Day 3 - Forums - 2023 COSSUP National Forum - Thursday, August 31, 2023
Thursday, August 31, 2023
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Closing Plenary
Traditional Closing: Tribal Blessing and Honor Song
Capture and Proposal Development Manager, Buffalo Horse Inc. , Fort Belknap Indian Community, Hays, Montana
Shawn Ironmaker
Capture and Proposal Development Manager, Buffalo Horse Inc., Fort Belknap Indian Community, Hays, Montana
Shawn Ironmaker (wamni gichianga “sits with eagle”) works for Buffalo Horse Inc. (BHI) as a capture and proposal development manager, providing contract services to the federal government and the U.S. Department of Defense. BHI is a tribally owned small business serving as a government contracting vehicle providing economic development to the Aaniiih and Nakoda Nations. Mr. Ironmaker is an enrolled member of the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre/White Clay) Tribe. He is also a descendant of the Nakoda (wakpa wicasa/Stoney) and Rocky Boy Chippewa Cree/Pembina Chippewa Tribes from the Fort Belknap Indian Community, located in northeastern Montana.
Native American/Alaska Native Liaison, Center for Minority Veterans, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC
Gregorio Kishketon, MS
Native American/Alaska Native Liaison, Center for Minority Veterans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC
Gregorio Kishketon serves as the Native American/Alaska Native liaison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Center for Minority Veterans. He also serves on the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act and Strong Act Committees as well as the White House Committee on Native American Affairs. Mr. Kishketon previously worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education for the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and served as a contracting officer with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has also worked in the field for the VA North Texas Health Care System and the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System. Mr. Kishketon served in the United States Marine Corps in several roles and was honorably discharged in 1991. He is a lifetime member of the Marine Corps League and Disabled American Veterans. Mr. Kishketon is a Tribal Elder with the Water Clan – Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma and a member of the Comanche and Lipan Apache Tribes. He also serves on the board of trustees for Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Kishketon earned his master of science degree from the University of Texas and his bachelor of science degree from the University of Oklahoma.
The Federal Response to the Challenge of Substance Use, Misuse, and Overdose — Roundtable Discussion With Federal Partners
Deputy Director for Policy, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
Ruby Qazilbash
Deputy Director for Policy, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
Ruby Qazilbash is the Deputy Director for Policy at the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) within the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs. As deputy director, she leads a team of criminal justice experts in developing and implementing programs that meet the challenges facing today’s criminal justice systems, leaders, and practitioners. BJA’s policy team interprets legislation and congressional intent for more than $1.2 billion of discretionary funding appropriated to BJA annually to support and strengthen state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems. For the past 12 years at BJA, Ms. Qazilbash has directed policy and programs to support the criminal justice field to develop community-based alternatives for people with substance use and mental health disorders and to improve programming, conditions of confinement, and sexual safety in the nation’s jails and prisons. During her tenure, Ms. Qazilbash and her team have implemented the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the Second Chance Act. She helped fund, launch, and sustain the Stepping Up Initiative to reduce the prevalence of people with serious mental illness in the nation’s jails and Justice Counts, a nationwide initiative to develop and build consensus around a set of key criminal justice metrics that drive budget and policy decisions. She has also overseen the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which uses data to identify and address drivers of crime and state corrections costs, shifting state resources to more effective uses of criminal justice dollars to produce more public safety for the same cost. Ms. Qazilbash has been with DOJ for 19 years, with previous experience at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Arlington County, Virginia; and the New York City, New York, Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice.
Public Health and Public Safety Team Lead, Division of Overdose Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Jessica Wolff, MPH
Public Health and Public Safety Team Lead, Division of Overdose Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Jessica Wolff is a lead health scientist within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. She is the public health and public safety team lead in the Division of Overdose Prevention and also serves as the public health director of the Overdose Response Strategy (ORS). The ORS is a national public health and public safety program and a partnership between the CDC and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program to prevent and reduce overdose. In this capacity, Ms. Wolff coordinates with federal partners at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, HIDTA, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance and provides oversight to a team at the CDC Foundation that supports 60 ORS public health analysts. Ms. Wolff has 12 years of program evaluation and project management experience in various public health fields, including global HIV/AIDS prevention, youth suicide prevention, and children’s mental health services.
Physician and Senior Advisor, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Robert Baillieu, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Physician and Senior Advisor, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Robert Baillieu serves as a physician and senior advisor at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). He is a board-certified family physician, fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a former Robert L. Phillips, Jr., Health Policy Fellow at the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Robert Graham Center and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Care. He is also a former assistant professor of clinical family medicine at Georgetown University, where he supervised residents and taught classes in policy, advocacy, statistics, and clinical medicine. Dr. Baillieu’s research activities have focused on the primary care workforce, health information technology, and the implementation of best practices at the community level. He has presented at national and international meetings and has published in international, peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Baillieu graduated with honors from the University of Sydney Medical School in Australia and completed residency training in family medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where he was also chief resident. Prior to this, he lived in Australia, where he undertook training in adult internal medicine. Dr. Baillieu holds degrees in medicine, public health, business, and modern languages, and he has experience in health systems research, policy analysis, community organizing, international business, management, public health, education, and medical practice.
Deputy Director, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, Washington, DC
Jayme A. Delano, MSW
Deputy Director, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, Washington, DC
Jayme A. Delano, deputy director for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has experience spanning years working in public health and public safety. She is characterized in multiple areas, as follows: oversight of federal grant programs; a subject-matter expert supporting interagency task forces and work groups; led daily operations of alternative-to-incarceration programs for the substance use disorder population; hired and supervised management teams that worked with organizations to affect the culture and climate necessary for programmatic success; development and oversight of research activities; provided technical assistance and training to a variety of criminal justice agencies; a therapist in community-based clinics; and owned a private practice treating people with varied mental health diagnoses. Ms. Delano is an Ottawa University and Rio Salado Community College adjunct professor. She holds a master of social work degree from New York University and a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus.
Team Lead Rural Strategic Initiative Division, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Sarah O’Donnell, MPH
Team Lead Rural Strategic Initiative Division, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Sarah O’Donnell is the team lead for the Rural Strategic Initiatives Division in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). As team lead, she helps oversee the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, which has provided more than $400 million in funding to more than 1,500 counties across 47 states and 2 territories for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Prior to joining FORHP, Ms. O’Donnell served as public health analyst for the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program within HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. She joined the federal government in 2012 as a presidential management fellow. During her fellowship, she worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Health and Biodefense, and HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. Ms. O’Donnell holds a master of public health degree in global health, with a specialization in design, monitoring, and evaluation, from The George Washington University. She also holds a master of music degree in flute performance from Ohio University.
9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Break
9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Breakout Session I
Evaluating the 2022 Opioid Settlement Impacts on Communities: The Elevate Pennsylvania Initiative
State and local coordination
Pennsylvania will receive approximately $1.07 billion over the next 18 years, according to the terms of a national settlement reached with opioid manufacturers and distributors. The settlement documentation outlines the required use for abatement of the impacts of the opioid epidemic (including prevention, treatment, and harm reduction, among other strategies). Within Pennsylvania, these funds are distributed through a trust and board of trustees structure tasked with ensuring the appropriate utilization of settlement funds by the grantees. The structure of the dispensation of funding in Pennsylvania places much of the authority at the county and municipal levels (85 percent of this funding) for allocation of the funding for intervention strategies. It is already known, through existing engagement with county governments and substance-related coalitions, that there is great variation in both the decision-making processes for allocation of funds and the types of interventions planned. This variation has the potential to differentially impact the outcomes associated with the utilization of these funds across localities.
This presentation will describe the Elevate Pennsylvania Initiative, which is working to develop a longitudinal evaluation of the impacts of these funds on substance-related issues in Pennsylvania. It will also describe the organizing pilot initiative, which has four aims: • Understand trust-level decision-making processes for oversight of settlement funds and reporting requirements for funded entities. • Develop a profile structure for documenting county- and state-level decision-making processes for utilizing the opioid settlement funding and implementing abatement strategies. • Establish a protocol for collecting opioid-related population health measures and corresponding data analytical methods for longitudinal evaluation and allocation decision support. • Identify the structure of settlement distributions among participating states outside of Pennsylvania.
