Since September 2015 the New England HIDTA has been awarded discretionary funds to support the regional Overdose Response Strategy (ORS) developed and implemented by five HIDTAs most affected by the heroin/opioid epidemic sweeping the northeast. Since 2015, the effort has grown to include 11 HIDTAs, including Appalachia, Chicago, Indiana, Liberty Mid-Atlantic, New England, New York/New Jersey, Washington/Baltimore, Ohio, Michigan, North Central, and Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTAs, encompassing 24 states. Together, the ORS launched a comprehensive and unified strategy with the overarching goal of reducing drug overdose deaths by facilitating collaboration between public health and public safety.

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The Overdose Response Strategy (ORS) is an unprecedented and unique public health-public safety partnership between the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through their support of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and the CDC Foundation. At its core, the ORS is an example of a cross-agency, interdisciplinary collaboration with a single mission of reducing overdose deaths and saving lives across the United States.