LOUISVILLE, KY -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has announced that the Fletcher Group will receive $6.6 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, which supports evidence-based programs for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders in rural communities. The Fletcher Group has partnered with the University of Kentucky to establish an opioid response program and will maintain its headquarters in rural Kentucky. Its work will target 101 rural counties in eight states, including 47 counties in Kentucky.
“I applaud the Trump Administration for its work to help fight the opioid and substance abuse addiction plaguing the Commonwealth and our nation, and I was pleased to work with the Fletcher Group to help secure this funding,” said Senator McConnell. “The funds will be used by the Fletcher Group to establish a center of excellence for substance abuse disorder and will provide treatment and housing options for low-income and high-risk individuals in 47* Kentucky counties. This important work will help combat the opioid crisis that has afflicted many communities throughout Kentucky.”
“Leader McConnell has been a tireless champion fighting against the opioid crisis facing Kentucky and many other parts of the country,” said Ernie Fletcher, former Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and current Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer for the Fletcher Group. “His support for this new funding opportunity will enable the Fletcher Group to establish a Rural Center of Excellence on Substance Use Disorder to continue to spread the successful Recovery Kentucky model to other parts of the Commonwealth and beyond. The Center will provide technical assistance to rural communities seeking to establish evidence-based treatment and recovery housing options for at-risk populations.”
As Senate Majority Leader, Senator McConnell has prioritized federal resources to fight the opioid epidemic by increasing federal funding for the response. Kentucky has received over $200 million as a result of his work to prioritize the federal response to the addiction epidemic. Most recently, he led to enactment a landmark opioid bill signed by President Trump that includes his bills: the CAREER Act and the Protecting Moms and Infants Act.
*47 KENTUCKY COUNTIES: Adair, Bath, Bell, Boyle, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Carroll, Carter, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Elliott, Estill, Floyd, Garrard, Grayson, Green, Harlan, Hickman, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, McCreary, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Mercer, Monroe, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Robertson, Rockcastle, Russell, Taylor, Wayne, Whitley, Wolfe.