Finally, the long-term vision for the Elevate Pennsylvania Initiative will be discussed, which may be of interest to those engaging in cross-system interventions.
Learning Objectives
- Define the scope of the 2022 opioid settlement.
- Apply available resources for planning uses of the 2022 settlement funding.
- Assess opportunities to evaluate implementation of the 2022 settlement funding.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, The Pennsylvania State University, Abington, Pennsylvania
Glenn Sterner, PhD
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, The Pennsylvania State University, Abington, Pennsylvania
Glenn Sterner, PhD, is an associate professor of criminal justice at The Pennsylvania State University. His research sits at the intersection of criminal justice and public health, with emphases in the key areas of substance use, human trafficking, and gambling. He addresses issues of substance use through a data-driven, community-oriented approach. Dr. Sterner has had several National Institute of Justice- and U.S. Department of Justice-funded projects that are built on this ethos. He is appointed to the Pennsylvania Overdose Task Force, where he connects with stakeholders across the commonwealth.
Finding Recovery Housing: Insights From Three Counties
Jails | Reentry
Helping individuals who are leaving jails locate, secure, and maintain housing is challenging. If the individual is in recovery, finding supportive housing becomes more complicated. The difficulties are even more complex in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and an ever-tightening housing market. This panel will highlight three counties that have focused their Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP)-funded programs on the housing needs of individuals who are reentering their communities: • Palm Beach County, Florida, initiated its 2019 grant by identifying subcontractors who offer recovery housing. • Cook County, Illinois, undertook an evaluation of existing recovery houses. • Sierra County, New Mexico, teamed up with a contractor to turn a vacant hotel into a recovery home.
Panelists will provide an overview of their programs, findings, and lessons learned from their experiences.
Learning Objectives
- Explain the importance of stable housing to individuals in recovery leaving detention.
- List common difficulties in accessing recovery housing.
- Share ideas for finding and creating recovery housing.
Physician Advisor, Substance Use Disorder/Medications for Addiction Treatment Program, Cook County Health, Cook County, Illinois
Juleigh Nowinski-Konchak, MPH, MD, FASAM
Physician Advisor, Substance Use Disorder/Medications for Addiction Treatment Program, Cook County Health, Cook County, Illinois
Juleigh Nowinski-Konchak is an addiction medicine and preventive medicine physician at Cook County Health (CCH) in Chicago, Illinois. She is the program director for the Public Health/General Preventive Medicine Residency Program with CCH and Northwestern University; provides oversight for CCH’s substance use disorder (SUD) program; and is an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to this role, Dr. Nowinski-Konchak served in public health positions in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Chicago Department of Public Health. She recently completed a K12 Scholars program with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Northwestern University, focusing on a regional learning health system to improve access to evidence-based SUD care for individuals involved in the criminal-legal system. Dr. Nowinski-Konchak earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and her master of public health degree and certificate in health care quality and patient safety from Northwestern University.
County Grant Manager, Sierra County, New Mexico
Virginia Lee
County Grant Manager, Sierra County, New Mexico
Virginia Lee is the county grant manager for Sierra County, New Mexico, a position she has held since January 2023. Prior to this position, from 2014 to 2022, she was the Sierra County Detention Administrator. During her tenure at the detention facility, she wrote grants to help start rehabilitation programs, as she saw that the recidivism rate was booming and detainees had no support when they left the jail. She has seen firsthand that it is nearly impossible to break this lifestyle of addiction without intensive case management, therapy, and a supportive community. She now writes and oversees the county grants to support these programs. Ms. Lee worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for 18 years as an officer, sergeant, counselor, and correctional captain. During the evenings, she taught criminal justice classes at Palo Verde College and worked weekends as a reserve deputy sheriff for Riverside County, California.
Senior Program Manager, Palm Beach County Community Services Department, Office of Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders, Palm Beach County, Florida
John Hulick, MS
Senior Program Manager, Palm Beach County Community Services Department, Office of Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders, Palm Beach County, Florida
John Hulick currently leads the opioid response strategies for the County of Palm Beach, Florida, which has been considered the epicenter of the state’s opioid epidemic. He is also responsible for policy and service planning as well as the coordination and delivery of addiction recovery, treatment, and prevention services in the county. He has been described as “a fierce advocate and service provider to those with addictions and is widely recognized in the behavioral health community for his leadership.” He is considered a leading expert on addiction policy and has trained community leaders throughout the country to equip them with essential skills to address this devastating social problem. Prior to locating to Florida, Mr. Hulick served as managing partner of New Jersey-based In-Depth Solutions, LLC, where he dedicated his work and human services expertise to assisting private and public sector corporations in New Jersey in nationally achieving their desired strategic growth and public policy aims. He served as Governor Christopher J. Christie’s policy advisor for human services, children and families, and he was nominated by him, and confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, to also serve as executive director of the Governor's Council in Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. There, he helped retool drug courts, as well as led efforts to combat the state’s heroin epidemic and plan addiction services. Mr. Hulick directed then-National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-New Jersey’s (NCADD-NJ) public affairs and legislative initiatives for 16 years, where he led the fight to protect consumers of addiction treatment through enactment of the Alcohol and Drug Counselor Licensing and Certification Act. He has had numerous other laws successfully enacted to expand New Jersey’s prevention, treatment, and recovery services and played a lead role in establishing the state’s first recovery community organization, recovery walk, and numerous public awareness campaigns. Mr. Hulick is the founding executive director of Signs of Sobriety, Inc. (SOS), a nationally recognized agency that provides addiction services for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. He is the architect of a landmark disabilities access law that created dedicated funding to establish an alcohol and substance misuse program for the deaf, hard of hearing, and disabled. Mr. Hulick has been in recovery from alcoholism for more than 35 years. He has the unique ability to marry his addiction policy and service expertise with very personal experiences. He has been informed the most by navigating the care of his daughter’s early onset mental illness, heroin addiction, and subsequent traumatic brain injury from a violent assault that left her comatose and on the brink of death in 2017. These experiences continue to fuel his passion to ensure consumer protections and his desire to assist families in similar circumstances. They have also focused him on developing quality and continuum of care initiatives that deliver improved outcomes and keep the client’s health and well-being at the center of the care they receive.
State-based Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) Grantees: Highlighting Successes and Overcoming Challenges
State and local coordination
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)-funded Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) promotes effective response to substance use and misuse, working to reduce overdose deaths, promote public safety, and increase treatment and recovery access in various sites across the United States. The state-based COSSUP category, created in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, has now awarded more than 30 state-based grantees through FY2022. This category provides dedicated funding for State Administering Agencies (SAAs) responsible for directing criminal justice planning, the state alcohol and substance abuse agency, or other state agency appropriate for the scope of the project. The COSSUP grantees are funded to implement projects aimed at addressing community-specific, behavioral health and public safety needs within their states. State-based grantees distribute funding to local sites within their states to execute their projects, working alongside them to implement unique programs, develop implementation strategies, and form evaluation plans. The panel discussion will highlight how state-based grantees support their local sites in their COSSUP work, in addition to discussing site successes and considering how sites overcame challenges related to implementing these projects—a discussion that is critical to disseminate ideas, motivate grantees, and encourage innovation.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the state-based COSSUP category, its purpose, and its scope.
- Describe examples of state-based COSSUP grantee projects, including successes that COSSUP grantees have achieved.
- Identify solutions for overcoming challenges in implementing COSSUP state-based projects.
- Consider how to bring projects and solutions to address behavioral health and public safety needs within communities.
Public Health Analyst, Mental Health, Risk and Resilience Research Program, RTI International
Bailee Peralto
Public Health Analyst, Mental Health, Risk and Resilience Research Program, RTI International
Bailee Peralto is a public health analyst in the Mental Health, Risk and Resilience Research Program at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI International). She has been a part of the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) Training and Technical Assistance team at RTI International since May 2022, supporting the state-based COSSUP grantees and creating resources to support the field. Ms. Peralto has extensive behavioral health and public policy research experience, and she is especially passionate about the intersections of mental health and substance use, as well as school mental health research. Her current projects address topics such as sexual violence prevention, school mental health, and substance use treatment and prevention.
