COLUMBUS - State Senator Matt Huffman (R-Lima) announced that statewide grants were awarded this week for local law enforcement response teams in Allen and Shelby counties, which focus on putting overdose survivors on the path to recovery. 

Mobilizing response teams consisting of law enforcement officers who partner with local drug treatment providers and other groups is an effective strategy being implemented in communities across Ohio.

Administered by the Ohio Attorney General's office, the new grant program will provide local assistance for replicating and expanding Drug Abuse Response Teams (DARTs) and Quick Response Teams (QRTs) in the most severely impacted areas. 

"These programs build on our efforts to empower local communities as they tackle the heroin crisis and help those struggling with addiction to find the treatment they so desperately need," said Huffman. "We are grateful for the work being done by our law enforcement professionals to address this problem, which exists in virtually every community across this state."

Funding for these grants was added by the Ohio Senate as part of the state's overall effort to tackle the opioid crisis by improving prevention programs and strengthening law enforcement as well as treatment and recovery services. 
 

“We are committed to fighting the scourge of addiction, and I’m pleased we were able to fund these grants as part of the new state budget," said Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina).

Ohio spends nearly $1 billion each year to fight drug abuse and addiction. The state's main operating budget, signed into law in late June, allocates an additional $180 million in targeted prevention, recovery and enforcement efforts.

Further highlighting the state's priority to direct dollars to local communities, the budget also invested in recovery centers and child protective services to assist in caring for children who have been abandoned by drug-addicted parents. It also provides additional funding to coroners and criminal labs with overwhelmed capacities caused by the epidemic.