The Rural Resource Guide was developed by the Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group. In May 2018, the ONDCP stood up the Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group to help address the opioid crisis by improving coordination and reducing potential overlap among federal agencies responding to the crisis in the Nation’s rural communities. The Working Group is co-chaired by ONDCP and USDA. The departments and agencies represented on the Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group include the Departments of Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing, Justice, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs; the Corporation for National and Community Service; and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The Federal Rural Resource Guide is the second tool in USDA’s Community Opioid Misuse Toolbox – a suite of essential tools supporting grassroots strategies to address the opioid epidemic. In October, USDA launched the Community Assessment Tool, an interactive database to help community leaders assess how and why the opioid epidemic is impacting their regions. USDA’s Community Opioid Misuse Toolbox is free and available to the public. It can be accessed on USDA’s Rural Opioid Misuse Webpage https://www.usda.gov/topics/opioids.