Justice Program Administrator, Grants Management Division, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Frankfort, Kentucky
Anthony “Nick” Gill
Justice Program Administrator, Grants Management Division, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Frankfort, Kentucky
Anthony “Nick” Gill is a justice program administrator with the Grants Management Division of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, where his focus has been on the victim services team. Alongside his work administering Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) funds, he serves as the Victims of Crime Act lead within the division and also provides programmatic training, assistance, and support for subgrant recipients, including a variety of nonprofits, prosecutor-based programs, and law enforcement agencies. Mr. Gill has served in Kentucky state government for more than 15 years, after spending more than a decade in kitchens and dining areas working as a food service manager. He graduated from Nations University in 2016 after attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. He currently serves on the board of the National Association of Victim Assistance Administrators and on the Kentucky Victim Assistance Academy Steering Committee.
Director, Grants and Pro Bono, Kentucky Legal Aid, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Sarah Capps Hayes, JD
Director, Grants and Pro Bono, Kentucky Legal Aid, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Sarah Capps Hayes is the director of grants and pro bono at Kentucky Legal Aid in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She clerked for Judge Thomas D. Wingate in the Franklin Circuit Court in Frankfort, Kentucky, before joining Kentucky Legal Aid in 2008. Ms. Hayes has dedicated her practice to representing victims of crime (primarily domestic violence victims and their children) in family court while also writing and administering the agency’s grants related to victims of interpersonal violence. She is primarily responsible for maintaining and growing a portfolio of foundation, corporate, and government grants to support civil legal aid and counsel for people who could not otherwise afford justice. She is also charged with directing the operation of the agency’s pro bono program, Lawyers Care Volunteer Attorney Program. She continues to stay actively involved in providing direct legal services, staying invested and familiar with the needs of the clients served by the program. Ms. Hayes has served on the advisory board of the Barren River Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and is the past president of the Barren River Area Safe Space, Inc., Board of Directors. Ms. Hayes graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2007, where she served on the Moot Court Board and as a student advisor for legal research and writing classes. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Western Kentucky University, with honors, majoring in both history and political science and minoring in criminology. She was admitted to practice in the commonwealth of Kentucky in 2007.
Supervisor, Research and Grants Unit, New Jersey State Parole Board, Trenton, New Jersey
Nicole M. Swiderski, PhD
Supervisor, Research and Grants Unit, New Jersey State Parole Board, Trenton, New Jersey
Nicole M. Swiderski is the supervisor of the Research and Grants Unit and co-coordinator of the New Jersey State Parole Board (NJSPB) Internship Program. She serves as lead researcher and grant program manager of the agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) award, and she previously served as a research assistant for the NJSPB’s Second Chance Act Reentry Program and research consultant to evaluate the effectiveness of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) in predicting supervised offender recidivism. Dr. Swiderski is dedicated to interdisciplinary research, particularly at the intersection of criminal justice and psychology. Her primary lines of research include offender reentry, cognitive consequences of victimization, domestic violence and sports, and media and crime. Dr. Swiderski is the registered agent, treasurer, and a board member of the Living in New Directions Assistance (LINDA) Organization, which helps justice-involved women struggling with homelessness, mental health, and/or substance use regain their freedom and redefine their future. She is also on the board of trustees in an at-large capacity of the Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association. In addition to her work at the NJSPB, Dr. Swiderski teaches as an adjunct professor at several New Jersey colleges and universities. She has published articles in several interdisciplinary journals and recently co-authored a book, Crime in TV, the News, and Film: Misconceptions, Mischaracterizations, and Misinformation, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Cordata Healthcare Innovations, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio
Ellen Augspurger
Cordata Healthcare Innovations, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio
Ellen Augspurger supports the West Virginia Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) grant in managing data collection, reporting, and technical assistance through the Cordata platform.
COSSUP Project Coordinator, Marshall University Research Corporation, Huntington, West Virginia
Bradley McCoy, MA
COSSUP Project Coordinator, Marshall University Research Corporation, Huntington, West Virginia
Bradley McCoy serves as the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) project coordinator at Marshall University Research Corporation. He graduated from Marshall University with a master’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in behavioral statistics and research methods. His background in psychology and experience with projects pertaining to addiction science support the West Virginia COSSUP grant through his role as an evaluator.
Addressing Stigma in the Implementation of Peer Recovery Support Services
Peer support services
Stigma continues to be a pervasive challenge across the nation that limits access to care, prevents individuals from seeking help, and challenges the effective implementation of peer recovery support services (PRSS) within organizations. In 2023, Altarum has worked with individuals and organizations across the country to evaluate and discuss stigma and how peer specialists are addressing issues of stigma in the workplace. This session will expand upon this work and highlight ways that organizations can assess for and address stigma within their policies and procedures, as well as cultivate a recovery-oriented work environment that supports the effective implementation and enhancement of PRSS.
Learning Objectives
- Identify common policies and procedures that perpetuate stigma within organizations and explore ways of adapting them toward a recovery-oriented framework.
- Describe ways in which stigma impacts the peer workforce within attendees’ communities.
- Identify strategies to combat stigma within attendees’ organizations and communities.
Senior Subject-matter Expert, Center for Behavioral Health, Altarum
Diana Williams, MSW, LCSW
Senior Subject-matter Expert, Center for Behavioral Health, Altarum
Diana Williams recently joined the Altarum team as a senior subject-matter expert for its Center for Behavioral Health. Prior to coming to Altarum, she held the position of senior director for addiction services for Aspire Indiana Health, one of Indiana’s community mental health systems, which included clinical oversight of recovery housing, outpatient programming, and the residential treatment facility, Mockingbird Hill Recovery Center. Ms. Williams has more than 30 years of management and administration experience in the behavioral health field. Nationally, she has worked closely with federal clients, specifically the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), state agencies, and SAMHSA grantees. She has successfully managed SAMHSA contracts, including the SAMHSA Community-based Organizations and Access to Recovery (ATR3 and ATR4) initiatives. At the state level, for Indiana, Ms. Williams has experience as a clinical director for two inpatient substance abuse treatment centers. She has served Indiana as the Division of Mental Health and Addiction’s deputy director of substance abuse and emergency preparedness services, deputy director of mental health and substance abuse policy and programs, single state agency for substance abuse services, state opioid treatment authority, and director of substance abuse services, as well as the director of programs for the Indiana Department of Corrections. Ms. Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and was an associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, from which she holds a master of social work degree.
Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Specialist, Altarum, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tyrina Taylor, MPH
Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Specialist, Altarum, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tyrina Taylor is a behavioral health technical assistance specialist in Altarum’s Community Health practice area. She has 11 years of experience in public health, all of which include health promotion, leading community-based partnerships to decrease drug overdoses with special emphasis on harm reduction among people who use intravenous drugs. She also has expertise in sexual and reproductive health, managing the implementation of public health programs to improve awareness, education, prevention, and screening to reduce health disparities for high-risk ethnic communities disproportionately impacted by HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis C. Ms. Taylor holds a master of public health degree from Mercer University of Atlanta and a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Valdosta State University.
Director of Programs, Faces and Voices of Recovery, Austin, Texas
Joseph Hogan-Sanchez
Director of Programs, Faces and Voices of Recovery, Austin, Texas
Joseph Hogan-Sanchez has worked as a recovery coach since 2006 and currently works in this role for Faces and Voices of Recovery in Austin, Texas. Finding his passion in facilitating recovery-based solutions, he began training other recovery coaches. In addition to his work within the recovery community, he is committed to reaching out to the LGBTQIA community to help eliminate homophobia and heterosexism. Mr. Hogan-Sanchez has tested HIV-positive since 2003, and his courage lends a positive face and voice to individuals living with HIV and AIDS. He appeared in the 2009 December/January issue of Instinct magazine, briefly sharing his experience and strength with readers across the nation. Mr. Hogan-Sanchez is currently the director of accreditation services for the Council on Accreditation of Peer Recovery Support Services (CAPRSS), an accrediting body for recovery community organizations and other programs offering addiction peer recovery support services. He is also a cofounder of a recovery community organization in Austin that provides recreational and educational events and activities for the community. A passionate and positive advocate for recovery, Mr. Hogan-Sanchez’s personal mission statement is “To Inspire Positive Thinking and Forward Movement Through Motivation, Education, and Empowerment.”
