NACCHO announces funding and TA for SSPs

Abstract

Via federal grants, the harm‐reduction workforce may take off for the first time (see story, p. 1), with the help of funding for staffing, technical assistance (TA), and more. Most recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Washington have partnered with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to fund monitoring and evaluation of syringe services programs (SSPs), and to support the use of data for SSP program improvement. The funding will go to local health departments and community‐based SSPs. SSPs, originally created to help prevent HIV transmission via needle sharing, have become part of the harm‐reduction landscape with the opioid overdose epidemic, as a place for drug users to turn instead of the street for help. Monitoring and evaluations will include routine (e.g., intake or encounter‐level) and periodic (e.g., surveys) data collection, as well as management, analysis, evaluation and reporting. Up to $98,750 can be requested per application. Applications are due May 21. For more information, go to the Request for Applications (RFA) at https://www.naccho.org/uploads/body‐images/NACCHO‐Harm‐Reduction‐Monitoring‐and‐Evaluation‐RFA‐FINAL.pdf. The RFA includes an appendix that characterizes common software used by SSPs. NACCHO and UW will hold “office hours” Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET from April 27 to May 18. Applicants are encouraged to sign up for a specific time slot. Go to the Zoom link (https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqceiupzgiHtUY8mVISv2eopBnk9PHwmLD) and also go to the sign‐up link (https://airtable.com/shrDeGHAbUO5K4mq8). If you have questions, submit them in advance via form or by emailing SSP Measurement and Evaluation Technical Assistance Program Manager Kelly Knudtson (kellyknu@uw.edu). Kat Kelley, senior program analyst at NACCHO for HIV, STI, and viral hepatitis, will need all of the documents for the grant, titled “Building Capacity for Harm Reduction Monitoring and Evaluation.” State health departments are eligible to apply for the funding. SSPs that are currently operating are eligible as well. In states that don't allow SSPs, there may be no opportunity for funding. The grant money cannot be used for lobbying. However, if SSPs are legally allowed to operate in a certain jurisdiction but face restrictions such as exchange only with no secondary syringes allowed, the grant could be used for data collection and analysis to demonstrate the benefits of changing policy and practice. Funds cannot be used for syringes, naloxone or fentanyl test strips. Funding can be used for staff time to conduct monitoring and evaluation. Approaches such as vending machines, marketing promotion of SSPs and other issues may be funded as well, providing the applicant describes how these activities would enhance SSP monitoring and evaluation, or the use of SSP monitoring and evaluation data. Funds could not be used to purchase a vending machine. The number of awards depends on the funding amounts requested by the organizations with the highest scores in their applications. The smallest number of programs that would be funded is 16, but the amount could be higher if applicants do not request the maximum funding amount ($98,750). “Equity” is important as well; grantees who find that they primarily serve cisgender men and women, for example, may use the funds to conduct data‐collection activities with trans, nonbinary or gender‐nonconforming people to see how the SSP could better meet their needs.