Grant program comes from Whitehouse’s bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP), which addresses the opioid epidemic through evidence-based best practices in the areas of prevention, treatment, law enforcement, and recovery. The program was created in 2016 as part of Whitehouse’s bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). CARA is the law guiding the federal response to the opioid addiction crisis.
“Support for people battling addiction is a bipartisan priority in Congress, and there’s more to be done to build on our CARA law and support all those on the long, noble path to recovery,” said Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former Rhode Island Attorney General and U.S. Attorney. “I’m partnering with Senator Grassley to push for the reauthorization of this grant program, which marks another step in the fight against an epidemic that has taken a heartbreaking toll on Rhode Islanders from all walks of life.”
“The fight to end addiction requires a comprehensive and community-wide approach. That’s why I’m working to reauthorize the life-saving Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program, which addresses the opioid epidemic on multiple fronts,” said Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “By equipping our communities with effective drug prevention and recovery resources, Congress can ensure Iowans in addiction-recovery will have the support they need to succeed.”
Since its inception, COSSUP has funded family and drug courts to help people dealing with substance-use disorder; law enforcement and first-responder programs to connect low-level and non-violent drug offenders with treatment and social services; and plans to tackle the opioid epidemic in hard-hit rural communities. Through COSSUP, in 2021 and 2022 alone, more than 59,000 members of the public were trained on the use of Naloxone, more than 32,000 people were enrolled in substance-use treatment programs, and more than 94,000 people were enrolled in recovery-support services.
COSSUP, formerly the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, was created through Whitehouse’s CARA law to promote public health and safety by granting states and municipalities funding to give those on the front lines the resources needed to provide coordinated care and help treat individuals struggling with substance use. After seeing the success that these programs had in states like Rhode Island, in 2018, Congress doubled down on its bipartisan commitment to this work by reauthorizing and expanding COSSUP as part of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act—signed into law by President Trump.
Authorization for the COSSUP grant program expired in 2023.
Deaths from accidental overdoses in Rhode Island decreased by 18.6 percent last year, from 404 in 2023 to 329 in 2024, according to the Governor’s Overdose Task Force.
“Those impacted by the
overdose epidemic are our neighbors, friends, and family. This epidemic affects people from all backgrounds and all corners of society,” said Cathy Schultz, Director of the Governor’s Overdose Task Force in Rhode Island. “We are pleased to see bipartisan support for this bill, which helps all of us unite in the effort to continue to save lives.”
The legislation is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of the Police, Addiction Policy Forum; Addiction Professionals of North Carolina; Addiction Science Defense Network; Alcohol/Drug Abuse (ADA) Women’s Center; Alliance for Addiction & Mental Health Services, Maine; American Jail Association; Association of Prosecuting Attorneys; Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Behavioral Health Foundation; Boone County Drug Prevention Coalition; Bring Light Save Life; CADCA; Center for Adolescent Behavioral Health Research, Boston Children’s Hospital; Center for Employment Opportunities; Cheshire County Department of Corrections; Clean Slate Centers; Cleft; Community Prevention Coalition of Teton County; Cornerstone Community Housing, Inc.; Crosswinds Recovery; Dayspring Foundation; Dayton Dream Center; Devin J. Norring Foundation; Drug Intervention Institute; Earth Neighborhood Productions; Ethnic Community Opioid Response Network-Missouri (ECORN-MO); Faith, Mercy & Truth Ministry International; Genesis Behavioral Health Services, Inc; Harm Reduction Research Lab, University of Arizona College of Nursing; Hope House Treatment Centers; HOR House of Restoration Community Solutions; Hurley House; Denver; INCASE International Coalition for Addiction Studies Education; Iowa Behavioral Health Association; Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition; Jenks Forensic Addiction Services; Kentucky Alliance of Recovery Residences; Kohnlinq, Inc.; Latino Ministers of New Jersey For Justice; Long Island Recovery Association; Maddie Wright Foundation; Madison County Recovery Allies; Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA); Matt Talbot Institute for Addiction Studies; Mighty Crow Media, LLC; Mississippi Society of Addiction Medicine; Missouri Works Initiative; Montgomery County Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, Inc.; NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals; NACoA – National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction; National Council for Mental Wellbeing; National League of Cities; National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives; New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc.; New Jersey Center For Empowerment and Community Development; No More ODs, Inc.; North Dakota Office of Recovery & Reentry; Objective Recovery, Inc.; OCBH (Oregon Council for Behavioral Health); OhioCAN, Change Addiction Now; Power Forward, Inc.; Shatterproof; Sober AF Entertainment; South Florida Wellness Network; Substance Abuse Services, Inc.; TASC, Inc. (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities); The BROCK Foundation; The Counseling Coalition, LLC; The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Agency Directors (NASADAD); The RASE Project; Today I Matter, Inc.; Treatment Communities of America; Tyler’s Redemption Place; Village Venture LLC; Wake Up Nevada; and WeKonnect, LLC.
Full text of the bill is available here.
