WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today announced that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has awarded a total of $2.25 million in grant funding to several Maine health coalitions and local governments to prevent youth substance abuse and foster drug-free communities in Maine. Of that funding, $1,125,000 will be allocated for nine new grant awards while the remaining funding will be allocated to nine projects in the state that have previously received funding from ONDCP.

“The growing opioid epidemic in Maine is a serious threat that must be addressed,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. “We welcome this important funding, which will help support Maine coalitions and communities as they fight on front lines to turn the tide against this epidemic, and we remain committed to working with our partners at the federal level to seek every possible solution to this troubling issue.”

The funding comes through ONDCP’s Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, which provides a matching federal grant where each community provides a minimum of a one-to-one match in local funding for each federal dollar awarded. According to the ONDCP, a DFC National Evaluation Report conducted in 2014 concluded that among middle and high school students across the Nation, DFC-funded community coalitions consistently have lower rates of past 30-day youth substance use.

Senator King, a member of the Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus in the Senate, last month convened a roundtable discussion on opioid abuse that featured ONDCP Director Michael Botticelli. The event in Brewer brought together prevention and treatment experts from around the state, people in recovery, families affected by addiction, health care providers, law enforcement officials, first responders, and local leaders to discuss the epidemic of opiate addiction and potential federal responses.

Awards to Midcoast agencies include Healthy Lincoln County, $125,000 to serve Lincoln County. 

The breakdown of new and continuing grant awards for coalitions in Maine is below:

New Awards

Access Health, $125,000 to serve the Towns of Brunswick and Harpswell as well as Sagadahoc County.

Casco Bay CAN (Create Awareness Now), $125,000 to serve Freeport, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, North Yarmouth, Gray, New Gloucester, and Pownal.

Healthy Lincoln County, $125,000 to serve Lincoln County.

Be the Influence Coalition: A Windham-Raymond Collaborative, $125,000 to serve Windham and Raymond.

Project Alliance, $125,000, to serve York County: Arundel, Biddeford, Buxton, Dayton, Hollis, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, and Saco.

Sanford Strong Coalition, $125,000 to serve Sanford and Springvale.

Healthy Aroostook Coalition, $125,000 to serve Aroostook County.

Healthy Sebasticook Valley Coalition, $125,000 to serve the Sebasticook Valley region.

Healthy Community Coalition, $125,000 to serve Greater Franklin County.

Continuing Awards

Communities Promoting Health Coalition, $125,000 to serve the greater Portland area

Westbrook Communities that Care, $125,000 to serve the City of Westbrook

Healthy Acadia, $125,000 to serve the Downeast Acadia region

Southern Kennebec Substance Abuse Work Group, $125,000 to serve Gardiner, Augusta and the capital area of central Maine

Healthy Androscoggin, $125,000 to serve the Lewiston-Auburn area

Greater Somerset Public Health Collaborative Substance Abuse, $125,000 to serve Somerset County

Community Alcohol and Drug Education Team (CADET)/ Aroostook, $125,000 to serve Aroostook County

River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, $125,000 to serve Dixfield, Mexico, Rumford, Bethel an