Yuma County awarded federal grant funding to combat addiction
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United States Attorney Michael Bailey on Tuesday announced awards of over $3.5 million in Department of Justice grants to fight drug abuse and addiction in Arizona, with $262,164 of it slated for Yuma County.
The grants were awarded by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and are part of more than $341 million going to communities nationwide.
“The addiction crisis has taken an enormous toll on America’s families and communities, eroding public health, threatening public safety and claiming tens of thousands of lives year after year,” Attorney General William P. Barr said. “Through comprehensive measures taken by this administration, we have been able to curtail the opioid epidemic, but new and powerful drugs are presenting exceptional challenges that we must be prepared to meet.”
Illegal drugs and illicit drug use has claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 Americans since the turn of the century.
Powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl are exacting an enormous toll on families and communities, and an emergence in the use of methamphetamines and other psychostimulants is drawing drug traffickers and driving up overdose rates.
“The Justice Department’s substantial investments in enforcement, response, and treatment will help the country overcome these challenges and work towards freeing Americans from abuse and addiction,” Barr said.
Three years ago, President Trump declared a Public Health Emergency and initiated a whole-of-government approach dedicated to ending this national tragedy.
The Department of Justice has invested unprecedented levels of funding in combating the addiction crisis. The awards announced on Tuesday build on those earlier investments.
“If we hope to defeat an enemy as powerful, persistent and adaptable as illicit drugs, we must be at least as determined and versatile, focusing our ingenuity and resources on curbing abuse and fighting addiction,” said OJP’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “These grants will enable criminal justice officials and substance abuse, mental health and other medical professionals to pool their assets and bring the full weight of our public safety and treatment systems down on this epidemic that has already caused so much harm.”
Funding is made available through OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institute of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The following organizations in Arizona received funding:
County of Yuma – $262,164 Gila River Indian Community – $500,000
Superior Court in Pima County – $499,524
Judiciary Courts of the State of Arizona – $750,000
Arizona Criminal Justice Commission – $817,487
Arizona Youth Partnership – $690,553
More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.