Here’s where Biden-Harris opioid crisis, recovery funding will go in Kansas, Missouri

Missouri and Kansas will receive a total of nearly $33.7 million in grants to fight the opioid crisis and support people in recovery as part of an $1.5 billion effort to address the overdose epidemic, the White House announced Friday.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has awarded $25.3 million to the Missouri Department of Mental Health in Jefferson City and nearly $8.4 million to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services in Topeka, according to the announcement.

The Kickapoo Tribe in Horton, Kansas, will also receive $500,000.

The grants are to be used to increase access to treatment for substance use disorder, remove barriers to public health interventions like naloxone and expand access to recover support services such as 24/7 opioid treatment programs, according to a White House fact sheet.

The funding was announced as part of National Recovery Month.

The White House also announced, among other things, that more than $104 million would be invested with public, private and non-profit entities to expand substance use treatment and prevention in rural communities and $20.5 million in grants would be awarded to organizations that help connect those who have substance use disorders with community resources.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug administration issued new guidelines intended to facilitate the distribution of FDA-approved naloxone products.