Director of Peer Support Services, Rimrock Foundation, Billings, Montana
Annette Redding, CBHPSS
Director of Peer Support Services, Rimrock Foundation, Billings, Montana
Annette Redding has been a Certified Behavioral Health Peer Support Specialist (CBHPSS) with the Rimrock Foundation since 2018 and the director of peer support services since 2020. She graduated from felony drug court in 2016 and immediately began advocating within the recovery community. She has been essential in the development of the peer support services at Rimrock as well as throughout the Billings community, including integrating peers into the Yellowstone County, Montana, Detention Center; the Billings Clinic Psychiatric Center; the Department of Family Services; and local sober-living programs. Ms. Redding has led the initiative to implement a peer outreach program assisting local law enforcement in addressing chronic homelessness in the community and expanding to include a Mobile Crisis Unit in partnership with area first responders. She is a coordinator for the Yellowstone County Crisis Intervention Team.
The Power of Rapid Response Teams in Combatting the Opioid Crisis
Prescription drug monitoring programs
Opioid rapid response teams (ORRTs) are teams of experts from different fields who work together to provide timely and coordinated support to communities facing opioid-related crises. ORRTs can assist with situation assessment, action plan development, evidence-based intervention implementation, and outcome evaluation. This session will introduce ORRTs and the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s initiatives to enhance community preparedness and its Patient Advocacy Program.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Opioid Rapid Response Program to respond to disruptions in patients’ access to opioids and other controlled substances.
- Identify barriers and risks of patients who lose access to care.
- Understand the evaluation process of the Patient Advocacy Program.
Health Scientist, Overdose Preparedness and Response Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stephanie Rubel, MPH
Health Scientist, Overdose Preparedness and Response Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stephanie Rubel is a health scientist who leads the Overdose Preparedness and Response Team within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Overdose Prevention, where she also directs the Opioid Rapid Response Program (ORRP). She has more than 20 years of experience designing, managing, and evaluating national public health programs. Prior to joining the CDC, Ms. Rubel worked as a consultant and federal government contractor supporting a wide range of public health program areas, including teen pregnancy prevention, cancer screening, and public health emergency preparedness and response. In 2019, she joined the CDC’s Center for Injury Prevention and Control to work on public health and public safety coordination in addressing the overdose crisis. She led the development of the CDC’s Public Health and Safety Team (PHAST) Toolkit, designed to support data-driven, multisector collaboration to reduce overdose deaths. She currently leads a team focused on building state and local capacities to respond to overdose spikes, anomalies, and emergent threats that may increase overdose risk. Ms. Rubel earned her master of public health degree in behavioral science and health education from Emory University in 2001.
Director, Office of Drug Surveillance and Misuse Prevention, Pennsylvania Department of Health
Ashley Bolton, MPH
Director, Office of Drug Surveillance and Misuse Prevention, Pennsylvania Department of Health
Ashley Bolton is the director of the Office of Drug Surveillance and Misuse Prevention (ODSMP) at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She leads many successful statewide programs, including the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), overdose surveillance, the First Responder Addiction and Connection to Treatment Program, the Patient Advocacy Program, the Safe and Effective Prescriber Education Program, and overdose prevention and response activities with local health departments. Ms. Bolton holds a master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and a bachelor of arts degree in integrated physiology and health sciences from Alma College.
Lessons Learned From the Field: Key Findings From BJA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Listening Sessions
Community outreach | Harm reduction | Medication-assisted treatment
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths rise, disparities widen, and differences grow by race, ethnicity, and other factors. In some areas, overdose death rates in older Black men were nearly seven times as high as those in older white men in 2020 and overdose death rates for younger American Indian and Alaska Native women were nearly two times those of younger white women in 2020. In fact, Black/African Americans made up the largest proportion of overdose deaths, and more than three in five people who died from a drug overdose had an opportunity to link to care. With an increase in the availability of funding resources, the Bureau of Justice Assistance conducted six listening sessions across the country in 2023 to explore the challenges to accessing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in underserved and marginalized communities from grassroots, provider, person with lived and living experience, and funder perspectives. This session explores the findings, discusses silos, and identifies opportunities for governments—federal, state, and local—to consider strategies to address stigma and obstacles to accessing services for all Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) grantees and to make sure that their voices are heard.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the process for the listening session and its relevance to the need for a holistic approach to services.
- Explain why collaboration with diverse providers is key to accessing alternative culturally specific interventions, while addressing stigma and bias to MAT.
- Develop strategies based on considerations from the field to avoid silos and to meet the needs of underserved and marginalized communities.
Senior Consultant, James-Andrews and Associates, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Susan James-Andrews, MS, CAC, CHTS
Senior Consultant, James-Andrews and Associates, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Susan James-Andrews is a senior consultant for James-Andrews & Associates with 30 years’ extensive, hands-on experience providing strategic planning, training, and technical assistance, nationally and internationally, to federal, state, and local agencies as well as community and tribal partners. She has collaborated and served as a consultant to assess and review criminal justice and clinical needs from a community and advocacy lens. Ms. James-Andrews uses her experience as a former program director in substance misuse programs and psychiatric programs and as a counselor and educator. Her commitment and advocacy for treatment, especially from opioids, result from the death of a family member and the long journey of other family members’ recoveries and their impact. Ms. James-Andrews is an advocate for youth, families, and the LGBTQ, underserved, and marginalized communities and works to ensure that gender-responsive/inclusive and generationally focused services that address trauma are culturally and developmentally relevant for communities experiencing violence and in need of services. She also is a Certified Historical Trauma Specialist.
Cross-system Collaboration: Innovations That Expand Partnerships to Meet the Holistic Needs of Families and Build Recovery Capital
Families | Juveniles
Cross-system collaborative approaches that adopt a family-centered approach provide a comprehensive array of clinical treatment and related support services that meet the needs of the children and each member in the family, not only the person with the substance use disorder. No one agency can tackle the opioid epidemic on its own—it requires a coordinated response that draws on the talents and resources of many agencies. Building and sustaining collaborative relationships across these numerous systems can be challenging and require a dedicated effort to develop connections, communications, and collaborative capacities. Collaborative efforts begin with getting the right partners to the table. While leaders may initially turn to personal contacts, well-known people, or individuals who can contribute resources, it is important that partners have the qualities and capacities to make meaningful and ongoing contributions to the effort.
Cross-system collaborations around the country have identified the unique needs of their communities and the families they serve and have expanded partnerships beyond their traditional stakeholders to meet those needs. Attendees will hear from a panel of practitioners about successful strategies and innovative partnerships, including the public health department, the public school district, housing, and culturally responsive programs. These strategies help improve results and enhance cross-system practices that allow collaboratives to comprehensively serve the holistic and unique needs of families and ultimately improve outcomes.
Learning Objectives
- Learn how cross-system collaborations are meeting the unique needs of families in their communities.
- Examine innovative strategies to effectively collaborate with all systems to improve outcomes for all families.
- Explore strategies to identify potential partners in your community and next steps to strengthen your collaborative.
