To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Dr. Casey Bitting, Coroner, Coroner’s Office
Prepared By:
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Daria Skorka, Forensic Autopsy Technician, Coroner’s Office
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presenter
Presenter: Daria Skorka, Forensic Autopsy Technician, Coroner’s Office
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Subject:
title
3:30 PM *Grant Opportunity: BJA FY 2026 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-Based Program Grant
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
The purpose of this request is for the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to consider approving a grant application for the Bureau of Justice Assistance FY 2026 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-Based Program (COSSUP) grant in support of toxicology testing within the Coroner’s Office.
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Safe and Healthy Communities - Improve public health initiatives, including access to food security programs, healthcare, and immunizations.
Background and Discussion: The Coroner’s Office would like to submit a grant application to the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance to assist with paying for toxicology testing and to provide more expansive data on drug related deaths by contracting a part-time epidemiologist.
The Coroner’s Office is currently recipients of the Paul Coverdell FY23 Grant, which pays for toxicology testing for suicidal and accidental deaths and screens drugs in those deaths. Unfortunately, the grant ends in October, and the pathologist will need to limit cases to send to the National Medical Science Laboratory (NMS) for toxicology testing. COSSUP grant funds would support paying for NMS toxicology testing on all accidental case types and for contracting an epidemiologist for better statistical analysis of drug related deaths in Arapahoe County. It would also provide law enforcement agencies with better demographic information to help combat drug-related crimes in the county. As this information could also be included in the Corone...
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