I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5124 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

community action opioid response grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish a community action opioid response grant 

program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Action 

5 Opioid Response Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNITY ACTION 

7 OPIOID RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 

9 Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

10 the Office of Community Services established under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Mar 03, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5124.IH H5124

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1 tion 678 of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 9912), shall, subject to the subsequent provisions 

3 of this section, establish a grant program to enable Com4 munity Action Agencies to respond to the needs of commu5 nities and low-income families and individuals in crisis re6 sulting from the opioid addiction epidemic. 

7 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the grant program under 

8 this section are to expand and support effective commu9 nity efforts to identify and respond to causes and con10 sequences of opioid misuse and addiction experienced by 

11 low-income individuals, families, and communities. 

12 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—Any Community Action Agency, 

13 as defined in subsection (i), is eligible to apply for a grant 

14 under this section by submitting an application in such 

15 form and manner as specified by the Secretary, in accord16 ance with subsection (g)(1). 

17 (d) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded 

18 to a Community Action Agency under this section may 

19 be used to support one or more of the following activities, 

20 which may be conducted in coordination or partnership 

21 with other community organizations: 

22 (1) Enhanced public education to improve indi23 vidual and community awareness, with respect to 

24 opioid misuse or addiction, including for children 

25 and youth. 


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1 (2) Outreach and identification of individuals at 

2 risk of or experiencing opioid misuse or addiction, 

3 and referral of such individuals to appropriate treat4 ment, recovery, or other resources in the community. 

5 (3) Direct services to prevent, treat, or recover 

6 from opioid addiction. 

7 (4) Services to stabilize the education, employ8 ment, housing, transportation, or other needs of ad9 dicted or at-risk individuals and their family mem10 bers. 

11 (5) Services to address and mitigate the impact 

12 of opioid addiction on children in the household. 

13 (6) Support and assistance to children, and 

14 their caregivers, who are in foster care or at-risk of 

15 placement in foster care because of the opioid addic16 tion of their parents. 

17 (7) Development of partnerships with entities 

18 such as local healthcare providers, substance abuse 

19 treatment organizations, schools, child welfare agen20 cies, social service organizations, police departments, 

21 prosecutors, courts, prisons, local governments, busi22 nesses, and religious institutions, in order to coordi23 nate or expand resources available to addicted or at24 risk individuals and their family members. 


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1 (8) Training for agency personnel in issues re2 lated to opioid addiction, including early identifica3 tion of at-risk individuals and administration of 

4 overdose prevention medications. 

5 (e) GRANT FUNDING LIMITATIONS.— 

6 (1) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant awarded 

7 under this section shall be in an amount that is not 

8 more than $1,000,000 per year and not less than 

9 $50,000 per year. 

10 (2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

11 section shall be for not more than three years in du12 ration unless otherwise approved by the Secretary 

13 based on outcome data or extenuating cir14 cumstances. 

15 (f) REPORTING.—Each Community Action Agency 

16 receiving a grant under this section shall submit an annual 

17 report to the Secretary detailing goals, interventions, out18 comes, and expenditures, with respect to the program of 

19 such agency that is funded by such grant, and make each 

20 such report so submitted by the Community Action Agen21 cy available on the public website of the Community Ac22 tion Agency. The Secretary shall make each such report 

23 public on the public website of the Department of Health 

24 and Human Services. For each year of the grant program 

25 under this section, the Secretary shall compile all of such 


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1 reports so submitted to the Secretary for such year and 

2 submit to Congress the compilation with an annual sum3 mary. 