Judge, Rockdale County Juvenile Court, Conyers, Georgia
Maureen Wood, JD
Judge, Rockdale County Juvenile Court, Conyers, Georgia
Maureen Wood was appointed as Rockdale County, Georgia’s Juvenile Court Judge on September 30, 2016, by the Honorable David B. Irwin, Chief Judge of the Rockdale County Superior Court. Judge Wood is a Child Welfare Law Specialist certified through the National Association of Counsel for Children. Since taking the bench in 2016, she has expanded the Rockdale County Juvenile Court program offerings by implementing two additional accountability courts (family treatment court and mental health court), revamping the court’s Child in Need of Services (CHINS) protocol, and starting the Project Girls Learning Our Worth (GLOW) group. Judge Wood is committed to ensuring that the court-involved youth of Rockdale County receive supervision, instruction, and therapy that responds to their individual and familial needs. The court targets its resources for more effective interventions and expedited resolution of court involvement, which Judge Wood believes will ultimately produce the best results for the youth in her community. Judge Wood earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Law and her bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Senior Manager, Center for Children and Family Futures, Irvine, California
Andrea Sivanich, PhD, JD
Senior Manager, Center for Children and Family Futures, Irvine, California
Andrea Sivanich is the senior manager for the Center for Children and Family Futures in Irvine, California, and has more than 10 years of experience using cross-system collaboration to improve systems and build organizational capacity. She worked for the Colorado Judicial Department for more than 7 years, serving as the Criminal Justice Program’s unit manager at the State Court Administrator’s Office, the coordinator for Colorado’s 4th Judicial District’s Recovery Court and Family Treatment Court programs, and the volunteer mental health court liaison for the El Paso County, Colorado, District Attorney’s Office. Dr. Sivanich led judicial system innovations and oversaw large expert multidisciplinary teams when she managed four statewide training and technical assistance programs: problem-solving courts, adult diversion, restorative justice, and the pretrial behavioral health liaison program. Dr. Sivanich is skilled in cross-system collaboration and partnerships, implementation of evidence-based practices and policies, evaluation, capacity building, and continuous quality improvement. As a community volunteer, she has managed multiple volunteer teams, providing family-centered programming and support to service members and their families.
Judge, Hancock County Youth Court, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Trent Favre, JD
Judge, Hancock County Youth Court, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Trent Favre was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant in late 2017 to serve as Hancock County, Mississippi’s first County Court Judge. He presides over youth court matters, including abuse, neglect, and delinquency matters. He also oversees a general civil litigation docket. Prior to his appointment, Judge Favre practiced for 19 years, focusing primarily on civil litigation and governmental law. He has served as a board member to various organizations, including United Way of South Mississippi, Hancock Chamber, and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which he chaired. In 2019, he was named Mississippi’s 2019 Champion for Children for the judicial branch and the Child Welfare and Child Advocacy Committee of The Mississippi Bar recognized him as a Reunification Hero for the State of Mississippi. At the National Judicial Summit in 2019, Dr. Jerry Milner recognized Judge Favre in his opening address for his work. In 2020, Judge Favre was named the recipient of The Mississippi Bar’s Judicial Excellence Award. He was inducted as Fellow for the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2023. He currently serves on Mississippi’s Children’s Justice Commission and Access to Justice Commission. In 2021, he established a family treatment court with a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. When Judge Favre took the bench in January 2018, there were 389 children in custody in Hancock County. Today, there are 81. Judge Favre graduated from Millsaps College in 1996 and the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1999.
Executive Director, Family Recovery Program, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland
Jocelyn Gainers, EdD
Executive Director, Family Recovery Program, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland
Jocelyn Gainers is president and chief executive officer of The Family Recovery Program, Inc., which serves Baltimore City, Maryland, residents who have lost custody of their children as a result of substance use. She currently serves as the executive director of the organization. Dr. Gainers brings more than 30 years of experience in the field of substance use disorders and recovery. A certified addictions counselor with expertise in working with adolescents, adults, and couples in both group and individual settings, she is also a trainer and consultant for human service programs. Dr. Gainers had a vision to create housing for parents in the program because housing is a significant challenge for parents once they have been reunited with their children. With the help of others, she bought and renovated a 28,000-square-foot Catholic school that is now the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building at Sage Center, where families can live while parents get jobs, return to college, and make other important life decisions. Dr. Gainers was recently nominated as a Reunification Hero by the American Bar Association. She holds a doctoral degree in education from Morgan State University.
Program Manager, Youth Justice and System Innovation Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC
Keith Hasan-Towery, MPP
Program Manager, Youth Justice and System Innovation Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC
Keith Hasan-Towery is a program manager in the Youth Justice and System Innovation Division in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). He has worked for OJJDP since 2015 and in the juvenile justice field for more than 15 years serving in various roles in juvenile detention, probation, courts, advisory groups, research and evaluations, and policy on the local, state, and federal levels. In his spare time, he is a community organizer and leads various organizations in the Washington, DC, area. Mr. Hasan-Towery earned his master of public policy degree from American University with an emphasis in criminal/juvenile justice.
Tribal Networking
Tribal
The opioid epidemic has had a devastating impact on, and created significant harm in, tribal communities across the nation. This networking session will allow tribal grantees to share and learn from other tribal grantees about successful strategies, challenges, lessons learned, resources, and other information related to culturally driven responses to substance misuse and treating substance use disorders. The session will be a roundtable-discussion format and is open to all tribal grantees. The National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College will provide an overview of how to request tribal training and technical assistance (TTA) services, which includes development of a customized TTA work plan to support grant goals and unique tribal community needs.
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Breakout Session J
Story County, Iowa, Alternatives Pre/Post Arrest Diversion Program
Deflection/diversion | First responders | Pre-trial
The Alternatives Pre/Post Arrest Diversion Program (Alternatives) is a Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP)-funded pilot program operating in Story County, Iowa, in the Story County Attorney’s Office. It offers pre- and post-arrest diversion opportunities for individuals with known or suspected substance use disorders (SUDs). Alternatives strives to create positive long-term change in these individuals by improving their quality of life and reducing involvement with the criminal justice system, while decreasing crime in the community and controlling the high costs of untreated SUDs and serious mental illness. Alternatives has established many positive outcomes for participants and offers evidence-based data to show that proper treatment and case management support lowers an individual’s risk of becoming re-involved in the criminal justice system. This is supported through extensive data that monitor and collect participants’ legal involvement, substance use and mental health treatment, demographic information, service utilization, overdose information, coordinator contact, law enforcement contact, and jail days. Alternatives has created a cost-benefit analysis report to illustrate county savings at a variety of participant intercept points. Alternatives is innovative in its referral process by offering three unique points of entry: pre-arrest diversion, pre-arrest law enforcement diversion, and post-arrest prosecutor diversion. Alternatives offers wraparound case management services to lower barriers that inhibit an individual from seeking or accessing substance use and mental health treatment. The program illustrates the need for prosecution and law enforcement collaboration to ensure officer buy-in. With prosecution support, officers begin to trust in the program and their own ability to make pre-arrest diversion referrals while still having the ability to offer post-arrest diversion if pre-arrest diversion is not possible.
Learning Objectives
- Summarize the start-up and creation of a pre-/post-arrest, prosecution-/law enforcement-led diversion program in a rural-urban mixed county.
- Describe and apply effective case management strategies to motivate and assist individuals in reaching their recovery goals.
- Collect, analyze, and assess data points that illustrate the success and shortcomings of a pre-/post-arrest diversion program.
Program Coordinator, Alternatives Pre/Post Arrest Diversion Program, Story County Attorney’s Office, Ames, Iowa
Shelby Gibson, MA
Program Coordinator, Alternatives Pre/Post Arrest Diversion Program, Story County Attorney’s Office, Ames, Iowa
Shelby Gibson is the program coordinator and former care coordinator of the Story County, Iowa, Attorney’s Office’s Alternatives Pre/Post Arrest Diversion Program (Alternatives), which she joined with more than 10 years of case management experience. In this position, she has developed many invaluable community relationships with substance use treatment, mental health, housing, probation, and community service providers. Alternatives now averages 20 to 25 participants per month and has a low recidivism rate of 7 percent for participants who successfully complete the program. Ms. Gibson began her career working with adults with disabilities while completing her bachelor’s degree at Iowa State University. She helped design and managed a successful community-based day habilitation program. While finishing her master’s degree in community psychology, she began working as a mobile crisis counselor with Eyerly Ball in Ames, Iowa. Ms. Gibson is Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSI/SSDI) Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR)-certified and Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) Peer Recovery Coach-certified. She enjoys providing free, comprehensive case management to individuals who are at risk of developing, or struggling with, substance use disorders.
