$2.6 Million Grant Awarded to Fight Opioid Overdoses

 $2.6 Million Grant Awarded to Fight Opioid Overdoses

One of Illinois’ largest providers of substance use disorder
treatment services has received a multi-year federal grant to fight opioid overdoes on Chicago’s South and West Sides.

Family Guidance Center, headquartered in suburban Glenview, has won a five-year, $2,635,000 grant ($525,000 per year) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to expand access to medication-assisted treatment through a mobile health unit deployed in the city’s underserved communities ravaged by the opioid epidemic.

“The provision of medication-assisted treatment, along
with counseling and recovery support services via mobile
health units, is emerging as an effective approach to reducing barriers to access,” said Family Guidance Center’s Chief Operating Officer, Ron Vlasaty. “The mobile unit approach widens the net of available services particularly to individuals in underserved areas who are unable to access traditional brick and mortar treatment facilities.”

The award will establish a mobile treatment unit, through
which all three FDA-approved medications for the treatment
of opioid use disorder will be available as well as Naloxone,
(Narcan) kits to reverse the effects an opioid overdose. Family Guidance Center is working closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery to ensure that the mobile unit meets all federal and state regulatory and safety requirements.

Medication-assisted treatment research reveals that it is
the most effective intervention to treat opioid use disorder,
significantly reducing opioid use compared with nondrug approaches, and increased access to this treatment dramatically reduces overdose fatalities, according to Vlasaty.

“Research on treatment outcomes shows that mobile services are able to engage individuals who otherwise encounter insurmountable barriers to treatment access, including inadequate behavioral health services located in communities of color,” said Vlasaty. “FGC’s mobile unit will concentrate on expanding access to care in underserved Chicago communities disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis.”

Family Guidance Centers, Inc. is a leading provider of behavioral healthcare in Illinois, with eleven locations across the state. Since 1969, FGC has provided compassionate, individualized, evidence-based care for individuals struggling with addiction and mental health problems. As one of the state’s largest providers of medication-assisted treatment, FGC serves over 4,000 patients daily, using all forms of medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

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