Title: Community Action Opioid Response Act of 2018
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Community Action Opioid Response Act of 2018
This bill requires the Office of Community Services within the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a grant program that helps low-income individuals, families, and communities affected by the national opioid epidemic. Grants must be awarded to Community Action Agencies (local organizations that work to reduce poverty in low-income communities) for specified activities relating to opioid misuse and abuse, including education, outreach, prevention, and treatment services.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2636 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2636

 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 
            community action opioid response grant program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2018

 Ms. Collins (for herself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives 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 section 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 Community Action Agencies 
to respond to the needs of communities and low-income families and 
individuals in crisis resulting from the opioid addiction epidemic.
    (b) Goals.--The goals of the grant program under this section are 
to expand and support effective community efforts to identify and 
respond to causes and consequences 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 accordance 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 individual and 
        community awareness, with respect to opioid misuse or 
        addiction, including for children and youth.
            (2) Outreach and identification of individuals at risk of 
        or experiencing opioid misuse or addiction, and referral of 
        such individuals to appropriate treatment, recovery, or other 
        resources in the community.
            (3) Direct services to prevent, treat, or recover from 
        opioid addiction.
            (4) Services to stabilize the education, employment, 
        housing, transportation, or other needs of addicted or at-risk 
        individuals and their family members.
            (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, including grandparents and older relative 
        caregivers of children, who are in foster care or at-risk of 
        placement in foster care because of the opioid addiction of 
        their parents.
            (7) Development of innovative community-based projects and 
        services using a two-generation approach that responds to the 
        needs of parents and children together who are at risk of or 
        experiencing opioid misuse or addiction.
            (8) Development of partnerships with entities such as local 
        healthcare providers, substance abuse treatment organizations, 
        schools, child welfare agencies, social service organizations, 
        drug-free communities, police departments, prosecutors, courts, 
        prisons, local governments, businesses, and religious 
        institutions, in order to coordinate or expand resources 
        available to addicted or at-risk individuals and their family 
        members.
            (9) Training for agency personnel in issues related to 
        opioid addiction, including early identification 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 duration unless otherwise 
        approved by the Secretary based on outcome data or extenuating 
        circumstances.
    (f) Reporting.--Each Community Action Agency receiving a grant 
under this section shall submit an annual report to the Secretary 
detailing goals, interventions, outcomes, 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 Agency 
available on the public website of the Community Action 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 
reports so submitted to the Secretary for such year and submit to 
Congress the compilation with an annual summary.
    (g) Expedited Grant Application, Review, and Award Process.--
            (1) Application process and criteria.--Not later than 60 
        days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
        Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the application 
        process and criteria 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 populations or areas to be 
                served;
                    (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 subparagraph (A), including a 
                strategy to collect data that can be used to measure 
                the project's effectiveness;
                    (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 Secretary that 
                the applicant has conducted an assessment of community 
                needs related to opioid misuse and addiction among low-
                income individuals and families, and that the proposed 
                uses of the grant funds will address unmet needs 
                identified by the assessment;
                    (F) assurances satisfactory to the Secretary 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 Secretary 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 Action Opioid Response 
                Grant Application Review Panel of not less than 15 
                individuals, including not more than 5 employees from 
                the Department of Health and Human Services and other 
                Federal agencies, with expert knowledge of the opioid 
                epidemic, drug treatment, community responses to 
                poverty prevention, child protection, or post-recovery 
                employment and training.
                    (B) Duties.--Such review panel shall review 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 
                        partnership with agencies or entities with 
                        experience or expertise in addressing opioid-
                        related issues.
                            (ii) Evidence of leveraging non-Federal 
                        funds or in-kind resources to extend the reach 
                        or duration (or both) of the program proposed 
                        by the application.
                            (iii) Quality of methodology proposed to 
                        monitor the outcomes of the program proposed by 
                        the application and effectiveness in achieving 
                        goals of the program and mitigating the harmful 
                        health and socioeconomic 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 children of 
                        addicted individuals.
                            (vi) Efforts to support grandparents and 
                        other older relative caregivers raising 
                        children in their care who are impacted by 
                        opioid addiction.
                            (vii) The applicant has a demonstrated 
                        knowledge of opioid-related needs in the target 
                        community.
                            (viii) 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.
                            (ix) Use of innovative two-generation 
                        approaches that create opportunities for, and 
                        address the needs of, parents and children 
                        together who are impacted by opioid addiction.
                    (D) Funding.--The Secretary may use amounts 
                appropriated to the Office of the Secretary of Health 
                and Human Services to pay for all expenses associated 
                with the Community Action Opioid Response Grant 
                Application Review Panel.
            (3) Timing for awarding grants.--With respect 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.
            (4) Geographic distribution.--In making grants to carry out 
        the program under this section, the Secretary shall take into 
        consideration the geographic distribution of funding among 
        States and the relative proportion of funding among rural and 
        urban areas.
    (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 appropriated 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 payments 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.
            (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).
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