Sedgwick County Commissioners have approved an application for a federal grant that will be used to enhance overdose prevention efforts in the community.

The $6.5 million grant is from the Centers for Disease Control.   It involves a five-year cooperative agreement that will help health departments collect data and use it to drive programs that are aimed at preventing fatal and non-fatal overdoses.   Sedgwick County Health Department Director Adrienne Byrne said the primary focus will be on opioids and stimulants.

Byrne said the grant would support 12 full-time-equivalent positions.  She talked about some key goals of the grant initiative:

 Increased use of navigators to link people who use drugs to care and services.
 Improved rapid and timely identification of changes in illicit drug market.
 Increased data sharing and data use that informs prevention and response
efforts.
 Increased partnerships, collaborations, and bidirectional referrals amongst
organizations working in overdose prevention.
 Improved identification of and outreach to people in need of care and services
for substance use disorder.
 Increased access to harm reduction services for people who use drugs, including
increased distribution of naloxone across settings.
 Increased capacity of staff within the workforce to connect people who use drugs
to care and services.

If Sedgwick County is approved for the grant, it would be in effect for a five-year period starting August 1st.