The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) in New York City has announced nine grants totaling $10.9 million in support of prevention projects aimed at improving and expanding evidence-based prevention strategies for those at highest risk of opioid and substance use disorder.

To be awarded over three years, the grants will support vulnerable children and families, including those with a parent or other family member with an opioid or substance use disorder, those in which family members have been separated for a time, and those in very low-income communities. Grants include $1.5 million to Morgan County Partnership in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, in support of a new community-wide initiative focused on identifying and supporting children experiencing adverse childhood experiences and their families; $1.32 million to the University of California, San Francisco to evaluate a program designed to provide comprehensive services to pregnant and post-partum women who are affected by substance use disorders, homelessness, and mental illness; $1.5 million to the University of Washington in Seattle to increase access to evidence-based family-focused interventions in opioid treatment programs throughout the state; and $375,000 to Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County in Margate, New Jersey, to provide services to children of affected parents through a partnership with New Jersey’s Atlantic County Recovery Court.

“A key step in addressing the opioid crisis is to develop and implement programs to break the cycle of intergenerational addiction,” said FORE president Karen A. Scott. “These new prevention initiatives have great potential to help mitigate adverse childhood experiences that lead to emotional pain and trauma putting children at higher risk for opioid use disorders. They will also bring much needed interventions to diverse communities.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Jann Huizenga)