The Houston Health Department (HHD) requests City Council approval of an ordinance authorizing a grant application to and acceptance of an award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for the First Responder Opioid Overdose Naloxone Training and Linkage into Needed Evidence-based Services (FRONTLINES) project. The total project period is from September 30, 2018 to September 29, 2022, for a total amount of $2,000,000. The initial budget period for this grant is from September 30, 2018 to September 29, 2020 for an amount of $1,000,000. The City is not required to provide a matching cash contribution.
HHD also requests City Council authorize the Mayor to execute all related contracts, agreements and documents with the approval of the City Attorney in connection with the grant application and to authorize the Director or his designee to act as the City’s representative with the authority to apply for, accept and expend the grant funds if an as awarded, and to accept and expend all subsequent supplemental awards, if any, and to extend the term and/or budget and project period not to exceed five years, if extended by the SAMHSA during the project period and does not require cash matching funds.
The FRONTLINES project is a collaboration between the HHD, Houston Fire Department (HFD), Houston Recovery Center (HRC), Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) to ensure:
- all HFD response units are equipped with naloxone;
- professional and lay first responders are trained in recognition and pre-hospital management of a person with opioid overdose, including proper administration of naloxone, and
- overdose victims treated by EMS and clients enrolled are offered linkages to opioid use treatment services, prevention education and ongoing case management through HRC
The principal goal of the FRONTLINES project is to address the opioid epidemic in the City of Houston by increasing HFD first responder access to, and training in use of naloxone for opioid overdose victims. FRONTLINES project will partner with HRC’s robust peer recovery and case management services. The proposed program delivery plan builds in sustainability in the use of a train-the-trainer model for naloxone opioid overdose training delivery within HFD divisions.
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Stephen L. Williams, M.Ed., M.P.A.
Director - Houston Health Department