Report: Indiana Losing Out On Federal Opioid Funding

A new analysis explores disparities in federal funding for the opioid crisis and finds Indiana is one of the states that may be getting short changed.

The federal government granted states a total of $11 billion in 2017-2018. Indiana received $158 million of that money. The report from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation says that amount should be higher.

Claire Fiddian-Green is the foundation's president and CEO.

"In fact, we received about half of what we believe we should have if you were allocating the federal funding based off the number of opioid related overdose deaths," says Fiddian-Green. 

In 2017, Indiana recorded 1,176 deaths involving opioids. The Fairbanks report points to research that indicates Indiana underestimates the number of those deaths.

Fiddian Green says additional funding is needed. 

"Which would have allowed the state to really double down on the initiative it has been implementing that are starting to show progress," says Fiddian-Green. 

She says that could mean more recovery housing, school based prevention and harm reduction services.

Ohio and Pennsylvania were also determined to be losing out on funding. States that may be overfunded include California and Texas.

Contact Jill at jsheridan@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @JillASheridan.