This toolkit provides an overview of essential information necessary for understanding mental health and substance use disorder parity and how to implement and comply with federal parity laws. It serves as a reference document for state insurance regulators and behavioral health staff to develop a better understanding of parity and to take action to improve compliance with parity laws. 

This is a written testimony from 2017 presented to Congress by experts in the Department of Health and Human Services outlining the steps the department has taken to advance the goals of the Opioid Strategy. This document presents how leaders at SAMHSA, CDC, NIH, and FDA bring unique expertise and capabilities that enable HHS to take a comprehensive, complementary, and flexible approach to the opioid crisis.

This is a website where you can download a report from Shatterproof that reviews data from states that suffered the highest number of fentanyl overdose deaths from 2011 through 2017. Based on reviewing this data, the report identifies a number of promising state initiatives that are already in place and having a positive effect on curbing overdose deaths. It also recommends several new strategies that states should adopt in order to save the most lives.

This working paper (authors Brill and Ganz) from the American Enterprise Institute provides an estimation of the economic cost of the opioid crisis to each state and each county. 

This paper outlines the relationship between stigma and opioid use disorder and explains how this has impacted treatment provision and harm reduction. The authors used a framework to identify sources of opioid related stigma on the macro, meso, and micro level. The authors also provide potential policy suggestions for how to reduce these impacts of stigma. 

This webinar was presented to address the problem of opioid addiction in the rural workforce, with 45% of rural adults saying they have been impacted by the opioid epidemic, and 74% of farmers and farmworkers saying they have been directly affected. It describes resources, promising practices, and grant opportunities available to rural workforce systems, employers, and business on supporting recovery efforts in the workplace.

This issue brief from NASTAD gives an overview of the impact of HIV and Hepatitis C in the context of the opioid crisis. Additionally, recommendations are made to implement a comprehensive response at the intersection of these devastating and deadly epidemics. 

This paper describes the Post Overdose Support Team (POST), a person-centered initiative led by Massachusetts harm reductionists in health and human services agencies in collaboration with municipal first responders. POST teams conduct home-based outreach with individuals who experienced an opioid-related overdose, providing a menu of services including naloxone rescue kits, overdose response and risk reduction planning, referral to treatment for substance use disorders including medication for opioid use disorder, and referral to recovery and family supports.

This research brief examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. It also explains that overall, areas with lower economic opportunities are disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis, but the extent of that relationship varies regionally.

This is an issue brief from SAMHSA that provides opioid data specific to the black population, discusses contextual factors that serve as challenges for this population, and makes recommendations on strategies to address the opioid crisis specific to blacks. Many innovative outreach and engagement programs are highlighted as well as the need for racial equity and justice. 

This is an issue brief from SAMHSA that highlights the impact of the opioid crisis on the Hispanic/Latinx community. In addition to epidemiology, contextual factors that create challenges for this population in accessing treatment and other services, the importance of including the Hispanic community in creating solutions, and innovative outreach and engagement strategies are discussed. 

This issue brief focuses on the opioid crisis in rural and small communities in the United States. It presents evidence on urban-rural differences in overdose mortality across geography and type of opioid. It also graphically shows states with rural populations that have the highest overdose death rates, identifies rural challenges and recommends strategies.