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Health District wins $120k Colorado Health Foundation grant

The Health District was awarded $122,500 from the Colorado Health Foundation to improve the treatment of substance use disorders and how people with these disorders are perceived in Larimer County.
The Health District will partner with SummitStone Health Partners and Larimer County Criminal Justice Services to increase access to effective behavioral health care, improve treatment outcomes and reduce criminal recidivism by expanding the use of recognized best practices in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment during the two-year project.

“The most effective treatment for substance use disorder recognizes it as a complex brain disorder that may be chronic, not a lack of willpower,” says Health District Executive Director Carol Plock. “Like other chronic diseases, most substance use disorder can be managed successfully if people get the right treatment and understand that multiple approaches, over time, may be needed to keep it under control.”

Approximately 31,000 people in the county live with SUD. It is estimated that just 10% of adults with substance use disorders receive the treatment they need, with 29% of those who do get treatment receiving care that is minimally adequate.

Untreated or under-treated substance use disorders have enormous impacts on the health, livelihood and functioning of individuals, as well as the families, workplaces, schools, and other services such as emergency rooms, law enforcement and criminal justice systems that surround them.