News & Updates — FORE Announcements

FORE today announced three new grants, totaling nearly $2 million over two years, to fund programs at Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health (NCDVTMH), and the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP).
With FORE support, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, the state’s only legal aid services provider, will pilot a medical-legal partnership for opioid disorder clients and their children. The project brings together medical and legal experts to identify and reduce social stressors and increase access to opioid use disorder treatment and recovery services for families. Children of parents with substance use disorder are at risk of experiencing family separation, unstable housing, disruptions to school or health care, and other socio-economic problems that often require legal assistance to address.

The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health at the Hektoen Institute of Medicine in Chicago is using a grant from FORE to build on its unique Substance Use Coercion Toolkit, which helps health care providers identify instances of substance use coercion. Many women with a substance use disorder have experienced intimate partner violence and/or substance use coercion, which can include being coerced into using substances by their partners, as well as being discouraged and/or prevented from seeking treatment. The issue receives little attention but is a significant barrier to treatment and recovery. The Hektoen Institute will be partnering with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on the project.

The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) will continue its work under the FORE-supported State Policy Center for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Access, which supports state policymakers as they navigate changes in substance use policy, such as new flexibilities and expansions in service delivery and harm reduction, increases in federal grants and Medicaid options, and new funding resulting from legal settlements.

“These grants represent FORE’s continued work to expand our programmatic areas of Access to Treatment, Innovation, and Family- and Community-Based Prevention. We are continually learning from the field and identifying gaps in current activities where our funds can contribute new knowledge and solutions,” says FORE President Karen A. Scott, MD, MPH. “These latest grants will impact individuals and families and will also allow us to expand our knowledge of the most effective ways to combat the devastating opioid and overdose crisis.”

Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc.
Mitigating the Impact of ACEs on Oklahoma Families
Principal Investigator: Michael Figgins, JD
$1,000,000

Hektoen Institute of Medicine (dba National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health)
Supporting Opioid Use Disorder Treatment to Recovery through Piloting an Intervention Addressing Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use Coercion
Principal Investigator: Carole Warshaw, MD
$346,261

The Center for Health Policy Development (dba National Academy of State Health Policy)
Supporting State Policy in Responding to the Opioid Crisis
Principal Investigator: Jodi Manz, MSW
$499,400