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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Action 
Opioid Response Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNITY ACTION 
OPIOID RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION
OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
the Office of Community Services established under sec-
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tion 678 of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 
U.S.C. 9912), shall, subject to the subsequent provisions 
of this section, establish a grant program to enable Com-
munity Action Agencies to respond to the needs of commu-
nities and low-income families and individuals in crisis re-
sulting from the opioid addiction epidemic. 
(b) GOALS.—The goals of the grant program under 
this section are to expand and support effective commu-
nity efforts to identify and respond to causes and con-
sequences of opioid misuse and addiction experienced by 
low-income individuals, families, and communities. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—Any Community Action Agency, 
as defined in subsection (i), is eligible to apply for a grant 
under this section by submitting an application in such 
form and manner as specified by the Secretary, in accord-
ance with subsection (g)(1). 
(d) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded 
to a Community Action Agency under this section may 
be used to support one or more of the following activities, 
which may be conducted in coordination or partnership 
with other community organizations: 
(1) Enhanced public education to improve indi-
vidual and community awareness, with respect to 
opioid misuse or addiction, including for children 
and youth. 
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(2) Outreach and identification of individuals at 
risk of or experiencing opioid misuse or addiction, 
and referral of such individuals to appropriate treat-
ment, recovery, or other resources in the community. 
(3) Direct services to prevent, treat, or recover 
from opioid addiction. 
(4) Services to stabilize the education, employ-
ment, housing, transportation, or other needs of ad-
dicted or at-risk individuals and their family mem-
bers. 
(5) Services to address and mitigate the impact 
of opioid addiction on children in the household. 
(6) Support and assistance to children, and 
their caregivers, who are in foster care or at-risk of 
placement in foster care because of the opioid addic-
tion of their parents. 
(7) Development of partnerships with entities 
such as local healthcare providers, substance abuse 
treatment organizations, schools, child welfare agen-
cies, social service organizations, police departments, 
prosecutors, courts, prisons, local governments, busi-
nesses, and religious institutions, in order to coordi-
nate or expand resources available to addicted or at- 
risk individuals and their family members. 
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(8) Training for agency personnel in issues re-
lated to opioid addiction, including early identifica-
tion of at-risk individuals and administration of 
overdose prevention medications. 
(e) GRANT FUNDING LIMITATIONS.— 
(1) AMOUNT
OF
GRANT.—A grant awarded 
under this section shall be in an amount that is not 
more than $1,000,000 per year and not less than 
$50,000 per year. 
(2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 
section shall be for not more than three years in du-
ration unless otherwise approved by the Secretary 
based 
on 
outcome 
data 
or 
extenuating 
cir-
cumstances. 
(f) REPORTING.—Each Community Action Agency 
receiving a grant under this section shall submit an annual 
report to the Secretary detailing goals, interventions, out-
comes, and expenditures, with respect to the program of 
such agency that is funded by such grant, and make each 
such report so submitted by the Community Action Agen-
cy available on the public website of the Community Ac-
tion Agency. The Secretary shall make each such report 
public on the public website of the Department of Health 
and Human Services. For each year of the grant program 
under this section, the Secretary shall compile all of such 
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reports so submitted to the Secretary for such year and 
submit to Congress the compilation with an annual sum-
mary. 
(g) EXPEDITED GRANT APPLICATION, REVIEW, AND 
AWARD PROCESS.— 
(1) APPLICATION
PROCESS
AND
CRITERIA.— 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this section, the Secretary shall publish in 
the Federal Register the application process and cri-
teria for grants under this section. Such criteria 
shall require each application submitted for a grant 
under this section to include— 
(A) a description of the objectives of the 
program and activities to be funded by the 
grant and how the grant will be used to achieve 
these objectives, including specific activities and 
services to be conducted, and specific popu-
lations or areas to be served (including targeted 
subgroups such as incarcerated or homeless in-
dividuals); 
(B) a description of innovative approaches 
to be used and evidence of likely success; 
(C) a plan for measuring progress in 
achieving such objectives specified in subpara-
graph (A), including a strategy to collect data 
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that can be used to measure the project’s effec-
tiveness; 
(D) identification of relevant community or 
other organizations with which the applicant 
will coordinate or partner and a description of 
the proposed coordination or partnership; 
(E) assurances satisfactory to the Sec-
retary that the applicant has conducted an as-
sessment of community needs related to opioid 
misuse and addiction among low-income individ-
uals and families, and that the proposed uses of 
the grant funds will address unmet needs iden-
tified by the assessment; 
(F) assurances satisfactory to the Sec-
retary that funds awarded through the grant 
will not supplant other programs or resources 
in the community with similar objectives; and 
(G) assurances satisfactory to the Sec-
retary that evidence-based approaches will be 
used to the maximum extent practicable. 
(2) COMMUNITY
ACTION
OPIOID
RESPONSE 
GRANT APPLICATION REVIEW PANEL.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Secretary shall establish a Community Ac-
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tion Opioid Response Grant Application Review 
Panel of not less than 15 individuals, including 
not more than 5 employees from the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services and other 
Federal agencies, with expert knowledge of the 
opioid epidemic, drug treatment, community re-
sponses to poverty prevention, child protection, 
or post-recovery employment and training. 
(B) DUTIES.—Such review panel shall re-
view and evaluate applications for grants under 
this section and recommend to the Secretary 
which of such applications should be awarded a 
grant under this section. 
(C) GRANT
SELECTION
PRIORITIES.—In 
reviewing and recommending applications for a 
grant, such review panel shall consider and give 
priority to applications that demonstrate one or 
more of the following: 
(i) Evidence of coordination and part-
nership with agencies or entities with expe-
rience or expertise in addressing opioid-re-
lated issues. 
(ii) Evidence of leveraging non-Fed-
eral funds or in-kind resources to extend 
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the reach or duration (or both) of the pro-
gram proposed by the application. 
(iii) Quality of methodology proposed 
to monitor the outcomes of the program 
proposed by the application and effective-
ness in achieving goals of the program and 
mitigating the harmful health and socio-
economic impacts of opioid addiction. 
(iv) Evidence of capacity-building and 
strengthening of community responses to 
the opioid crisis. 
(v) Efforts to minimize the trauma 
and negative impact of foster care on chil-
dren of addicted individuals. 
(vi) The applicant has a demonstrated 
knowledge of opioid-related needs in the 
target community. 
(vii) Use of innovative or evidence- 
based approaches to address unmet opioid- 
related needs, including to promote self- 
sufficiency and well-being for families with 
children impacted by opioid addiction. 
(D) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use 
amounts appropriated to the Office of the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services to pay 
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for all expenses associated with the Community 
Action Opioid Response Grant Application Re-
view Panel. 
(3) TIMING FOR AWARDING GRANTS.—With re-
spect to a year for which amounts are appropriated 
to carry out this section pursuant to subsection (h), 
not later than 120 days after such amounts are 
made available for such year, the Secretary shall 
award all such amounts for grants under this section 
for such year. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated 
for 
grants 
under 
this 
section 
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
2022. 
(2) TRIBAL SET ASIDE.—Of the amount appro-
priated for a year pursuant to paragraph (1) to 
carry out this section, not more than 7 percent shall 
be designated for such year for grants to Indian 
tribes or tribal organizations that receive direct pay-
ments under section 677 of the Community Services 
Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9911). 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
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(2) COMMUNITY
ACTION
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘Community Action Agency’’ has the same meaning 
given the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ under section 
673(1)(A) of the Community Services Block Grant 
Act (42 U.S.C. 9902). 
Æ 
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