OPIOID GRANT: The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts granted $2.1 million to four U.S. academic institutions and nonprofits to address behavioral health workforce and bolster substance use disorder treatment, the organization said Thursday. The grants will support a counseling program for homeless people who use drugs in New York City and train behavioral health aides, among other efforts. The foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Midtown, launched in 2018 to send grants to programs aiming to address the opioid crisis and has delivered $47.5 million to date.
MEDICAID FRAUD: Community Options Inc., a Princeton, New Jersey-based nonprofit that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has agreed to pay back $5 million in faulty Medicaid claims to state and federal governments, Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday. Community Options, which operates a day program offering recreation and volunteer opportunities to people with disabilities, failed to meet state regulations and provide the full scope of benefits to its clients, according to an investigation by the attorney general’s office. Roughly $2.8 million of the settlement will go back to the state.
