Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program

Visit Topic Area: Law Enforcement & First Responder Deflection & Diversion

22nd Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office

Alabama had the highest prescription opioid rate in the nation at 80.4 prescriptions per 100 people. Covington County is currently ranked 16th in the state of Alabama for opioid prescriptions, with an estimated 85.3 prescriptions per 100 people, translating to a rate almost two times higher than the national average of 43.3 prescriptions per 100 people. There have been no less than 20 overdoses that resulted in death in 2021 and administered at least 80 doses of naloxone. For this project, the 22nd Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Alabama will expand its diversion program through law enforcement and first responder deflection program, offering treatment and assistance to those that needed it prior to arrest. Their goal will be to reach previously underserved populations without the burden of the arrest. Prevention will be directed at high school students through part-time work-study peer helpers. These students will be hired to maintain communication with students to continue to warn them about the dangers of opioid and drug use. The response will include overdose response kits that will be distributed to all police and fire departments in the county. Advertising campaigns will encourage those present during an overdose to call 911 without fear of arrest, provided they aren’t directly responsible for the overdose. Since options of treatment locally are scarce, a Substance Abuse Counselor will be hired as part of the project to improve local outcomes in treatment through those diverted through the implementation of the new programs and provide family counseling to children and youth impacted by their parent’s substance abuse. A new Community Resource Specialist will assist individuals with finding and securing employment, navigating outside treatment options, securing sober housing, and helping them to overcome any other barriers that may prevent them from long-term recovery. They will also assist the District Attorney in holding a symposium on the warning signs and dangers of opioid addiction, treatment options, and what to do in case of an overdose.

Alabama

Alabama Department of Mental Health

The Alabama Department of Mental Health is applying for a Category 2 award in the amount of $6,000,000. Project Possibilities: A Collaborative Alabama Criminal Justice Project will develop, implement, and expand a combination of law enforcement diversion programs; comprehensive and real-time data collection, analysis, and dissemination; and medication-assisted treatment and peer support recovery support services into existing systems of service in the state of Alabama across Calhoun, Dekalb, Etowah, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, and Walker counties, serving an approximate population of 2,015,797. The project will serve utilizers identified within and across the criminal justice system including those in need of diversion from and preventing the return to the criminal justice system. Goals are to expand and implement diversion programs/services that provide treatment and recovery support to divert and prevent the return of opioid, stimulant, and other substance abusing/addicted individuals from/to the criminal justice system; extend the state data collection (Central Data Repository or CDR) of substance use information to include non-opioid substances; expand current partnerships to enhance data-sharing and accessibility, analysis, and dissemination of real time data; expand resources to rural areas, thus bridging the gap of care from urban and suburban areas to rural areas, including developing and implementing innovative and evidence-based models of MAT services for individuals interacting with the criminal justice system; and monitor the impact/outcomes of interventions, spreading successful intervention statewide at the completion of the project period to reduce incarceration, recidivism, morbidity, and mortality for adults with a substance use disorder who are cycling through the criminal justice system. The project includes partnerships between the University of Alabama's VitAL program, the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, the Recovery Organization of Support Specialist, and People Engaged in Recovery. Priority considerations addressed in this application include serving high poverty areas throughout the state, and the proposed activities will address Office of Justice Programs priority considerations including promoting civil rights, increasing access to justice, and building trust between law enforcement and the community.

Alabama

City of Searcy

The City of Searcy is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $600,000. The Searcy Police Department Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse (COSSA) project will promote a higher level of cooperation and collaboration among the local agencies; improve the effectiveness of law enforcement to combat illicit opioid use, possession, and distribution and to improve interdiction efforts through training that focuses on up-to-date and relevant information about opioid misuse protocols, the importance of sharing information statewide, and collaboration between Drug Task Force members and law enforcement in general; and support and offer assistance to those affected by opioid use and opioid overdose. This collaborative effort will produce more effective investigations, prosecutions, treatment, and recovery involving opioids. This project serves Searcy, the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, which has a population of 23,660. The project includes partnerships between the Searcy Police Department, the White County Sheriff’s Office, the Prairie County Sheriff’s Office, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office, the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force, and health and rehabilitation community partners.

Izard County

This project will serve the Sixteenth Judicial District in northern Arkansas, a rural region comprised of five counties: Izard, Stone, Fulton, Cleburne, and Independence. The mission of this project is to reduce the impact of substance misuse, including overdose deaths, in the area. This will be accomplished by helping more people with substance use disorder (SUD) receive treatment instead of entering the criminal justice system. This project will also help increase community awareness about substance misuse and improve the ability of law enforcement agencies and communities to respond to overdoses. The primary focus for activities will be law enforcement deflection/diversion and access to peer recovery support services, and most of the activities will be conducted by COSSAP investigators and peer recovery support specialists (PRSS). Peers are individuals who have experienced SUD, are in sustained recovery, and have been trained to help others achieve recovery. By expanding access to peer support services, this project will connect more people with SUD to the treatment they desperately need. COSSAP investigators are deputies from the Izard County Sheriff’s office who are also assigned to the existing Drug Task Force for the district. Having designated COSSAP agents on the district task force will ensure that more cases involving substance use can be referred for peer support and that treatment arrangements can be made as quickly as possible. This project will also include outreach and education activities across the district and will improve the accuracy and efficiency of data collection. Allowable activities include: (1) enhancing access to peer recovery support services (35 percent); (2) law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion (35 percent); (3) embedding PRSS at multiple points of Sequential Intercept Model (10 percent); (4) prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students (10 percent); (5) drug take-back programs (5 percent); (6) data collection (5 percent).

