CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), today announced funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support five Rural Communities Opioid Response programs focused on addressing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) across West Virginia. The purpose of this program is to reduce the incidence and impact of NAS in rural communities by improving systems of care, family support, and social determinants of health. NAS is a group of conditions that can occur when newborns withdraw from certain substances, including opioids, that they were exposed to before birth.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the pain and suffering of infants who have been exposed to drugs before they’re even born. Funding like this is so important when it comes to helping West Virginia’s most vulnerable children receive the health care they need and continue our efforts to fight the opioid epidemic. As the Ranking Member of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue fighting for resources that will help curb the deadly impact of opioids in our state,” Ranking Member Capito said.
Individual funding details are listed below:
$500,000 for West Virginia University (WVU) (Morgantown, W.Va.)
$500,000 for Community Care of West Virginia, Inc. (Rock Cave, W.Va.)
$500,000 for Southern Highlands Community Mental Health Center, Inc. (Princeton, W.Va.)
$499,498 for WV Perinatal Partnership, Inc. (Charleston, W.Va.)
$404,805 for Logan County, W.Va.