Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) is excited to launch its new, competitive prevention and treatment request for proposals (RFP) on January 18, 2023! A launch webinar will be hosted that day from 11:00-12:00 p.m. The proposal template will be released immediately following the webinar. Applications will be due on March 15, 2023, and the funding period for those selected will run from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. The eligibility criteria are fairly broad and applications will be selected from organizations working in substance use disorder treatment (or linkage to treatment), harm reduction, or substance use prevention in Northwest HIDTA counties (Benton, Clark, Cowlitz, Franklin, Grant, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom, and Yakima). Though not required, the organizations of best fit will have demonstrated collaboration across sectors, particularly in relation to public safety or the criminal justice system.

Created by Congress in 1988, the HIDTA program is a grant program out of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), designed to coordinate and assist federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement as well as prevention and treatment organizations. As such, HIDTA funding must support ONDCP drug policy priorities. Further information regarding HIDTA can be found on the program website. Northwest HIDTA prevention funding is designed to address gaps in substance use prevention in the state of Washington that cannot be funded through other existing resources. It is not designed to serve as an organization’s sole source of funding; rather, it exists to elevate existing efforts. Some examples of the kinds of things we have funded in the past are community coalition projects, fentanyl test strips, and drug court services, but we are by no means limited to those.