THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021 Page 7 AG Healey awards $1.5M in grants to promote racial equity in treatment of opioid use disorder A s the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate racial disparities in the healthcare system, Attorney General Maura Healey recently announced that $1.5 million has been awarded to 16 organizations across the state as part of her office’s new grant program to promote equity in treatment programs and recovery services for opioid use disorder (OUD) in Massachusetts. The grant program—Promoting Cultural Humility in Opioid Use Disorder Treatment—supports treatment and recovery programs committed to standards that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Massachusetts. Healey led a virtual roundtable today to announce the grant recipients and discuss with grantees how they plan to use the funds to address the disparities that exist. “The opioid epidemic is far from over, and the COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated barriers to care that have systemically and disproportionately harmed communities of color for far too long,” said Healey. “We have prioritized equity in our grant programs and awarded these funds to organizations that are committed to providing accessible recovery and treatment services to diverse patients across our state.” Systemic issues, including health care provider biases, limited public health research, and inadequate news coverage have mischaracterized the opioid epidemic as chiefly impacting white suburban and rural communities. However, communities of color are increasingly affected by opioid use disorder. According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, opioid-related overdose deaths increased for Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic communities between 2018 and 2019. Treatment inequities and devastatingly high mortality rates among communities of color require recovery services that are diverse and not “one size fits all.” A recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reveals that Black and Latinx people have substantially lower access to behavioral health and substance use treatment services and too often experience less culturally responsive care. The grants were awarded to treatment programs that practice cultural humility by centering patients’ unique needs and experiences and demonstrate an understanding of providers’ biases and the barriers to care for diverse patients. Grant funds were awarded to the following organizations: • MA Organization for Addiction Recovery (Statewide): This statewide addiction advocacy organization will use the funding to increase access of BIPOC communities to recovery coaching with a focus on services for pregnant or parenting women, veterans, and recently incarcerated individuals who are actively engaged in treatment. “Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery is pleased to receive this grant from Attorney General Maura Healey to improve outreach to communities of color affected by addiction, support people in recovery, and educate the public about the value of recovery,” said Maryanne Frangules, Executive Director of Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR). • Home Base Program (Statewide): The grant funding will help develop and implement training programs for veteran outreach coordinators to better assist BIPOC veterans who seek OUD treatment, including medication-assisted treatment and therapy. “These funds will allow Home Base to develop a training curricula for frontline staff to support patient-centered care of BIPOC veterans in need of OUD treatment,” said Dr. Louis Chow, Senior Director for Training and Network Development at the Home Base Program. “The curricula will be developed to foster three core elements of cultural humility – principles of mutual learning and self-reflection, recognition of power imbalances, and recognition of implicit biases – with the goal of delivering culturally sensitive, equitable, and effective clinical care for those we serve.” • Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (Greater Boston): BHCHP will use the grant award to fund a recovery support advocate with lived experience in the communities the program serves. The program will provide recovery support and harm reduction services to Black and Latinx populations experiencing homelessness in Greater Boston. • Victory Programs (Suffolk, Essex, and Norfolk Counties): Funding will be used to help lower barriers to OUD treatment for populations experiencing homelessness or housing instability, specifically through recruitment/retention initiatives for bilingual staff, evidence-based trainings in cultural humility and racial equity, and programmatic evaluation based on community and client input. “Victory Programs is, yet again, encouraged by the Attorney General’s Office, under AG Healey’s leadership, multi-disciplinary approach to combating the opioid epidemic,” Sarah Porter, Executive Director, Victory Programs. “This grant allows Victory Programs to focus on cultural humility training, which includes the identification and elimination of specific barriers BIPOC face for successful treatment, and on our recruitment and retention of staff of color.” • Boston Medical Center (Greater Boston): The grant funds will bolster BMC’s program that serves 125 to 150 mother-baby pairs each year and will specifically help to further incorporate trauma-informed services, Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards, and culturally sensitive practices in treatment for mothers with OUD. It will also be used to help WE CAN HELP PAY YOUR HEATING BILLS! You may qualify for Program and be eligible for as much as towards your heating costs (oil, gas, or electric). Household of 1 = $39,105 Household of 2 = $51,137 Household of 3 = $63,169 Household of 4 = $75,201 Cold days are coming. ABCD’s got you covered. provide critical support to infants born with neonatal withdrawal syndrome and assist new mothers with the challenges of caring for newborns who are experiencing withdrawals. • Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston): MGH’s Substance Use Disorder Bridge Clinic will use grant funds to tailor peer support to women of color with OUD who are also impacted by commercial sex exploitation and are more likely to require services beyond the average treatment time. The Bridge Clinic will also facilitate a peer referral pathway for this client group from the Suffolk County House of Correction. “Women of color are disproportionately affected by the intersection of opioid use disorder (OUD) and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), but experiences of trauma, racism, and stigma related to addiction and the sex trade create deep distrust of healthcare,” said Dr. Abigail Judge of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, who leads a project to improve services for women jointly affected by subAG HEALEY | SEE PAGE 21 APPLY TODAY! Last day to apply is April 30, 2021 Residents of 178 Tremont Street, Boston, MA — 617.357.6012 Residents of 18 Dartmouth Street, Malden, MA — 781.322.6284
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