More than 90 people in the U.S. die every day from opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which for New York means an 11.5% increase in deaths between June 2020 and last summer.
To combat the devastating effect opioid addiction and deaths have had on the state, the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $1,863,816 in incremental funding to the New York State Department of Labor, the DOL announced on its website Jan. 31.
The funds are the third and final allocation of the $5.6 million National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant program, which began awarding grants in January 2019, according to the announcement. The $1.8 million in grants will assist with job creation and workforce training services in more than 20 communities hard hit by widespread opioid use, addiction and overdoses, the DOL states.
State officials estimate the award will help create jobs and provide workforce training for approximately 700 people, the DOL reports.
Opioid Disaster Recovery grants "create temporary jobs in peer recovery positions and provide services to reintegrate workers affected by the opioid crisis back into the workforce," the DOL states in the announcement. The grants have been supported since 2014 by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to create temporary jobs in peer recovery positions and assistance to reintegrate people back into the workforce.
CDC officials estimate 1,000 people in New York State died by overdose in 2010, with 70 percent of the deaths attributed to controlled substances. The number of overdose deaths in 2021 stands at 2,857, with with 2,420 attributed to opioids - nearly triple the deaths from 2010, according to the CDC.