COSSUP Program Manager, Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, Des Moines, Iowa
Todd Jones
COSSUP Program Manager, Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, Des Moines, Iowa
Todd Jones has served as the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) program manager in the Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy since May 2020, where he is responsible for directing the implementation of a COSSUP drug deflection grant program in three Iowa counties: Story, Jones, and Black Hawk. Mr. Jones served in the United States Air Force and obtained his bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice while serving. He left the air force in 1987 and served as an Iowa State Patrol officer for 7 years. He was an original member of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) team. Mr. Jones then spent 18 years as a special agent for the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigating illegal narcotics activities, historical conspiracies, trafficker organizations, clandestine laboratories, financial investigations, and weapons violations and assisting prosecutors. He was promoted to special agent in charge, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, in 2012 and was the Northwest Iowa gaming supervisor. In 2013, Mr. Jones returned to the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement to supervise the western-third of Iowa’s narcotics enforcement operations until his retirement in 2019.
A Jail’s Peer-driven Blueprint for Reentry to Support Individuals in Recovery
Jails | Peer recovery support services | Reentry
Since 2016, the Camden County, New Jersey, Department of Corrections (DOC) has expanded its mission to include a commitment to ensuring that individuals leaving the correctional facility (jail) are provided with support in their recovery and transition home following incarceration. The proposed workshop will take our colleagues through Camden County DOC’s reentry journey that began with the offering of minimal support upon release to current day, where a multiprong, multifaceted reentry blueprint has been developed and implemented with a concentrated focus on individuals with substance use and/or mental health disorders. Presenters will share the key components of the reentry blueprint, which includes screening and assessment for substance use at the time of booking; expedited access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD); MOUD navigators who facilitate connection to treatment and access to Medicaid; reentry peer support teams that provide care coordination; collaboration with system partners; supportive housing; and the use of data for problem identification and determining impact. The workshop is both unique and relevant to Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) forum attendees because, historically, the literature and research regarding reentry in a carceral space refers often to prisons. There are myriad differences between jails and prisons, and therefore, strategies most effective for those returning home from prison cannot be replicated seamlessly in a jail setting. In addition, the workshop will highlight Camden County DOC’s peer support reentry teams, composed of individuals with lived criminal justice and recovery experience, that lead the reentry program with the support of case managers, who work with participants both pre- and post-release.
Learning Objectives
- Recognize the value and importance of jail-based reentry services and programming, including addressing the unique barriers and challenges that local correction facilities encounter regularly.
- Illustrate how peers with lived recovery and criminal justice experience can be embedded in a jail and supported to lead reentry initiatives.
- Apply the comprehensive reentry blueprint/design outlined in the presentation to local reentry efforts to assist individuals with substance use disorders returning home to your community.
Jail Population Manager, Camden County Department of Corrections, Camden, New Jersey
Sharon Bean, MPA
Jail Population Manager, Camden County Department of Corrections, Camden, New Jersey
Sharon Bean has been the jail population manager for the Camden County, New Jersey, Department of Corrections since 2015. In this role, she works with local criminal justice system and community-based stakeholders to safely reduce the adult jail population, as well as oversees the development of a continuum of reentry policies, practices, and programs to benefit citizens returning home upon release from incarceration to Camden County. Ms. Bean is the project administrator of the New Jersey Medication Assisted Treatment grant; the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Second Chance and Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) Reentry grants; and the COSSUP Building Bridges Planning Initiative to work with individuals returning home with a substance use disorder. Since 2016, she has worked on behalf of the Department of Corrections to receive more than $7 million dollars in reentry grant funding. Ms. Bean has her master’s degree in public administration and her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Rutgers University–Camden.
Corrections Reentry Specialist, Camden County Department of Corrections, Camden, New Jersey
Alyssa Perry, MSW, LSW
Corrections Reentry Specialist, Camden County Department of Corrections, Camden, New Jersey
Alyssa Perry is a corrections reentry specialist at the Camden County, New Jersey, Department of Corrections. In addition to this role, she assists with the implementation of grants and programs. Ms. Perry oversees the team of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) navigators who provide services that ensure continuity of care for individuals leaving the facility on MOUD. Prior to working as a corrections reentry specialist, she was employed as one of the MOUD navigators for the Camden County Jail. Ms. Perry is a Licensed Social Worker, with specialization in addiction. She obtained her master’s degree in social work and completed her undergraduate degree at Rutgers University. During her schooling, she was the communications officer for the Undergraduate Social Work Organization.
Director of Corrections and Overdose Recovery Programs, Center for Family Services, Camden, New Jersey
Sekiya Golden
Director of Corrections and Overdose Recovery Programs, Center for Family Services, Camden, New Jersey
Sekiya Golden is the director of corrections and overdose recovery programs for the Center for Family Services. She is responsible for directing three programs that are committed to providing substance use disorder services with a peer-led, peer-driven component: the LifelineED/OORP Program for Camden and Gloucester County, the Camden County Peer Support Reentry Program, and the Salem County Expansion Medication Assisted Treatment for Inmates Program, all of which consist of 3 program supervisors, 6 case managers, and 35 peer recovery specialists who are stationed in the correctional setting, hospitals, and offices in Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey.
Novel Applications of Medicaid Section 1115 Waivers for Substance Use Disorder and Other Services
State and local coordination
Medicaid is a primary payer of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment across the country, but coverage of some SUD services is considered optional, at the discretion of individual state Medicaid offices. In recent years, states have utilized the Medicaid Section 1115 waiver mechanism to pursue changes to beneficiary eligibility and expand service offerings that aim to address SUD and social determinants of health. This session will provide an overview of Section 1115 waivers and recent, unique examples of how Medicaid benefits have been augmented in different states. The Section 1115 demonstrations to be presented emphasize partnerships between community-based SUD service providers, criminal-legal agencies, and Medicaid. Attendees will gain insight into the structure, goals, and implementation experiences of Section 1115 demonstrations that could provide context for future collaborative efforts.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the Medicaid Section 1115 waiver mechanism.
- Reference existing state-specific models for expanding services under this mechanism.
- Characterize cross-sector collaboration strategies being employed to improve health care and health-related social needs service access.
Economist, Low-Income and Uninsured Populations Division, RTI International
Alexandria Van Dall, MPH
Economist, Low-Income and Uninsured Populations Division, RTI International
Alexandria Van Dall is an economist in the Health Coverage for Low-Income and Uninsured Populations Division at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI International) and recently joined the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) Training and Technical Assistance team. She has experience with both qualitative and quantitative methodology supporting health policy research projects, namely Medicaid program evaluations. Ms. Van Dall’s primary research interests are data infrastructure design and technical assistance to facilitate coverage and health care quality in correctional settings and after release from incarceration.
Project Co-Director, Massachusetts Trial Court, Boston, Massachusetts
Marisa Hebble, MPH
Project Co-Director, Massachusetts Trial Court, Boston, Massachusetts
Marisa Hebble is a public health professional and project manager in the Massachusetts Executive Office of the Trial Court. She manages the statewide Sequential Intercept Mapping project, which supports communities in addressing the behavioral health needs of people in, or at risk of, contact with the criminal justice system. Ms. Hebble is the project co-director for Project NORTH (Navigation, Outreach, Recovery, Treatment, and Hope), the court-based navigation-to-treatment initiative focused on court-involved persons impacted by substance use disorder (SUD). She is also the project director for the Juvenile Court Department’s Upstream-Prevention and Treatment for Health and Stability of Children and Families (PATHS) initiative, a child welfare mapping and family treatment court project focused on vulnerable children and families impacted by parental SUD. Ms. Hebble serves on multiple trial court, state, and regional workgroups and committees. She holds a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in community health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an undergraduate degree in political science from Rutgers University.
