Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorders

Description

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorders (RCORP-RCOE). RCORP-RCOE is part of the RCORP initiative, which is a multiyear effort to reduce the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD), in rural communities at the highest risk for these conditions. RCORP-RCOE will provide up to three years of funding to support three Rural Centers of Excellence (Centers) on SUD. The purpose of RCORP-RCOE is to support the identification, translation, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based programs and best practices “related to the treatment for and prevention of substance use disorders within rural communities, with a focus on the current opioid crisis and developing methods to address future substance use disorder epidemics.”1 The Centers will engage in research to identify “science-based prevention, treatment, and other risk reduction interventions, including community-based approaches that may be replicable in other rural communities and associated professional training.”2 After identifying rural-relevant interventions, the Centers will serve as a resource for “scientific and technical assistance to county and state health departments and other entities as identified seeking guidance on how to address the substance use disorder challenges in their community.”3 Other such entities in rural communities may include, but are not limited to, state offices of rural health (SORHs), critical access hospitals (CAHs), rural health clinics (RHCs), and other rural health care providers. Training and technical assistance (TA) should help rural communities translate best practices to their unique community settings and implement those practices to reduce the morbidity and mortality related to SUD, particularly OUD, in their area. Over the three-year period of performance, the Centers should demonstrate how scientific and technical assistance and professional training related to evidence-based SUD interventions can improve prevention, treatment, and recovery in rural communities, with a focus on OUD. The Centers should also demonstrate how their programming improves health and other outcomes as well as systems for addressing current and future SUD epidemics in rural communities.

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