Tester Secures Grant to Combat Drug Epidemic in Butte

$718,138 to Bolster Family Drug Court, Support Recovery

(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced a grant to help the Butte-Silver Bow County Family Drug Court better support drug offenders and combat the growing opioid epidemic.

Worth $718,138, the grant will let Family Drug Court handle more cases and create a peer-support group to help offenders before and after using the Court. It also provides for a targeted program focusing on opioid addiction.

“The drug crisis is costing our communities far too much,” Tester said. “We’ve got to combat this epidemic with every tool available, and this grant will ensure folks in Butte can get the help they need to start on the path to recovery.”

The grant is available through the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Tester has long been confronting the rampant opioid epidemic in Montana. He voted last week on a sweeping package of bills to support drug prevention and recovery efforts and he recently secured $4.3 million to help 16 community health centers across the state combat drug abuse and addiction. Tester held a roundtable discussion in Kalispell last week on the growing opioid epidemic in Montana. Last year he called out the White House’s attempt to gut funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which has been instrumental in combatting meth and opioid addiction in Montana.