Rep. Calvert Applauds Federal Grant Award to Riverside County to Combat Opioid Crisis

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) applauded the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award $ 2,353,139 to the Riverside County Department of Public Health to combat the opioid crisis. Riverside County is one of 16 localities nationwide to receive funding from the CDC.

"The opioid crisis continues to destroy lives and families across our nation, including right here in Riverside County," said Rep. Calvert. "The funding being awarded by the CDC will provide critical resources and tools to Riverside County health officials to combat opioid-related overdoses and deaths in our community. I am committed to working with all of our federal, state and local partners to implement life-saving solutions to this deadly problem."

The CDC is providing funding to Riverside County under its Overdose Data to Action program, which is a 3-year cooperative agreement that focuses on the complex and changing nature of the opioid overdose epidemic and highlights the need for an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and cohesive public health approach. These funds will support recipients in obtaining high-quality, more comprehensive, and timelier data on overdose morbidity and mortality—and use those data to inform prevention and response efforts.

Funded jurisdictions will focus on a variety of strategies, which may include the following:

• Surveillance
  • Collecting and disseminating timely emergency department data on suspected overdoses involving opioids, heroin, stimulants, and other drugs
  • Collecting and disseminating descriptions of drug overdose death circumstances using death certificates and medical examiner/coroner data
  • Implementing innovative surveillance activities to support interventions
• Prevention
  • Strengthening prescription drug monitoring programs
  • Improving state–local integration
  • Establishing linkages to care
  • Improving provider and health system support
  • Improving partnerships with public safety and first responders; empowering individuals to make safer choices; and providing jurisdictions opportunities for innovative prevention approaches