Five counties in Rhode Island will receive funding support for the creation of jobs and workforce training services for approximately 670 people to combat the state’s opioid crisis, thanks to over $1.3 million the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the state.
The award of $1,329,657 will be given in increments to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. It is hoped the funding will help combat the negative impact of the state’s “opioid use, addiction and overdose,” a press release said. The counties of Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence and Washington will benefit from the funding.
“Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, and many others,” the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s website said. “Opioid-involved overdose deaths rose significantly from 46,802 deaths in 2018 to 49,860 in 2019.”
In Rhode Island, an estimated 153 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2010, with 36 attributed to illicit drugs. In 2020, 384 residents fatally overdosed, 275 of which were attributed to illicit drugs, the press release said.
The funding Rhode Island will receive is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and is the final allocation of a $3.9 million National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant.