Johnson County

The Johnson County Opioid Response Effort (JCORE), through the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, centers on teaming peer specialists with specialty investigators so that behavioral health resources can be implemented during the timeframe when individuals are most receptive to help. This “golden moment” falls immediately after overdose or investigation and possible arrest. By pairing services with investigation, diversion to drug courts, treatment, and other transitional services moves the individual into a more positive path to recovery instead of the traditional method of incarceration only. Utilizing two teams of peer and investigator allows for round the clock coverage without creating stress of continuous coverage on one team which results in burnout. Peer specialists respond to police calls for drug-related incidents and follow the individual through medical care and incarceration as necessary, placing the peer specialist in a position to engage family and friends to elicit support. Peer specialists can use their lived experience to help the individual see the benefits of life change. This approach has proven that individuals are more inclined to assist in investigations and the team approach has reduced stigma among law enforcement. Peer specialists also provide training and distribution of naloxone to the support systems of individuals. Classes and support groups conducted within the jail identifies individuals incarcerated for other charges who are also struggling with substance use disorders. After identification, those individuals can be moved toward treatment options and recovery, resulting in decreased jail population and lowered recidivism. JCORE will utilize participation in drug takeback programs, law enforcement diversion, naloxone for law enforcement, and treatment alternatives to incarceration. The primary use of the funds will center on embedding peer specialists at various points in the Sequential Intercept Model which makes it a labor-intensive program.

Pulaski County

The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) seeks funding through the BJA COSSAP grant for the purposes of treating substance use disorder (SUD) sufferers, providing transitional housing to SUD sufferers, and embedding peers at multiple stages of the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM). PCSO serves Pulaski County, the most urban county in Arkansas with 400,000 inhabitants and 800 square miles of area. The PCSO Reentry Program will implement the proposal in Pulaski County. PCSO was awarded a 2019 COSSAP grant, but this application represents a substantively different proposal as it focuses on Peer Recovery Support Specialists (PRSS), medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and transitional housing. Salary for additional PCSO Reentry staff represents the largest portion of the requested funds, at 55 percent, which funds four additional staff: a grant administrator, a Substance Abuse Counselor (SAC), and two PRSS. The grant administrator will spend 100 percent of their time administering this program, expanding the partnership network, and developing new funding sources to continue the program after the award expires. The SAC and the two PRSS will be embedded at multiple intercepts in the SIM as detailed in the grant narrative. Expected outcomes include program self-sufficiency stemming from the grant administrator’s funding efforts and increased support at multiple stages of SIM for SUD sufferers. Much of this support will occur at the PCSO Regional Detention Facility (RDF) in the form of 30 additional sessions per week for each additional counselor. The next largest requested expenditure funds pre-release evidence-based SUD treatment at the PCSO RDF at 21 percent. MAT represents the bulk of these costs but grant monies will also fund evidence-based curriculum materials for courses such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The PCSO contracts with Turn Key Health for all medical services in the PCSO RDF and will continue to do so with MAT as detailed in the grant narrative. The requested monies will fund MAT for approximately 150 people. Lastly, the PCSO requests funds for transitional and recovery housing at 11 percent of the grant. These monies will fund approximately 225 months of housing for SUD sufferers post-release. The PCSO leverages existing partnerships with many facilities to extend the impact of these funds as detailed in the grant narrative. If successful, this proposal will significantly expand the reach and depth of services the PCSO offers to justice-involved Arkansan sufferers of SUD.

Arkansas

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) is applying for Category 2 in the amount of $6,000,000. The Arizona Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) will advance Arizona’s goal of reducing overdose deaths by providing services to people involved in Arizona’s local justice system. The ACJC will make a total of nine competitive sub-awards to local sites to implement law enforcement diversion programs or virtual peer recovery services. The ACJC will work collaboratively with the nine sites to serve the unique needs of each community, while leveraging the states resources, training experience, and expertise to implement impactful, evidence-based strategies. The ACJC will also build the capacity of the local justice system, including jails and local law enforcement agencies, to implement these programs through robust training and technical assistance, including peer-to-peer learning and cross-site coordination. The project serves the entire state of Arizona, which has a population of 7,421,401. The project includes partnerships with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (the state agency for substance misuse services), the Tucson Police Department, Heritage Health Solutions, and the Arizona Sheriffs Association. Priority considerations addressed in this application include making sub-awards to communities with a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; a lack of accessibility to treatment providers, facilities, and emergency medical services; and providing services to a high poverty area. Applicants will also be asked to demonstrate how their sub-award will further OJP’s priority of building trust between law enforcement and the community.

