Mayor Domenic J. Sarno was happy to see that U.S. Senator for Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers have reintroduced the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act federal legislation to renew the push to combat the substance use epidemic, including the opioid epidemic.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, along with Representatives Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), David Trone (D-Md.), and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) led 86 lawmakers to reintroduce the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, the most ambitious legislation ever introduced in Congress to confront the substance use epidemic. Supported by tribal nations, 29 organizations, and 28 Massachusetts state elected officials, the CARE Act would provide state and local governments with $125 billion in federal funding over ten years, including nearly $1 billion per year directly to tribal governments and organizations.
Mayor Sarno stated, “I applaud Senator Warren’s continued leadership and advocacy on this very important issue. This much-needed federal funding and initiatives are desperately needed in order for local municipalities and all of our local, state and regional public and private partners to effectively work together to address, prevent, educate and treat substance use, especially the opioid crisis and mental health issues, which has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have family and friends dealing with these challenging issues. Funding would go a long way in helping to save lives and getting people the treatment, support and outreach they need.”
“The substance use disorder crisis has affected communities big and small, urban and rural, all across our country – and state and local leaders and first responders have had to manage this crisis without enough help from the federal government,” said Senator Warren. “We learned from the fight to end the HIV/AIDS crisis that supporting local decision-making and expanding access to treatment and recovery services is powerfully important, and the CARE Act draws from these lessons to deliver billions in transformational federal resources that communities can use to tackle this public health crisis head-on.”
This is not the first time the United States has faced a public health crisis of this scale. During the 1980s and 1990s, deaths from HIV/AIDS grew rapidly and the country faced a public health crisis – the medical system was ill-equipped to provide effective, evidence-based care. In 1990, Congress passed the bipartisan Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Ryan White Act) to provide funding to help state and local governments, and community-based organizations, combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The CARE Act is modeled directly on the Ryan White Act, supporting local decision-making and programs to expand access to evidence-based treatments and recovery support services. The CARE Act also recognizes the need for expanded mental health supports, early intervention, and harm reduction tactics.
The CARE Act would provide $125 billion over ten years to fight this crisis, including:
- $4.6 billion per year to states, territories, and tribal governments, including $2.3 billion to states with the highest levels of overdoses and $1.84 billion through competitive grants.
- $3.3 billion per year to the hardest hit counties and cities, including $1.75 billion to counties and cities with the highest levels of overdoses and $1.22 billion through competitive grants.
- $2 billion per year for public health surveillance, biomedical research, and improved training for health professionals, including $1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $500 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and regional tribal epidemiology centers, and $500 million to train and provide technical assistance to professionals treating substance use disorders;
- $1.6 billion per year to support expanded and innovative service delivery, including $1 billion for public and nonprofit entities, $500 million for projects of national significance that provide treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services, $50 million to help workers with or at risk for substance use disorders maintain and gain employment, and $50 million to expand treatment provider capacity; and
- $1 billion per year to expand access to overdose reversal drugs and provide this life-saving medicine to states for distribution to first responders, public health departments, and the public.
Of the total funding, the CARE Act would invest nearly $1 billion a year provided directly to tribal governments and organizations, including:
- $790 million per year for grants to tribal governments to help fight this crisis and invest in substance use prevention and treatment;
- $7.5 million in additional funding for tribal nations and regional tribal epidemiology centers to improve data collection on overdoses;
- 50 million a year to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Indian Health Service-funded organizations, and medical training programs that partner with tribal nations and tribal organizations to train Native health professionals to improve substance use disorder treatment services;
- $150 million a year in funding to Native non-profits and clinics, including to urban Indian organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and projects designed to test innovative service delivery and culturally-informed care models to tackle addiction; and
- $1 billion per year to expand access to the overdose reversal drug Naloxone and provide this life-saving medicine to states to distribute to tribal nations, first responders, public health departments, and the public.
Under the CARE Act, Massachusetts would receive an estimated $131.3 million annually over ten years, with $63.5 million in state formula grants and $67.8 million distributed among the counties.