The Pennyroyal Healthcare Service in Princeton has been awarded $285,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help combat opioid addiction and substance abuse. The health center in Princeton is among twenty community health centers across Kentucky that will receive a portion of nearly $5.6 million as the result of an agreement brokered by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who played a key role in securing the highest level of funding ever devoted to combating the opioid crisis. The funding will be used to support the Health and Human Services Five Point Opioid Strategy nationwide.
In the release, McConnell thanked the Trump administration for working with him to provide critical resources to Kentucky to help combat the opioid epidemic. He says the bipartisan funding agreement he negotiated earlier this year will provide the necessary funds to bolster the ongoing national struggle against opioid addiction and substance abuse. McConnell notes it will fund new grants, prevention and treatment programs, and law enforcement efforts in vulnerable communities across the Commonwealth.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed landmark opioid legislation, The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, which contains provisions from two bills sponsored by Senator McConnell. One of the bills expands grants and targets funding for treatment, transitional housing, and job training and placement services to help individuals in recovery find their footing and maintain their sobriety. The second bill will refine federal efforts to combat the efforts of opioids on expecting mothers and their unborn children.