4 (g) EXPEDITED GRANT APPLICATION, REVIEW, AND

5 AWARD PROCESS.— 

6 (1) APPLICATION PROCESS AND CRITERIA.— 

7 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this section, the Secretary shall publish in 

9 the Federal Register the application process and cri10 teria for grants under this section. Such criteria 

11 shall require each application submitted for a grant 

12 under this section to include— 

13 (A) a description of the objectives of the 

14 program and activities to be funded by the 

15 grant and how the grant will be used to achieve 

16 these objectives, including specific activities and 

17 services to be conducted, and specific popu18 lations or areas to be served (including targeted 

19 subgroups such as incarcerated or homeless in20 dividuals); 

21 (B) a description of innovative approaches 

22 to be used and evidence of likely success; 

23 (C) a plan for measuring progress in 

24 achieving such objectives specified in subpara25 graph (A), including a strategy to collect data 


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1 that can be used to measure the project’s effec2 tiveness; 

3 (D) identification of relevant community or 

4 other organizations with which the applicant 

5 will coordinate or partner and a description of 

6 the proposed coordination or partnership; 

7 (E) assurances satisfactory to the Sec8 retary that the applicant has conducted an as9 sessment of community needs related to opioid 

10 misuse and addiction among low-income individ11 uals and families, and that the proposed uses of 

12 the grant funds will address unmet needs iden13 tified by the assessment; 

14 (F) assurances satisfactory to the Sec15 retary that funds awarded through the grant 

16 will not supplant other programs or resources 

17 in the community with similar objectives; and 

18 (G) assurances satisfactory to the Sec19 retary that evidence-based approaches will be 

20 used to the maximum extent practicable. 

21 (2) COMMUNITY ACTION OPIOID RESPONSE

22 GRANT APPLICATION REVIEW PANEL.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this section, 

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1 tion Opioid Response Grant Application Review 

2 Panel of not less than 15 individuals, including 

3 not more than 5 employees from the Depart4 ment of Health and Human Services and other 

5 Federal agencies, with expert knowledge of the 

6 opioid epidemic, drug treatment, community re7 sponses to poverty prevention, child protection, 

8 or post-recovery employment and training. 

9 (B) DUTIES.—Such review panel shall re10 view and evaluate applications for grants under 

11 this section and recommend to the Secretary 

12 which of such applications should be awarded a 

13 grant under this section. 

14 (C) GRANT SELECTION PRIORITIES.—In 

15 reviewing and recommending applications for a 

16 grant, such review panel shall consider and give 

17 priority to applications that demonstrate one or 

18 more of the following: 

19 (i) Evidence of coordination and part20 nership with agencies or entities with expe21 rience or expertise in addressing opioid-re22 lated issues. 

23 (ii) Evidence of leveraging non-Fed24 eral funds or in-kind resources to extend 


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1 the reach or duration (or both) of the pro2 gram proposed by the application. 

3 (iii) Quality of methodology proposed 

4 to monitor the outcomes of the program 

5 proposed by the application and effective6 ness in achieving goals of the program and 

7 mitigating the harmful health and socio8 economic impacts of opioid addiction. 

9 (iv) Evidence of capacity-building and 

10 strengthening of community responses to 

11 the opioid crisis. 

12 (v) Efforts to minimize the trauma 

13 and negative impact of foster care on chil14 dren of addicted individuals. 

15 (vi) The applicant has a demonstrated 

16 knowledge of opioid-related needs in the 

17 target community. 

18 (vii) Use of innovative or evidence19 based approaches to address unmet opioid20 related needs, including to promote self21 sufficiency and well-being for families with 

22 children impacted by opioid addiction. 

23 (D) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use 

24 amounts appropriated to the Office of the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services to pay 


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1 for all expenses associated with the Community 

2 Action Opioid Response Grant Application Re3 view Panel. 

4 (3) TIMING FOR AWARDING GRANTS.—With re5 spect to a year for which amounts are appropriated 

6 to carry out this section pursuant to subsection (h), 

7 not later than 120 days after such amounts are 

8 made available for such year, the Secretary shall 

9 award all such amounts for grants under this section 

10 for such year. 

11 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

13 appropriated for grants under this section 

14 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 

15 2022. 

16 (2) TRIBAL SET ASIDE.—Of the amount appro17 priated for a year pursuant to paragraph (1) to 

18 carry out this section, not more than 7 percent shall 

19 be designated for such year for grants to Indian 

20 tribes or tribal organizations that receive direct pay21 ments under section 677 of the Community Services 

22 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9911). 

23 (i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

24 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 


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1 (2) COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘Community Action Agency’’ has the same meaning 

3 given the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ under section 

4 673(1)(A) of the Community Services Block Grant 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 9902). 

Æ 


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