Indian Health Service Awards $9.5 Million to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Indian Country

The Indian Health Service has awarded $9.5 million in Community Opioid Intervention Prevention Program (COIPP) grant funding to 19 tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to combat the opioid epidemic in Indian Country. 

“The opioid crisis continues to impact Indian Country and all our relatives. With this grant funding, Indian Country will be empowered to combat the crisis, reduce opioid use disorder, and prevent overdose deaths,” said IHS Acting Director Benjamin Smith. “We will continue to work diligently with our tribal and urban partners to provide effective services to American Indian and Alaska Native communities.”

The five-year project period started on February 1, 2025. Grants were awarded to implement innovative approaches to address the opioid crisis in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, which include:

• Increasing public awareness and education about culturally appropriate and family-centered opioid and overdose prevention.
• Treatment and recovery practices and programs, creating comprehensive support teams to strengthen and empower Native families in addressing the opioid and overdose crisis.
• Increasing access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder for persons with opioid use disorder, as well as opioid overdose reversal medications for those who experience opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and opioid-related overdoses.
• Increasing access to low-barrier care that reduces risk in tribal and urban Indian communities.

Click here for a list of COIPP grant recipients.

The IHS Division of Behavioral Health, within the Office of Clinical and Preventive Services, serves as the primary source of national advocacy, policy development, management, and administration of behavioral health, alcohol and substance use, and family violence prevention programs for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the 18^th largest health service delivery system in the United States and serves approximately 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states. Follow the agency via social media on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.