After decades of a worsening drug overdose crisis, state health officials are observing an encouraging shift. Recent national data show a significant decline in overdose deaths. This decline may be linked to state policy responses, such as expanding access to naloxone — a drug that reverses overdoses — and increasing availability of medications for addiction treatment.
Recognizing the key role of state policymakers and Medicaid programs in enhancing services and addressing the substance use disorder care crisis, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) launched the Substance Use System Transformation and Integration Network (SUSTAIN) Learning Collaborative. Supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the learning collaborative is working with four states — Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, and New Jersey — to advance equitable access to SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery supports for adults. State teams are seeking to implement SUD-related policies in two or more of the following areas:
- Expand access to team-based behavioral health care in community-based treatment settings;
- Promote access to contingency management services;
- Reduce SUD-related racial and ethnic disparities; and
- Enhance data collection/monitoring in impacted communities.
Over 12 months, starting in February 2025, state participants will attend virtual learning collaborative meetings, providing an opportunity to learn from their peers, receive feedback on their SUD policy planning approaches, and discuss how to pursue opportunities and tackle challenges. Participants will receive tailored technical assistance from CHCS and learn from subject matter experts in the field to consider SUD policy design decision points and troubleshoot emerging challenges.
The learning collaborative draws on themes from a CHCS report, State Principles for Financing Substance Use Care, Treatment, and Support Services, that outlines strategies for states to strategically invest Medicaid dollars and other public funding to promote greater access to evidence-based SUD care and services.
