title
PROPOSED GRANT AWARD
Department: Cook County Health
Grantee: Cook County Health
Grantor: Department of Human Services/ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/ Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Request: Authorization to accept grant
Purpose: Cook County First Responder & Community Overdose Prevention Initiative
Grant Amount: $517,375.00
Grant Period: 9/30/2026-9/29/2027
Fiscal Impact: None
Accounts: N/A.
Concurrences:
The Budget Department has received all requisite documents and determined the fiscal impact on Cook County, if any.
Summary: This is a formal request to accept the Cook County First Responder & Community Overdose Prevention Initiative Grant. Cook County continues to experience significant disparities in opioid overdose morbidity and mortality, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by structural inequities, limited access to care, and behavioral health workforce shortages. While many organizations are working to address the opioid crisis, opportunities remain to strengthen coordination, expand education, reduce stigma, and improve referral pathways that connect individuals to timely treatment and recovery services. Through funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) First Responders Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (FR-CARA) program, the Cook County Health Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) will implement the Cook County First Responder & Community Overdose Prevention Initiative, a countywide effort to reduce overdose deaths and strengthen the systems that connect residents to prevention, treatment, recovery, and support. OBH will convene a diverse network of traditional and nontraditional first responders, healthcare and behavioral health providers, substance use treatment and recovery organizations, community-based organizations, peer support specialists, and individuals with lived expertise to build a more coordinated and effective overdose system. The initiative will engage traditional first responders, including firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMTs, paramedics, and mobile crisis responders, as well as nontraditional frontline personnel who routinely encounter individuals experiencing overdose or substance use-related emergencies. These partners will include transit personnel from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Metra, hospital and healthcare personnel, community outreach workers, and other frontline professionals. The initiative will advance three primary objectives:
1. Increase overdose prevention capacity by expanding education and training on overdose recognition and response, opioid overdose reversal medications, emerging drug threats including fentanyl, xylazine, stimulants, and polysubstance use, and evidence-informed approaches to engaging individuals with substance use disorders.
2. Reduce stigma associated with substance use disorders through education on the science of addiction, trauma-informed and recovery-oriented practices, and the value of lived expertise in supporting individuals and families.
3. Strengthen connections to treatment, recovery, crisis, and community supports by increasing awareness of available resources, improving cross-sector coordination, and establishing stronger referral pathways among first responders, healthcare providers, transportation agencies, behavioral health and substance use treatment providers, recovery organizations, and community partners.
To support countywide implementation, OBH will leverage its 11 Regional Behavioral Health Collaboratives, which bring together partners across every region of Cook County. The Collaboratives will help identify local priorities and gaps, engage regional stakeholders, facilitate training and education, strengthen referral relationships, and support strategies responsive to the needs of individual communities.
Project activities will include stakeholder engagement, evidence-informed education and training, resource development, cross-sector planning, and implementation of sustainable overdose prevention and referral strategies.
By bringing together public safety, healthcare, behavioral health, transportation, and community partners, the Cook County First Responder & Community Overdose Prevention Initiative will establish a coordinated, community-centered framework that expands access to lifesaving resources, strengthens partnerships across sectors, and creates sustainable infrastructure to reduce overdose deaths and improve behavioral health outcomes for residents throughout Cook County.
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