency was awarded $1,110,061.31 in Federal State Opioid Response (SOR) 2.0 funding.

“The MHDAS Board and staff are extremely grateful to OhioMHAS, to Senator (Rob) Portman and all those who advocated for the federal CURES legislation that helped to fund this initiative as a way to address the significant mental health and addiction needs in local communities,” said Tammy L. Nicholl, MHDAS executive director. “We, along with our system of providers, are very excited to see this level of investment of new dollars into our local system of care.”

Nicholl said the funding will touch the entire continuum of services from prevention to treatment services and recovery supports for people struggling with addiction.

She said the grant will provide increased resources, including to the following services: CORE Coalitions working to address substance abuse, dollars to support the development of faith coalitions in both counties, increased availability of peer support services in community settings, access to Medication Assisted Treatment medications in the jails and community, increased access to in-patient crisis stabilization and withdrawal management services, transportation resources for behavioral health services, development of a more community-based crisis response system and recovery housing.

“All of this could not come at any better time, given the impacts that COVID-19 has had on our community,” Nicholl said. “While COVID has had a tremendous impact on the physical health of many in our communities, it has also left a significant wake of mental health and substance abuse wounds that will take some time to recover from.

“Our communities are fortunate to have provider agencies that have not missed a beat in continuing to meet behavioral health needs and adjusting to deliver those services in creative ways,” Nicholl said. “Even still, they are all feeling the weight of a lack of capacity to meet the level of need we have today in mental health and addiction across the lifespan and the socioeconomic sectors of our communities.”