Distance Learning and Telemedicine Applicants Urged To Address Opioid Crisis

Applicants seeking funding under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) program should be aware that the administration is now placing a much bigger emphasis on those applicants that address opiod misuse in rural communities.

“The opioid epidemic is dramatically impacting prosperity in many small towns and rural places across the country,” USDA Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett said last week. “With this focused investment, we are targeting our resources to be a strong partner to rural communities to build innovative local responses to this significant challenge.”

USDA now may award up to 30 special consideration points for DLT program applications for projects that provide opioid treatment services in 220 at-risk counties identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The deadline for these applications is April 15, 2019.

In addition, USDA may award 10 special consideration points for opioid-related DLT projects or for those that provide Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education as their primary purpose. The application deadline for these projects is May 15, 2019.

The Trump administration has focused on opioid misuse by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency. To help communities respond to this concern, USDA has worked to build infrastructure for prevention, treatment and recovery, facilitate partnerships, and drive innovation in rural communities. Last year, USDA worked with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to establish a White House Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group that aims to improve coordination of federal resources in rural America. Through this initiative, USDA issued the Community Resource Guide, a comprehensive directory of federal resources that can help rural communities address the opioid crisis, and the Community Assessment Tool, an interactive database to help community leaders assess how and why the opioid epidemic is impacting their regions.

Considering this, applicants should take every effort to determine how to better tackle their opioid crisis when developing their proposals.