Program Manager, Project NORTH, Massachusetts Trial Court, Boston, Massachusetts
Judy Bazinet, LICSW
Program Manager, Project NORTH, Massachusetts Trial Court, Boston, Massachusetts
Judy Bazinet is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and the program manager for Project NORTH (Navigation, Outreach, Recovery, Treatment, and Hope). Project NORTH embeds recovery support navigators who work for licensed treatment providers in 13 high-need locations across the state of Massachusetts. Recovery support navigators meet with clients and family members impacted by substance use disorder and facilitate ultra-warm handoffs to treatment, recovery support, and overdose prevention and naloxone distribution resources in the community. Project NORTH also supports clients with access to transportation services as well as short-term financial support for certified sober housing. Ms. Bazinet has significant experience as a drug court clinician and as a clinician in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, House of Corrections. She also serves on multiple trial court committees and working groups.
Recovery Ecology Model in Action
Community outreach | Harm reduction | Peer support services
This session will describe and identify the recovery ecology model. It will address its significance and how it can be utilized to achieve positive outcomes in communities by aligning and maximizing resources across systems through innovative collaborations. This session highlights recently emboldened support structures such as harm reduction, educational recovery programs, and other traditional support structures in communities, while exploring the application of the model and framework to communities nationwide.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how to assess gaps in community infrastructure.
- Describe the recovery ecology model.
- Define the five dimensions of the recovery model.
- Identify the 10 elements of the recovery model.
- Identify comprehensive continuums of services.
Program Director, Hope Coalition, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Michelle Geiser, EdD, LCAS-A, LCMHC-A, NBCC, LSC
Program Director, Hope Coalition, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Michelle Geiser is the program director for Hope Coalition in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and is an addictions and trauma specialist supporting individuals impacted by substance use across the lifespan. Dr. Geiser has managed the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) grant for 3 years. She launched the first recovery community center in her community and has helped to lead multiple initiatives in Western North Carolina. Dr. Geiser holds a doctor of education degree in community care and counseling–traumatology and is a licensed clinician. She also holds a certificate for nonprofit management from Duke University and is a certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapist.
Executive Director, REAL Academy, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Kevin Marino, DPH, LCSW
Executive Director, REAL Academy, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Kevin Marino is the executive director of the REAL Academy in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and has more than 20 years of experience in mental health, substance misuse, social work, and leadership in public and private agencies. Prior to launching the REAL Academy in summer 2020, he served as the social work program administrator in Henderson County, North Carolina. Dr. Marino has served on several state boards and local government boards and is well recognized by his peers and colleagues for innovations in systems work across the state.
Going Beyond Case-level Agency Data: Incorporating a Social Determinants of Health Framework
Families | Overdose fatality reviews
Overdose fatality review (OFR) has been significantly growing in popularity throughout the country as an interdisciplinary approach to gather data related to overdose deaths, decrease stigma, increase collaboration, identify missed opportunities for intervention, and develop recommendations to guide the substance use and overdose response. In addition to case-level data, an OFR also includes analyzing and interpreting aggregate data to help understand substance use trends, services used, and overdose deaths, as well as provide community context. This session will include a summary of a case study of using geospatial analyses of census tracts and zip codes to identify areas with the highest opioid overdose death rates and examine social determinants of health that elevate the risk of experiencing a fatal overdose; an in-depth analysis of interviews with persons who have experienced an opioid overdose to shed light on opioid dependence, nonfatal overdose incidents, drug treatment, and factors facilitating or hindering successful recovery, including social determinants of health; experiences using next-of-kin consent; and the value of gathering information that is often not accessible from other sources.
Learning Objectives
- Apply the social determinants of health framework to analyze and assess the factors contributing to opioid overdose incidents in urban counties.
- Evaluate individual experiences related to opioid dependence, nonfatal overdose incidents, and barriers to recovery through the analysis of qualitative interview data.
- Effectively describe the benefits, challenges, and considerations of conducting next-of-kin interviews as part of an OFR.
Senior Research Associate/Manager, Overdose Fatality Review, Institute for Intergovernmental Research
Melissa Heinen, RN, MPH
Senior Research Associate/Manager, Overdose Fatality Review, Institute for Intergovernmental Research
Melissa Heinen is a senior research associate/manager with the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR). She works on the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP), providing day-to-day oversight of staff members, programmatic activities including coordination and provision of support to overdose fatality review teams, information sharing/privacy issues, and harm reduction initiatives, as well as assistance with document development, project evaluation, and provision of training and technical assistance (TTA) to COSSUP grantee sites. Ms. Heinen has expertise in facilitating meetings; data analysis; program design, implementation, and evaluation; strategic planning; grant writing; and TTA delivery. She has more than 20 years of experience working in injury and violence epidemiology and prevention at the local, state, regional, and national levels. Previously, she was a senior epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, where she led the analysis and project coordination of the Minnesota Violent Death Reporting System, including facilitating suicide, homicide, and overdose fatality reviews. Ms. Heinen earned her master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and her bachelor of science degree in nursing, with a minor in psychology, from Winona State University.
Senior Research Associate, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Karen Coen Flynn, MPhil, PhD
Senior Research Associate, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Karen Coen Flynn is a senior research associate at Case Western Reserve University’s Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. Her work focuses on preventing violence and fostering community health through public/private partnerships. She researches drug treatment perspectives in Cleveland, Ohio, and directs federally funded projects to address the opioid epidemic and improve behavioral health outcomes. As a cultural anthropologist with 25 years of experience, Dr. Flynn has worked in the United States, Tanzania, and Indonesia, engaging with people who faced challenges with accessing basic needs. Her street-based research delves into the complexities of gender, identity, poverty, and health. Dr. Flynn holds a doctor of philosophy degree in cultural anthropology from Harvard University, where she studied food-provisioning processes in Tanzania, and a master of philosophy degree in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge.
Research Data Manager, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Ryan McMaster
Research Data Manager, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Ryan McMaster is a research data manager at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University. He supports several drug-related grants—primarily focused on data collection, analysis, and dissemination for multiple partners—focusing on improving the public health response to the ongoing epidemic. Before his work in academic research, Mr. McMaster served as a senior intelligence officer in the U.S. Department of Defense and served in the counterdrug mission for the state of Ohio, supporting federal drug investigations and providing strategic drug intelligence for law enforcement and managing the state’s program as the coordinator.
Research Associate, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Luma Issa Masarweh-Zawahri, PhD
Research Associate, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Luma Issa Masarweh-Zawahri is a research associate at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University, where she combines her public health, epidemiology, and sociology background in her multidisciplinary teaching and research. Dr. Masarweh-Zawahri uses mix-methods to understand and improve life for vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to, Native Americans, Arab Americans, women veterans, immigrant descendants and, more recently, individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental disorders. Dr. Masarweh-Zawahri earned a doctor of philosophy degree in sociology with specializations in medical sociology and aging from Case Western Reserve University.
Program Manager, Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Carina Havenstrite
Program Manager, Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Carina Havenstrite currently serves as the program manager at the Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office. Over the last 3½ years, she has effectively developed the Lackawanna County Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) Team, which is now a Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) OFR mentor site providing mentorship to developing OFR teams throughout the country. Ms. Havenstrite has also successfully obtained and implemented several other successful grant-funded initiatives in the law enforcement and opioid space during this time. Before her role with the District Attorney’s Office, she gained experience working in case management, harm reduction, grant management, and innovative program implementation in the HIV field.
Data and Fiscal Analyst, Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Kelsey Tambasco
Data and Fiscal Analyst, Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Kelsey Tambasco currently serves as the data and fiscal analyst for the Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office. She brings a young, fresh energy and perspective to the team and the various innovative initiatives they are implementing within the local community. Ms. Tambasco has previous professional experience in the data and finance fields, which she is leveraging to improve and maximize the efficiency of these initiatives, particularly the Lackawanna County Overdose Fatality Review Team and the recommendations being generated and implemented by this team.
