In fiscal year 2019, US Federal agencies issued an unprecedented number of grants and related funding awards to address the need for opioid-related services for individuals involved in the criminal-legal system. However, there was no consolidated listing of these awards that could provide a “big picture” view of this new funding landscape. With supplementary funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a University of Chicago team led by Dr. Colleen Grogan compiled data on all FY19 and FY20 federal awards in the opioid/justice space. More than 500 awards were identified across 8 distinct Federal agencies or offices. The team verified the data with agency staff, and plotted these awards on a map of the US.
Additional analyses are underway to address such questions as the alignment between funds awarded and the epidemiology of the opioid epidemic.