William T. Grant Foundation Awards Three Year Grant to Cornell University to Study Opioid Use in Rural Upstate New York
The College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, was awarded a three-year $650,000 grant to respond to the opioid epidemic.
The funds come from the William T. Grant Foundation's first Institutional Challenge Grant and were awarded to combat increasing rates of opioid abuse and child maltreatment in low-income, rural communities in upstate New York.
The winning team, led by College of Human Ecology researchers Rachel Dunifon and Laura Tach and CCE-Tompkins program coordinator Anna Steinkraus, will attempt to understand the association between opioid use and child maltreatment rates; examine the role of family drug treatment courts in mitigating child maltreatment; and evaluate evidence-based interventions that may reduce the risk of opioid abuse for low-income youth and families, according to the Cornell University Media Relations Office.
Findings from each study will be used to improve local practices and programs.
“This grant supports a true collaborative research-practice partnership that brings together faculty and community educators to address a pressing local issue: the opioid epidemic," Dunifon said. "We will not only generate cutting-edge research on this important topic, we will also provide faculty and our community partners with the time, funds and skills necessary to engage in this type of research collaboration. By doing this, we will pave the way for future research-practice partnerships to succeed.”
A committee of faculty and CCE-Tompkins staff will select faculty members to serve as fellows and receive mentoring from the partnership leads, a press release stated. Tach, an associate professor of policy analysis and management, is the first faculty fellow selected under the grant, and will bring expertise in poverty and social policy to the project...