Family Guidance Centers Wins $2.6 Million Grant to Fight Opioid Overdoes

One of Illinois' largest providers of substance use disorder treatment services has received a multi-year federal grant to fight opioid overdoes on Chicago's South and West Sides.

Family Guidance Centers, headquartered in suburban Glenview, has won a five-year, $2,635,000 grant ($525,000 per year) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to expand access to medication-assisted treatment through mobile units deployed in the city's underserved communities ravaged by the opioid epidemic.

"The provision of medication-assisted treatment, along with counseling and recovery support services via mobile health units, is emerging as an effective approach to reducing barriers to access," said Family Guidance Center's Chief Operating Officer, Ron Vlasaty. "The mobile unit approach widens the net of available services particularly to individuals in underserved areas who are unable to access traditional brick and mortar treatment facilities."

The award will establish a mobile treatment unit, through which all three FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder will be available as well as Naloxone, (Narcan) kits to reverse the effects an opioid overdose.

Medication-assisted treatment research reveals that it is the most effective intervention to treat opioid use disorder, significantly reducing opioid use compared with nondrug approaches, and increased access to this treatment dramatically reduces overdose fatalities, according to Vlasaty.

"Research on treatment outcomes shows that mobile services are able to engage individuals who otherwise encounter insurmountable barriers to treatment access, including inadequate behavioral health services located in communities of color," said Vlasaty. "FGC's mobile unit will concentrate on expanding access to care in underserved Chicago communities disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis."

About Family Guidance Centers, Inc.

Family Guidance Centers, Inc. is a not-for-profit behavioral healthcare organization, treats and prevents substance use disorder, as well as an array of other related problems. Since 1969, FGC's comprehensive programming has educated and guided individuals toward their full potential as productive members within their own families and our society.