About the Rural Community Toolbox

For a rural community or county already struggling to attract new – or maintain existing – businesses, the impact of substance use disorder on the quality of life and economic prosperity can be enormous.

In May 2018, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) stood up the Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) to help address the opioid crisis by improving coordination of and reducing potential overlap among the federal responses in the nation’s rural communities. The Federal Rural Resource Guide to Help Communities Address Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse was the first output from the IWG and was initially release in October 2018. The most recent Federal Rural Resource Guide was released in February 2021.

This website takes the Guide from PDF to an interactive online tool. It is operated under a contract with the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health. It serves as a guide to the resources that can help make a difference in rural communities. It offers tools to empower rural community leaders to assess the causes and impact of substance use disorder and find federal programs to help them build strong healthy drug-free rural communities.