Overview With the release of President Obama’s first National Drug Control Strategy, in 2010, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been coordinating a government-wide public health and safety approach to reduce drug use and its consequences in the United States.
The Obama
credit:
Administration recognizes that drug use is a threat to the Nation’s public health, and that drug addiction is a preventable and treatable disease.
ONDCP pursues a balanced and comprehensive approach to drug control policy - an approach that includes prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement.
Under ONDCP’s 2006 Reauthorization Act, the Director of National Drug Control Policy is authorized to enter into an agreement with a non-profit organization to “advise States on establishing laws and policies to address alcohol and other drug issues, based on the model State drug laws developed by the President’s Commission on Model State Drug Laws in 1993; and revise such model State drug laws and draft supplementary model State drug laws to take into consideration changes in the alcohol and drug abuse problems in the States involved.” See, Pub.
Law 109-469 (Dec.29, 2006).
These statutory requirements comprise the core of the Model State Drug Laws Initiative, the purposes and requirements of the assistance provided under this notice of fund availability being more particularly described below.
ONDCP expects to award one Federal grant under the Model State Drug Laws Initiative, for a two year period, beginning approximately July 1, 201 5. The successful non-Federal entity receiving the award conduct research and analysis, provide technical assistance, and draft model legislation on current and emerging drug and alcohol-related issues.
The successful non-Federal entity (NFE) receiving award must also maintain a web-based resource center, accessible to the public, on state drug and alcohol laws and related statutes, policies and programs for use in advising States and associated groups on establishing laws and policies based on Model State Drug Laws.
Goals, Objectives and What the Government is Supporting The assistance provided under this award will support the NFE’s performance of the award and fulfillment of the following four performance areas:
• RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS o Conduct timely research and analysis on state drug and alcohol laws, policies, and programs pertaining to current and emerging drug and alcohol-related issues; o Describe and document processes use for determining which model laws should be developed and articulate criteria for prioritization and selection; and o Provide technical assistance in legislative and policy development in response to requests by interested members of the public, including persons representing legislative and other organizations.
• DRAFTING AND REVISING MODEL LEGISLATION o Draft model state drug and alcohol legislation to address current and emerging drug and alcohol related issues; and o Revise current model laws and/or draft supplementary legislation as deemed necessary.
• TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE o Provide on request and, only subject to a reasonable administrative charge, individual off-site technical assistance and follow up assistance on model state drug and alcohol laws, policies, and programs to state and local officials, drug and alcohol professionals, behavioral health specialists, and other relevant parties.
If fees are charged, NFE must propose and provide rationale for the fee structure and fees collected will not be considered as an offset to funds awarded under this funding opportunity.
o All technical assistance must be conducted by subject matter experts with documented experience drafting model drug and alcohol laws and extensive knowledge of state drug and alcohol legislative, policy, and program priorities.
o Documentation of all technical assistance must include, but is not limited to, the name and type of recipient, type of technical assistance, recipient feedback, and result of technical assistance.
Applicant should describe the mechanism and process for obtaining and documenting this information for program reports.
• MODEL STATE DRUG LAWS RESOURCE CENTER o Maintain a repository and web-based resource center on model state drug and alcohol laws, policies and programs, studies, maps, tables, and other drug and alcohol information that is easily downloadable and readily accessible to the public; o Publish relevant research and information online; o Develop and disseminate relevant state statutes and case law online, to the maximum extent possible, subject to any underlying copyright or other rights appertaining to such materials; case law may or may not be in the public domain and the NFE may have to abstract cases relevant to this award; and o Develop a schedule for timely distribution of state law reference documents and other materials to state and local officials, drug and alcohol professionals, and other interested parties.