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DDAP

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) will offer an instructor-led, two-hour training titled, “Xylazine: A New Drug Additive.” Savage Sisters Recovery, a Pennsylvania nonprofit that provides trauma-informed recovery housing, harm reduction, outreach, and statewide education, will lead the training.

According to a recent New York Times article, “In Philadelphia, and increasingly in drug hot zones around the country, an animal tranquilizer called xylazine — known by street names like ‘tranq,’ ‘tranq dope’ and ‘zombie drug’ — is being used to bulk up illicit fentanyl, making its impact even more devastating.

“Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue called eschar; untreated, they can lead to amputation. It induces a blackout stupor for hours, rendering users vulnerable to rape and robbery. When people come to, the high from the fentanyl has long since faded and they immediately crave more. Because xylazine is a sedative and not an opioid, it resists standard opioid overdose reversal treatments.”

This instructor-led training will provide information on national and statewide opioid statistics and updates on current drug supply trends, including critical information on xylazine. A demonstration of overdose reversal procedures when the presence of xylazine is suspected is also included in this training.

DDAP is holding two sessions of this training at its office in Harrisburg on May 25, 2023. Please visit DDAP’s Training Management System for details and to register. Pennsylvania Certification Board continuing education credits will be available for these sessions.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is seeking provider input for a brief workforce survey. DDAP is interested in hearing providers’ perspective on which jobs and positions are in short supply or understaffed, the challenges providers face, attempts to address them, and solutions that DDAP should consider. Responses will help inform DDAP’s regulatory reform efforts.

The survey can be taken here.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) today announced almost $9 million in grant funding awarded to four Single County Authorities (SCAs) to establish or expand crisis stabilization services for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (SUD). The funding is part of the more than $17 million allocated last year to DDAP by the General Assembly from Pennsylvania’s share of a total opioid settlement of $1.2 billion reached with three distributors and manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.

Crisis stabilization services include assessment and stabilization of acute physical and psychiatric symptoms, which may include medical management and behavioral interventions, induction on medications for opioid use disorder, level of care assessments, short-term stays, and connections to supportive services.

Grants up to $3 million each will be awarded to the following four SCAs, serving residents throughout seven counties:

  • Dauphin County Drug and Alcohol Services;
  • Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission;
  • Delaware County Department of Human Services; and
  • Blair County Drug and Alcohol Program.

The funding can be applied toward a range of activities, including construction and building infrastructure, staffing, and programming. DDAP’s goal in offering this funding opportunity is to provide an additional mechanism for counties to invest in infrastructure, staffing, programming, and other necessary components to establish or expand crisis stabilization services.

Eligible grantees were chosen based on information presented in their applications demonstrating their capacity to recognize and manage individuals presenting with a wide range of SUD-related symptoms, mental health disorders, and developmental disabilities.

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Effective January 1, Act 111 of 2022 amended the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act of 1972 to no longer define fentanyl test strips (FTS) as drug paraphernalia in Pennsylvania, making them a legal, low-cost method to prevent drug overdoses.

The Pennsylvania Departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs, Health, and Human Services, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency have created a survey to gauge interest in and demand for FTS as the administration works to make them available at no cost across the commonwealth. The survey contains questions on currently available trainings/materials, preferred brands, and current distribution methods and takes about five minutes to complete.

Organizations are urged to complete the survey here and to distribute the link to others.

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On January 30, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) will both expire on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Under Act 30 of 2022, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ (DDAP) regulatory suspensions that are “related to federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration” were extended until “the last day federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration are authorized.” In other words, Act 30 aligned the timing for DDAP’s regulatory suspensions with the deadline for flexibilities granted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) — not with the deadline of the PHE itself.

Below is a description of each currently suspended regulation and what DDAP knows about efforts to make these changes permanent at the federal level.

Methadone Take-Home Supply

Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA is currently allowing up to 28 days of take-home medications for patients on stable dosages, as deemed appropriate by their physician. DDAP’s regulation 28 Pa. Code § 715.16(e) (prohibiting narcotic treatment programs [NTPs] from permitting a patient to receive more than a two-week take-home supply) is currently suspended under Act 30.

Expiration of the PHE: In November 2021, SAMHSA announced that the methadone take-home flexibilities will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024). DDAP submitted its written concurrence with this exemption in February 2022. Furthermore, SAMHSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in December 2022 that proposes modifying regulations related to methadone take-home supply up to 28 days, among other changes.

Buprenorphine Telehealth

Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA and the DEA are currently allowing initial evaluations for a patient who will be treated with buprenorphine to be completed via telehealth. DDAP has two related regulations that are currently suspended under Act 30:

  • 28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4): Requires NTPs to make a face-to-face determination before admission to treatment for those clients who will receive medication to treat opioid use disorder (OUD).
  • 28 Pa. Code § 715.6(d): Requires NTPs to have narcotic treatment physician services onsite.

Expiration of the PHE: In March 2022, the DEA announced that it is currently working to make its teleprescribing regulations permanent. In June 2022, SAMHSA announced to State Opioid Treatment Authorities that flexibilities around telehealth evaluations before buprenorphine treatment at NTPs, specifically, will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024).

SAMHSA and DEA have made clear that support for these flexibilities has been overwhelmingly positive, decreased stigma associated with OUD, and enhanced care for patients. Given the information above, DDAP does not anticipate any lapses in these flexibilities at either the federal or state level but will continue to provide updates and guidance as available.

Resources

If you have any further questions, please contact the Bureau of Program Licensure at (717) 783-8675 or via email.

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Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

Former Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) Secretary Jennifer Smith has been named Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS). As DDAP Secretary, Smith led DDAP’s efforts to fulfill its mission of engaging and coordinating the commonwealth’s efforts to prevent and reduce substance use disorder and problem gambling and to promote recovery. Smith was integral in the formation and implementation of Pennsylvania’s first licensure program for recovery houses as well as leading Pennsylvania’s treatment system transition away from the Pennsylvania Client Placement Criteria to ASAM Criteria.

Dr. Dale Adair, who has served as Acting Deputy Secretary for OMHSAS, will continue to serve as the Chief Psychiatric Officer for OMHSAS.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is making available $4 million in grant funding for organizations to establish or expand substance use disorder (SUD) services, community outreach and education to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

In 2020, overdose death rates increased 39 percent for black Pennsylvanians, compared to 2019. In 2021, black Pennsylvanians died from an overdose at a rate that was nearly two times higher than white Pennsylvanians.

Grants up to $400,000 each will be awarded for a 12-month period beginning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. Funds can be applied toward a range of activities, including construction and building infrastructure, staffing, and evidence-based programming.

Eligible applicants include organizations that provide services, outreach, and/or education to BIPOC communities in any of the following areas:

  • Harm reduction;
  • Access to low-barrier medications for opioid use disorder and SUD treatment;
  • Recovery and peer supports; and
  • Reentry supports.

Funding for these grants is provided from the opioid settlement funding that the General Assembly appropriated to DDAP.

Download the Grant Initiative Funding Application.

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