A request for tribal consultation to determine the distributon of the $50 million tribal set-aside for opioid prevention and treatment initiatives under the fy2018 state opioid response grant program

WHEREAS, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), established in 1972, serves all federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health care delivery and public health services to AI/ANs, as well as upholding the federal government’s trust responsibility to AI/AN Tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is the principal federal agency tasked with protecting the behavioral and mental health of all Americans and reducing the impact of mental illness and substance abuse; and

WHEREAS, the high prevalence of prescription and illicit opioid overdose deaths among AI/AN people create a strong urgency for Tribes, federal agencies, and other stakeholders to partner in a manner that seeks to improve the health of all AI/ANs; and

WHEREAS, AI/ANs had the highest drug overdose death rate by race every year from 2008 to 2015 and the highest percentage increase in drug overdose deaths by race from 1999 to 2015 at 519%; and

WHEREAS, traditional practices must be implemented where Tribes choose to utilize them as treatment options for the best interests of their citizens and retention of cultural practices and federal funding should support the use of traditional healing practices; and

WHEREAS, the FY 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act included a $50 million set-aside for Tribal nations and Tribal organizations within the $1,000,000,000 appropriated for State Opioid Response Grants, but did not clarify a distribution pathway for these funds to Tribes and Tribal organizations; and

WHEREAS, establishing a clear distribution pathway for the $50 million Tribal set-aside is a high priority for Tribes across Indian Country to ensure robust access to funds in a manner that eliminates competition between Tribes, recognizing that $50 million is not enough to fully meet the needs of Indian Country; and

WHEREAS, the federal trust responsibility to provide healthcare and public health services extends to all 573 federally-recognized Tribes and can only be fulfilled by equitable funding to all Tribes in need of such funds; and