Eight agencies in Mahoning County will receive more than $2.8 million in federal funding to fight opioid use and help prevent overdose deaths while Trumbull County is receiving $482,943 for those efforts.

The funding, announced Monday, comes from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is awarded through the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ State Opioid and Stimulus Response (SOS) program.

More than $100 million was awarded Monday throughout Ohio.

“In Ohio, we’ve put into action one of the nation’s most comprehensive and aggressive strategies for fighting substance use and preventing overdose deaths and these SOS grants are a key piece of the puzzle,” Gov. Mike DeWine, said. “We are empowering our local partners to advance their work to protect communities and families from the devastating consequences of opioids and other substances.”

DeWine recently announced the state’s overdose deaths dropped for the second straight year. In 2023, Ohio’s 9% decrease was greater than the 2% national average.

The lone award in Trumbull County is to its mental health and recovery board for $482,943.

The Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board received $1,136,681 — the largest in the county.

Seven other agencies in Mahoning also received funding. Overall, the eight agencies in Mahoning County received a total of $2,818,491.

Those other agencies are: Alta Care Group Inc., $33,000; Broadway Recovery Services, $116,955; Coleman Health Services, $362,935; Family Recovery Center, $197,944; Mercy Health Youngstown, $19,748; Meridian HealthCare, $691,220; and Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, $260,008.

The funding will go toward helping reduce unintentional overdose deaths, increase awareness to substance use disorder treatment, prevent youth substance use, increase recovery support services, support responsible prescribing practices and statewide education efforts, and promote integrated harm reduction practices.

“This funding is vitally important to supporting our ongoing work to prevent and reduce overdose deaths in our state,” said LeeAnne Cornyn, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “While the data is trending in the right direction, we’re not out of the woods yet. Fentanyl remains a serious threat to our communities and that’s why we are committed to thoughtfully investing these resources in projects that make a real difference and ultimately save lives.”