State of Kentucky -Kentucky Opioid Response Effort - KORE

The epidemic of substance use has been the focus of several public health initiatives in Kentucky. The problem is dramatic in the Commonwealth and the state consistently ranks in the top five (5) for adverse outcomes including overdose deaths. Although treatment programs have expanded in Appalachia, pregnancy unfortunately has been a subpopulation excluded by many providers due to fears related to treatment-associated adverse outcomes. Pregnancy can be a motivating factor in seeking treatment, but there is a lack of resources for treatment in pregnant women in this area. These treatments can improve fetal, neonatal, and infant health outcomes. The purpose of this contract is for the University of Kentucky Research Foundation (University of Kentucky), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine to provide consultation and telemedicine services for areas in Kentucky where medical access and evidence-based strategies are limited to treat pregnant women with substance use disorders. The Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) is a new grant initiative to provide a comprehensive targeted response to Kentucky’s opioid crisis by expanding access to a full continuum of high quality, evidence-based opioid prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction services and supports in high-risk geographic regions of the state. Informed by data on populations most in need, the KORE projects will focus on four primary populations: 1) opioid overdose victims, 2) pregnant and parenting women, 3) individuals re-entering society upon release from criminal justice settings and 4) adolescents and young adults.