FY 20 COSSAP Program

The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) was developed as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) legislation. COSSAP’s purpose is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, implement, or expand comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs of abuse.

The objective of Category 1 is to encourage and support the development of comprehensive, locally driven responses to opioids, stimulants, and other substances that expand access to supervision, treatment, and recovery support services across the criminal justice system; support law enforcement and other first responder diversion programs for nonviolent drug offenders; promote education and prevention activities; and address the needs of children impacted by substance abuse.

The Orange County Health Care Agency’s Closing the Gaps by Expanding Access for Reentry Clients program will provide (1) a transfer for those leaving Orange County Central Jail to a peer support recovery specialist for transportation and immediate connection to a case coordinator at one of four MAT and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment county clinics, (2) MAT and SUD treatment services by psychiatrists at the four county clinics, and (3) training by addiction specialist(s) for mental health workers and physicians in the county clinics on SUD and best-practices for working with MAT clients. This project serves Orange County, California, with approximately 3.2 million residents. The project includes partnerships between Correctional Health Services (CHS) and is supported by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Priority considerations addressed in this application include high rates of overdose deaths and a need to increase accessibility to treatment providers in the City of Santa Ana with areas of 25 percent poverty.

CA/NCA