NY Awarded $5.6 Million To Combat Opioid Crisis

LONG ISLAND, NY - The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded nearly $5.6 million to 22 counties across New York, including both Suffolk and Nassau County, to help combat the opioid crisis.

The opioid-crisis Dislocated Worker Grant (DWG) was awarded to the New York State Department of Labor to provide disaster relief jobs and employment services to eligible individuals in counties impacted by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction, and overdose.

The grant will assist in providing eligible participants with disaster relief employment in jobs addressing the impacts of the opioid crisis, including positions such as peer supports, peer recovery navigators, and intake/coordinator aids.

It will also provide employment services to participants seeking careers in healthcare professions related to addiction, treatment, prevention, and pain management.

In Nassau County the money will go to the City of Long Beach and the Town of Hempstead. Officials did not specify what areas of Suffolk will benefit from the grant.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency in October 2017, enabling New York to request this funding for an NHE DWG project.