NEW YORK (Sept. 12, 2022) – The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE), a private 501(c)(3) national grant-making foundation focused on addressing the nation’s opioid and drug overdose crisis, is providing $1,000,000 over two years to Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma for a project that will bring together medical and legal expertise to identify and reduce social stressors and increase access to opioid use disorder treatment and recovery services for families.

Children of parents with substance use disorder are at increased risk of experiencing family separation, unstable housing, disruptions to school or health care, and other socio-economic problems that often require legal assistance to address. This grant will enable the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, the state’s only legal aid services provider, to pilot a medical-legal partnership for opioid use disorder clients and their children. The project will be led by Michael Figgins, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.