The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) supports states, units of local government, and tribal governments to plan, develop, and implement comprehensive efforts that identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs. COSSAP funding provides necessary resources that allow communities to respond to illicit substance use and misuse to reduce overdose deaths; promote public safety; and support access to prevention, harm-reduction, treatment, and recovery services in the community and justice system. The program also promotes cross-system planning and coordination to deliver a broad range of evidence-based, culturally relevant interventions.
Funds may be used to develop, implement, or expand a combination of the allowable use activities described below, or be concentrated on one, so long as the proposed budget is appropriate and justified.
- Identifiable and accessible take-back programs for unused controlled substances found in the home and/or used by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
- Law enforcement and other first responder diversion programs. A variety of multidisciplinary overdose prevention, response, and diversion and referral models, led by law enforcement and other first responders, have emerged in communities throughout the nation.
- Comprehensive, real-time, regional information collection, analysis, and dissemination that promote the use of data for both real-time and comprehensive planning and response to overdoses and emerging drug trends. These types of activities may include the use of data dashboards, the Overdose Detection and Mapping Application Program (ODMAP), Overdose Fatality Review, and forensic epidemiologists and technologies.
- Naloxone for law enforcement and other first responders.
- Education and prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students.
- Pre-booking or post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs, such as pretrial, prosecutor, and court diversion or intervention programs, that serve individuals at high risk for overdose or substance use disorder. Note: Funding is available under other BJA solicitations to implement or enhance an adult drug court and/or a veterans treatment court. As such, implementing or enhancing these court models is not an allowable funding activity under COSSAP.
- Court programming to prioritize and expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals at high risk for overdose, as well as services for children and youth impacted by their parents' or other family members' substance use.
- Evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs, such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT), as well as harm reduction activities for and recovery support service engagement with the pretrial and post-trial populations leaving local or regional jails or secure residential treatment facilities. This includes strong coordination between in-custody and community-based treatment and recovery support services that increases access to behavioral health care. Coordination should demonstrate a comprehensive approach to services delivering both place-based care and teleservices.
- Transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services. Note: No more than 30 percent of total grant funds may be used for transitional or recovery housing.
In FY 2023, eligible projects must fall under one of the following program areas:
- Category 1: Local applications - The objectives of Category 1 are to encourage and support the development of comprehensive, locally driven responses to the illicit use of opioids, stimulants, and other substances that expand access to treatment and recovery support services across the criminal justice system; support law enforcement and other first responder diversion programs for persons with substance use disorders; promote education and prevention activities; and address the needs of children impacted by substance use.
- Category 2: Applications from states on behalf of county, local, municipal, or tribal communities - The objective of Category 2 is to support states in their efforts to implement and enhance one or more of the allowable activities detailed under Category 1 in a minimum of six geographically diverse counties, localities, regions, or tribal jurisdictions. The state may retain up to $1,600,000 in total (not annually) for administrative purposes and to support the mandatory deliverables and to support an independent evaluation of the project's activities across the sites. The balance of funds must be subawarded to local communities, regions, or tribal entities.
OJP will provide priority consideration when making award decisions to the following:
- Applications that propose project(s) that are designed to promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality.
- Applicants that demonstrate that their capabilities and competencies for implementing their proposed project(s) are enhanced because they (or at least one proposed subrecipient that will receive at least 40% of the requested award funding, as demonstrated in the Budget Web-Based Form) identify as a culturally specific organization.
OJP will also give priority consideration to applications in Category 1 that include a research partner. Research partnerships in Category 2 are required.
Since 2017, BJA has supported innovative work in over 200 COAP sites. Examples of successful BJA-funded COAP projects can be found at: https://www.coapresources.org/#COAPHOME
For each category, only one application by any particular applicant entity will be considered. An entity may, however, be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application. This includes applications that propose to serve a region that crosses state boundaries. Subrecipients may include treatment providers, victim service providers, and other not-for-profit entities as part of a comprehensive cross-disciplinary response as outlined in Categories 1 and 2. If an agency wishes to apply under multiple categories, a separate application is needed for each category of funding