Innovative and Culturally Based Approaches to Tribal Law Enforcement Intervention and Prevention
First responders | Tribal
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) are uniquely located within five counties in Oregon. The CTCLUSI Tribal Police Department (TPD) is implementing innovative and multijurisdictional approaches to supporting individuals struggling with alcohol and substance use and misuse, including its community service officer position. Based on collaboration with the counties, upon booking, the CTCLUSI TPD is able to get tribal members connected in with healing to wellness courts, and if the programs are successfully completed, the charges are deferred/removed. The CTCLUSI TPD is also implementing youth outreach efforts and works closely with the schools on prevention efforts and fostering positive youth connections. This session will highlight CTLUSI tribal law enforcement program successes, promising practices, and lessons learned.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the successes of the CTCLUSI tribal law enforcement program.
- Identify best practices that can be replicated in the attendees’ communities.
- Explain the importance and benefits of culturally based law enforcement interventions.
Project Coordinator, National Criminal Justice Training Center, Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wisconsin
Kevin Mariano
Project Coordinator, National Criminal Justice Training Center, Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wisconsin
Kevin Mariano is the project coordinator at the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin. Prior to joining the agency, he served as the chief of police with the Pueblo of Isleta Police Department, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Mariano has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience capitalizing on supervisory experience, operational management, staff development, administrative and finance management, motivational leadership, and decision making. He served as the liaison between the Pueblo of Isleta, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and surrounding law enforcement agencies to build relationships in matters related to community safety. He has worked closely with diverse teams to successfully receive federal grant funding, implement memoranda of agreement, develop policy and procedures, and implement and manage the Sex Offender Registry Program. As chief of police, Mr. Mariano implemented innovative approaches to tribal and community policing and, prior to retirement, initiated a movement to merge reentry and tribal law enforcement. He also created a case worker position within the tribal police department to better serve tribal community members experiencing mental health crises and struggling with addiction to get them better connected to appropriate services, including treatment or a reentry caseworker, if appropriate.
Chief of Police, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Tribal Police Department, Florence, Oregon
Brian Dubray
Chief of Police, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Tribal Police Department, Florence, Oregon
Brian Dubray is the chief of police for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) Tribal Police Department (TPD). He previously served as sergeant and lieutenant of the department. Chief Dubray began his law enforcement career as a reserve officer and police dispatcher with the North Bend, Oregon, Police Department until being hired by the Coquille Tribal Police Department as a police officer. Chief Dubray holds an executive-level certification through the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). He is a DPSST-certified instructor and has served as an instructor in the following disciplines: firearms; use of force; Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives (MILO); Oregon Physical Abilities Test (ORPAT); Taser; and Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate (ALICE). He is also a classroom instructor at DPSST. Chief Dubray serves as the Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) representative for the CTCLUSI TPD, the CTCLUSI Tribal Gaming Commission, and the CTCLUSI Housing Department. He is an alumnus of the Oregon Executive Development Institute and Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Institute along with DPSST’s Supervisor Leadership Academy and Organizational Leadership Management courses. Chief Dubray holds a bachelor of science degree in criminology and criminal justice and an associate of science degree in music from Portland State University.
Community Service Officer, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Tribal Police Department, Florence, Oregon
Robert Snyder
Community Service Officer, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Tribal Police Department, Florence, Oregon
Robert Snyder is a community service officer with the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Tribal Police Department. He has spent the majority of his life and law enforcement career in the Washington, DC, metro area and has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience in one of the largest counties in the country. In addition to his primary duties, Officer Snyder served as an undercover task force officer assigned with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation primarily focused on large-scale narcotics and violent crime operations.
National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Science Research and Resources
Research
Forensic science, especially in the areas of seized drugs and forensic toxicology, is an important aspect in addressing the goals of the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP). Specifically, promoting public safety, strengthening the collection and sharing of data across systems, and aligning and maximizing resources across systems all benefit from research and other activities in the forensic science realm. This session will explore several National Institute of Justice (NIJ) research and other forensic science grants addressing the COSSUP aims, such as: • New analytical workflows for detecting novel substances, including opioids, in seized drug casework. • Novel ways to automate color testing of seized drugs to improve reliability and decrease turnaround time. • Reporting on adverse effects associated with novel psychoactive substances. • Use of rapid toxicology screening tools in medical examiner/coroner offices. • Introduction to drug checking and its role in harm reduction.
Learning Objectives
- Understand evidence-based and best practices emerging from NIJ’s forensic science grants.
- Learn about novel ways of drug testing and reporting on seized drugs.
- Understand how to improve data sharing across systems to maximize impact in addressing substance use.
Physical Scientist/Program Manager, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice
Frances Scott, PhD
Physical Scientist/Program Manager, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice
Frances Scott is a physical scientist and program manager in the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences. He is a trained expert in physical and analytical chemistry with experience in all phases of research, teaching, and applied forensic science. Dr. Scott manages NIJ’s Seized Drugs and Toxicology research and development portfolios.
Research Chemist, Center for Public Safety and Resilience, RTI International
Shannon Krauss, PhD
Research Chemist, Center for Public Safety and Resilience, RTI International
Shannon Krauss is a research chemist at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI International) within the Center for Public Safety and Resilience. Her current roles there include principal investigator; senior advisor for technology implementation; and subject-matter expert for projects funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, including the research, development, technology, and evaluation lead for the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence. Dr. Krauss has more than 11 years of experience in analytical chemistry and microscale technologies working on technology development, analytical method development, and evaluations to support the fields of forensic science, public safety, health, and defense. Her research projects have focused on scaling down, automating, advancing, or streamlining traditional laboratory techniques and protocols for improved ease of use and portability. Prior to RTI, she was a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, leading and supporting several activities aimed at advancing measurement science in forensic drug chemistry and emerging drug threat detection, among others. Dr. Krauss has been awarded multiple fellowships for work in the development of novel technologies and methods; received multiple institutional author awards; has three technology patents; and received several awards in recognition of technology innovation.
Research Chemist, Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Amber McConnell, MSFS
Research Chemist, Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Amber McConnell has been employed by the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division since 2005 serving as the forensic supervisor overseeing the three Controlled Dangerous Substances Units and the Toxicology Unit. In addition to being an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB) assessor and a very experienced controlled dangerous substances (CDS) examiner, Ms. McConnell has taken a lead role in the quest for safer, more efficient, and more effective methods for detecting synthetic opioids. She has been named a guest researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to work with leading scientists in the field. Ms. McConnell has a master of forensic science degree and a bachelor of science degree in biology.
Principal Scientist, Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application, RTI International
Nelson Santos, MPA
Principal Scientist, Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application, RTI International
Nelson Santos is a principal scientist in the Research Triangle Institute’s (RTI International) Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application. In this role, he serves as the senior advisor to the center’s projects and programs and is part of the Forensic Science Technology Center of Excellence leadership team. Prior to joining RTI, Mr. Santos worked more than 34 years for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where he held a number of leadership positions within DEA’s Office of Forensic Science, the last 12 years as the deputy assistant administrator. Mr. Santos has been active in the national and international forensic science communities, holding leadership positions in prominent organizations, such as the vice-chair for the National Commission on Forensic Science and the chair of Interpol’s Forensic Science Symposium Committee. He was the DEA member-representative to the White House Subcommittee of Forensic Science and served for 5 years as chair of the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG). From 2004 to 2006, he served as a board member for the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD). He remains an active member of ASCLD, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and Interpol’s Forensic Science Managers Organizing Committee. Mr. Santos holds a master of public administration degree from George Mason University and a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from Florida International University.
Research Chemist, Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Edward Sisco, PhD
Research Chemist, Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Edward Sisco has been a research chemist within the Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology since 2014. His research has focused on mass spectrometry systems for forensics, homeland security, and public health. He has worked extensively with federal, state, and local forensic counterparts to help address forensic chemistry metrology challenges in seized drugs, fire debris, explosives, and trace evidence analysis. His current research efforts are focused on addressing measurement challenges in forensic chemistry, providing fundamental measurements to address the opioid epidemic, and increasing awareness of the advantages of implementing ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AI-MS) in screening and laboratory environments. Dr. Sisco is a member of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), and the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS). He is also an associate editor for Forensic Chemistry.
12:30 p.m.
Adjourn
