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Current Fellows
Addiction & Overdose
Kristina Monje
Bloomberg Fellow
Kristina Monje lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she works for the Behavioral Health Division at Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) as a State Opioid Response Grant Manager. She found her way into opioid-related and harm reduction work when she began volunteering for a local syringe exchange program. Since then, she has worked within the Minneapolis addiction healthcare network in front-line and program development capacities, with particular focus on the development of harm reduction practices in urban and rural Indigenous communities, among people experiencing homelessness, and with other communities disproportionately impacted by the harms associated with drugs. In her current capacity at Minnesota DHS, she is managing grants awarded by the State’s Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council to organizations across the state who are addressing the overdose crisis and addiction in general. As a Bloomberg Fellow, she is eager to learn more and maximize her skills so she can better contribute to the robust network of opioid and addiction response.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) helps provide essential services to Minnesota's most vulnerable residents. Working with many others, including counties, tribes and nonprofits, DHS helps ensure that Minnesota seniors, people with disabilities, children and others meet their basic needs and can reach their full potential. While the vast majority of human services in Minnesota are provided by our partners, DHS (at the direction of the governor and Legislature) sets policies and directs the payments for many of the services delivered. As a steward of a significant amount of public dollars, DHS takes very seriously our responsibility to provide Minnesotans with high value in terms of both the quality and cost of services. The Behavioral Health Division (BHD) at DHS supports counties, tribes, and providers across the state in providing substance use disorder, tobacco, and problem gambling services. BHD’s State Opioid Response team works directly with Minnesota’s legislatively appointed Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council to oversee grant activities carried out by organizations across the state.