Grants to Wisconsin syringe service providers to improve health outcomes for drug users and reduce health inequities, particularly in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) health crisis. Funding is intended to address the health concerns of drug users by allowing syringe service providers to determine their own drug user health and future-readiness needs. The goal of the grant is to support the strength and resilience of each syringe service provider, their community health, and their collaborative efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted health inequities across the nation and in Wisconsin. Data shows that Wisconsin’s People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) have been disproportionally affected. Drug User Health is influenced by HCV and HIV risk, overdose risk, syringe service needs, and social factors that have created barriers and obstacles for many people. The goals of the grant include supporting expanded services of existing Syringe Service Providers that address the community drug user health infrastructure, advance health equity, and address the social determinants of health as these relate to COVID-19 and other health disparities as experienced by People Who Use Drugs in Wisconsin.  

The grants will help Syringe Service Providers in Wisconsin to:

• Self-determine and self-direct the restoration and recovery of their communities from the effects of COVID-19
• Provide outreach and education to people who use drugs
• Provide pretreatment services including the provision of literature and other materials to support behavior change/risk reduction, facilitating access to drug user health, HIV and HCV testing and counseling services, and
• Provide Naloxone training and distribution, including training and education on how to recognize an opioid overdose, how to respond to an opioid overdose, how to administer naloxone, and distribution of naloxone to people trained.

A key focus for this funding opportunity will be on projects that strive to improve the social determinants of health and the advancement of health equity affecting people who use drugs living in Wisconsin.  Most importantly, the potential use of this grant funding will allow each syringe service provider to tailor it to their most pressing needs while sustaining and enhancing communication between these agencies and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health.

Examples of potential investments of this funding include:

• Building capacity for public health emergency preparedness, COVID-19, and other disease outbreak response
• COVID services – vaccinations/boosters/testing/PPE (personal protection equipment)
• Expanding existing services into high need areas related to COVID and/or overdose rates
• COVID education regarding drug use risk
• Adding hours/days/time for RN or Outreach at existing services
• Expanding existing syringe services
• Expanding drug user health services
• Expanding existing services into rural areas
• Linking people who use drugs to existing resources.