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Arkansas coalitions receive over $4 million in Drug-Free Communities grants

For the seven coalitions receiving the DFC grant, the funding will provide each with $125,000 annually for five years.
  • Written By: Andrew Morgan, League staff
  • Photography By: Andrew Morgan, League staff; Kayla Dennis, ARORP
  • ARORP’s leadership and coalition partners from across the state celebrated an initial $4.4 million in Drug-Free Community grants in September. Photo by Kayla Dennis, ARORP

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Seven Coalition Partnership Empowerment (COPE) coalitions in Arkansas have been awarded the prestigious Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP) has announced. The seven coalitions were among 13 that, with an initial investment from ARORP of $536,607, attended CADCA’s new Opioid Coalition Academy.

For the seven coalitions receiving the DFC grant, the funding will provide each with $125,000 annually for five years, for a total of $625,000 per coalition and a nearly $4.4 million investment in opioid abatement and recovery efforts in Arkansas cities, towns and counties. Coalitions will also have the opportunity to apply for a second five-year term of funding.

“This is a phenomenal achievement by ARORP, COPE and CADCA, which shows the power of possibilities that we realize in partnership,” said CADCA president and CEO, Major General (Ret.) Barrye L. Price.

Coalitions that received DFC funding include:
• Prevention-Awareness-Youth-Support (PAYS) Coalition, Mountain Home, Baxter County
• Sebastian County Opioid Task Force, Fort Smith
• The Opioid Prescription Drug and Synthetics Coalition (O.P.P.S.), Blytheville, Mississippi County
• Newton County Partners in Prevention Coalition, Jasper
• Greene County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition, Paragould
• Amazing Angels Coalition, Lake Village, Chicot County
• Carroll County Hometown Health Coalition, Green Forrest

ARORP’s leadership team and representatives from the coalitions gathered at the Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) headquarters in Little Rock September 19 to celebrate the announcement of the DFC grants. “Y’all, this is a party day,” said AAC Executive Director Chris Villines. “This is a day of celebration for what we’ve been able to accomplish at ARORP and what all of you have been able to accomplish across the state.”

ARORP, an initiative of the Arkansas Municipal League and the Association of Arkansas Counties, has taken an evidence-based approach to funding opioid abatement projects across the state by finding gaps in resources and filling them, said League Executive Director Mark Hayes. Unlike less successful efforts in other states, ARORP is transparent in its spending of settlement funds, he said. “We can tell you where every single penny went. We can tell you what that penny is being spent on, and we can quantify it in a way that tells us whether it’s working or not.”

Out of the 13 coalitions ARORP invested in, 10 applied for DFC funding and seven of those were awarded grants. It’s a remarkable achievement that doubled the number of counties in the state with DFC funding, ARORP Director Kirk Lane said. “One thing we put into this program is that these new counties have to mentor another county, so we hope to double it again in 2025. So, if you are looking for funding and you have a heart to abate the opioid epidemic, all you have to do is download the ReviveAR app, go to our website, and you can apply through that process and be successful like these counties were.”

For more information about the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership and to download the ReviveAR app, visit ARORP.org.

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