SOR II Funding Announcement

Hello, Sub-grantees!

SAMHSA has approved two more years of SOR funding.

The “new and improved” SOR grant, which begins October 1, 2020, will be known as SOR II. In preparation, we would like to share the following information about the upcoming funding allocation and proposal process.

SOR II will build on programs started with STR/OPT-R and SOR Years One and Two. As in previous years, sub-grantees will utilize funds to combat opioid and opiate-related substance use. Additionally, SAMHSA has expanded the grant to treat stimulant use disorder and cover tobacco cessation programs as well.

We will soon notify all sub-grantees of your Annual Award Amounts for the grant year running October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

In accordance with the standards and expectations set by SAMHSA related to the use of SOR funds, your Annual Award Amount will be based on the following elements weighted equally.

1) The number of drug overdose deaths in your catchment area (2015-2017 death data)

2) Prior award amounts and utilization of those funds

3) Performance on grant metrics including GPRA and quarterly treatment and recovery surveys

The SOR team will consider requests for funding beyond your Annual Award Amount. We will begin accepting these requests after October 1, 2020. Funding amounts for FY22 will be based on the aforementioned factors.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mike Zohab, Angela Weight or Patrick Wessells.

We are sincerely grateful for your outstanding SOR-funded programming thus far, and are looking forward to another two years of SUD treatment and recovery expansion.

Best Regards.

Your Virginia SOR Grant Team

Mapping Recovery Services in Virginia

As part of the SOR grant, Virginia's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is working to increase access to peer recovery services and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for individuals with an opioid use disorder (OUD). Emergency departments and jails are two institutions that are able to provide key recovery services to people experiencing OUD. 

To visualize gaps in services, we developed two maps: the first indicating localities with emergency departments offering peer services, and the second indicating counties with jails offering peer services or MAT. These maps provide us with a current snapshot of services available across the state; however, we anticipate recovery services to expand as Virginia continues to respond to the opioid crisis.

Learn more and explore the maps here.

SOR Support TA Survey Reminder - Due 8/21

We are writing to remind you to take this short short survey providing feedback on the OMNI SOR TA Team. The OMNI TA Team has provided technical support to agencies administering the GPRA for the SOR grant. You may have interacted with the OMNI TA Team through trainings, learning collaboratives, emails, one-on-one technical assistance, the SOR Support website, and much more. This survey is an opportunity to provide honest feedback regarding the utility, helpfulness, and opportunities for growth for this TA Team. Your responses are anonymous and we appreciate your honest feedback so the OMNI TA Team can continue to improve moving forward.

Please click here to complete the short, 10-minute survey: https://omniinstitute.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7ZIiR6nvllOiFHT

We encourage anyone from your agency that has interacted with our TA team to complete the survey, and we welcome more than one response per agency. Please complete the survey by the end of the day on Friday, August 21st.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions! Thank you in advance – your input and feedback are greatly appreciated.

SOR Support TA Survey

We are writing to ask for your participation in a short survey providing feedback on the OMNI SOR TA Team. The OMNI TA Team has provided technical support to agencies administering the GPRA for the SOR grant. You may have interacted with the OMNI TA Team through trainings, learning collaboratives, emails, one-on-one technical assistance, the SOR Support website, and much more. This survey is an opportunity to provide honest feedback regarding the utility, helpfulness, and opportunities for growth for this TA Team. Your responses are anonymous and we appreciate your honest feedback so the OMNI TA Team can continue to improve moving forward.

Virginia Recovery Scholars Program

The Department of Behavioral Health and Development State Opioid Response Grant Team and Virginia Commonwealth University are excited to be able to offer the Recovery Scholars Program to students in recovery who are enrolled at Virginia Colleges and Universities. We believe that students in recovery often are among the strongest students on our campus and contribute tremendously to campus life.

Quarter 3 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey

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Happy July 1st!

With the end of quarter 3 of the SOR grant, we launched the Quarter 3 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey. This survey collects information on recovery and treatment services to assist OMNI in reporting agencies’ work to SAMHSA to meet grant requirements.

Agency point-of-contacts were emailed on July 1st, 2020 with instructions and survey links. If you did not receive this email and believe you should have, please contact SORSupport@omni.org.

The survey requests data from quarter 3 (April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020).

Please reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org with any questions!

Intake GPRA Update

We wanted to update you on a new change to the online version of the Intake GPRA. Like the Follow-Up & Discharge Survey, the Intake GPRA will now have ID Authentication. This is a feature requiring administrators to enter Client IDs before moving forward with the survey. This feature will ensure that there are no duplicate intake GPRAs for each intake survey entered.

COVID-19 Round-Table & TA Communications

We hope everyone is staying as healthy and happy as possible!

Below are updates regarding the recent COVID-19 Round-Table and TA communications:

COVID-19 Round-Table

OMNI recently held two Round-Tables (3/31 & 4/1) focused on COVID-19 and remote service provision. Please click here to view a document summarizing key-points and takeaways from the two Round-Tables.

Additionally, we have created a COVID-19 Resources page on this SOR Website. The page will be continually updated with resources and trainings. If you encounter any resources, trainings, websites, etc. that you think would be helpful to share with other CSBs and FQHCs, please send them to SORSupport@omni.org for dissemination.

TA Communications

In an effort to reduce unnecessary stress during this time, the TA team will be reducing communications. Temporarily, the TA Team will be suspending all non-essential communications, but will continue to respond to any TA requests/inquiries initiated by agencies. Your agency Dropbox folders will continue to be updated every Friday with follow-up tracking sheets, but we will not send emails regarding follow-up tracking reminders for the time being. If you would like  to continue to receive follow-up tracking communication, please email SORSupport@omni.org to request this.

Please do not hesitate to continue reaching out to the TA Team at SORSupport@omni.org with any questions or concerns – we are more than happy to help – but we also recognize the need to reduce any undue burden on you and your staff at this time.

Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Services Surveys

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Happy April 1st!

With the end of quarter 2 of the SOR grant, we launched the Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey. This survey collects information on recovery and treatment services to assist OMNI in reporting agencies’ work to SAMHSA to meet grant requirements.

Agency point-of-contacts were emailed on April 1st, 2020 with instructions and the survey links. If you did not receive this email and believe you should have, please contact SORSupport@omni.org.

The survey requests data from quarter 2 (January 1, 2020 – March 31, 2020).

Please reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org with any questions!

SOR Treatment Bulletin: March 2020

Second Edition of OMNI's Treatment TA Bulletin: March 2020

Due to the spread of COVID-19, these past few weeks have brought on significant changes and challenges, and OMNI recognizes Virginia CSBs and FQHCs are at the center of many of these impacts. We want to acknowledge all of the wonderful work being done and sacrifices being made, and offer support to any CSB/FQHCs in need of individualized assistance. This Bulletin offers various resources and important updates.

Click here to read!

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#200.112 Per 2 C.F.R. § 200.112-1113 The Federal awarding agency must establish conflict of interest policies for Federal awards. The non-Federal entity must disclose in writing any potential conflict of interest to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in accordance with applicable Federal awarding agency policy. Failure to adhere to these statues will result in immediate termination of funding.

Virginia’s State Opioid Response (SOR) grant is awarded at the discretion of DBHDS and SAMHSA. All recipients of SOR funding supports evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery services to address opioid and stimulant misuse and use disorders, including for cocaine and methamphetamine. The SOR grant is not intended to be utilized as a long-term or permanent funding source. All SOR proposals must include a realistic plan for financial sustainability beyond the grant period.