CAPITAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NETWORK AWARDED MAJOR GRANT

ALBANY, NY – The Capital Behavioral Health Network (CBHN) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant of $2,223,096 under the State Opioid Response (SOR) federally supported grant administered by the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports.

This award was distributed from the $50.7 million distributed to providers throughout New York State to expand access to addiction services. The award was announced in March.

The grant funding is effective on April 1, 2021, and implementation has begun.

“These SOR grants are vitally important to ensure that individuals battling opioid use disorders have access to life saving prevention, treatment and recovery services,” said OASAS Commissioner Arlene González-Sánchez. “This funding enables us to support and uplift families and the entire community by decreasing overdoses, reducing the strain on the health care system, and increasing the chances of successful outcomes for those who rely on these valuable resources.”

Capital Behavioral Health Network is an independent practice association that consists of over 20 providers of mental health and substance abuse services. CBHN members represent a wide spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services in urban, suburban, and rural communities in the greater Capital District region and neighboring counties. CBHN members deliver mental health, substance abuse treatment and social support services to thousands of individuals and is based in Albany, New York.

“We are so pleased and grateful to receive these funds to assist our providers in their continued extraordinary efforts to serve those in need in our community,” said Dorothy Cucinelli, the Chief Executive Officer of CBHN. “This grant gives us the opportunity to allow our CBHN providers to expand their treatment, prevention and recovery services to those individuals with opioid and other stimulant addictions in our eight-county area.”

This area consists of the following counties: Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Columbia, Greene, Warren, and Washington.

“Our area has a higher rate of opioid and other stimulant addictions then the state average,” stated Ms. Cucinelli.

“These rates have increased during the pandemic, thus highlighting a much-needed coordinated response to this crisis. This grant will provide that necessary coordinated response for services with our regional group of providers.”

The State Opioid Response grant is designed to address the opioid crisis by increasing access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). This treatment uses the three medications approved from the Federal Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid use disorder, reducing unmet treatment need, reducing opioid overdoserelated deaths, and providing a comprehensive continuum of treatment, prevention, and recovery services to reduce the prevalence, incidence, and consequences associated with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and Stimulant Use Disorder. (SUD).

The CBHN project consists of three components:

Treatment Project COAST

• Project COAST stands for “Coordinated Opioid and Stimulant Treatment.”
• Whitney Young Health of Albany, New York will assist in leading this initiative.
• A 24/7 hotline will be available to the community and providers. This number is to be announced.
• This hotline will feature providers who can access an individual’s medical records and prescribe immediate medication subscription information.
• The Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences’ student-operated pharmacy located at the Whitney Young Health Center is working with a network of local pharmacies to provide medication.
• Funding is available to cover the cost of medications to those individuals in need of financial assistance.
• Delivery of medication will be provided when necessary and when requested.
• From the very first call, coordination of care will commence, and continuous support will be provided throughout all the phases of the treatment.

Recovery

• The grant will include funding for peer support, including peer support development.
• Peer support initiatives include training, certification, and support activities.
• A network of peers will be assigned to the participating agencies.
• These peers will work directly with clients to provide continuous, ongoing support during the recovery process.

Prevention

• The grant will include funding for family education and teen education programs.
• These programs will be based upon exiting national models.

For more information, please contact Ms. Cucinelli at dcucinelli@cbhnetwork.com or at 518.504.8651.