City of Long Beach

The Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office (CPO) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $900,000. The Long Beach CPO Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program will be implemented throughout the entire Long Beach community with a focus on high poverty area zip codes, targeting justice-involved individuals who meet criteria for pre-filing and pre-booking diversion intercepts. The project will expand supportive services through capacity building and training, access to wraparound case management, LEAD awareness building, and collective dialogue. The Long Beach Deputy City Prosecutor will develop guidelines that the Long Beach Police Department can utilize to determine an individual’s candidacy for diversion, develop training materials to be used for capacity building workshops with the Long Beach Police Department and other city departments, and create materials explaining how communities can implement and support diversion initiatives. The project serves the City of Long Beach, which has a population of 464,073. The project includes partnerships between the CPO and the Long Beach Police Department, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, and community-based organizations providing services related to substance use, mental health, and homelessness. The project will engage NPC Research as an evaluation partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project also provides an opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and the community and will benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

County of Stanislaus

Continuation funding from the BJA FY 2023 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-based Program (COSSUP), will enable Stanislaus County, California, to expand and enhance comprehensive programs to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by the overdose crisis and the impacts of used and misuse of opioids, stimulants, or other substances. Lead agency for the project is County of Stanislaus, a unit of local government in California. Project partners are Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Center for Human Services and Stanislaus County Health Services Agency. County of Stanislaus's population is over 500,000. The project goal is to reduce the impact of the use and misuse of opioids, stimulants, and other substances on individuals and communities, as well as to mitigate the impacts on crime victims by supporting comprehensive, collaborative initiatives. This will be accomplished by embedding COAP-funded staff with the current Community Assessment, Response, and Engagement (CARE) Multidisciplinary Team (Evidence-based practice) colocated in Modesto, California. The project objectives are to support comprehensive, locally driven response to the use and misuse of opioids, stimulants, and other substances that expand access to treatment and recovery support services; support law enforcement-led deflection programs; and promote education and prevention activities. This will be accomplished by implementing a multidisciplinary overdose prevention, response, and deflection/diversion model led by law enforcement (CARE MDT); providing evidence-based SUD treatment such as Motivational Interviewing as well as harm reduction activities, including educating users on the proper use of Naloxone; and providing access to transitional/recovery housing and recovery support services. The project deliverables are to maintain a working relationship with the BJA supported COSSUP training and TA providers and to establish/maintain a multidisciplinary coordinating body that focused on addressing the issues that arise due to the use and misuse of opioids, stimulants, and other substances. The multidisciplinary coordinating body will be the CARE MDT, who will also collaborate closely with the Stanislaus County Opioid Safety Coalition. The will support: (1) Personnel costs; (2) Travel costs for BJA-required training and convening; (3) Program Supplies; (4) Recovery Housing; (5) Emergency Housing Vouchers. The service area is Stanislaus County, California including all towns and rural hamlets. The target population served by this grant will be primarily homeless individuals impacted by the overdose crisis in Stanislaus County.

California

Kings County

The project serves Kings County, California, which has a population of approximately 150,373. The purpose of the project is to build strong coordination between in-custody and community-based treatment, establish a job training program for individuals reentering the community from jail, and establish virtual peer recovery support services for individuals leaving jail. The project addresses the allowable use of establishing evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs, such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT), with a focus on building strong coordination between in-custody and community-based treatment and recovery support services (100 percent of the budget). The project includes a partnership with Kings County Jobs Training Office, Wellpath, and Heritage Health Solutions.

Los Angeles County

The County of Los Angeles is applying for Category 1a urban area grant funding in the amount of $1,200,000. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR) will (1) expand law enforcement referral opportunities to divert individuals who commit low-level drug and prostitution offenses as a result of unmet health, behavioral health, and socioeconomic needs away from the criminal justice system and into supportive services by broadening eligibility criteria to include individuals with histories of stimulant, opioid and/or other substance use; (2) reduce the number of individuals in Hollywood with unmet substance use, mental health, housing, employment, or health needs entering the criminal justice system for low-level offenses; and (3) increase access to harm-reduction services and case management, including overdose education and access to naloxone for Hollywood LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) participants. This project serves the City of Los Angeles (population 3,949,776). The project includes partnerships between ODR, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Community Health Project Los Angeles (service provider), and Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal from the University of Southern California.

Mendocino County

Mendocino County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (MCBHRS) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $600,000. The Bridge Program will identify individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUDs) and start them on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in custody and case manage them to MAT and/or substance use treatment services at clinics and Mendocino County Behavioral Health Substance Use Disorders Treatment (SUDT) sites pre-release. The program will continue to follow these individuals post-release and support them however possible. The program will fund a behavioral health case manager to work full time within the jail and perform comprehensive case management and discharge planning. The project serves rural Mendocino County, which has a population of 86,749. The project includes partnerships between MCBHRS and the SUDT, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Mendocino Community Health Clinics, and Mendocino Coast Clinics. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Arapahoe County Colorado

The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office services an area with a population of over 500,000. The project will allow the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office to expand evidence-based substance use treatment and peer recovery support services to individuals in custody and provide critical reentry needs such as transitional housing and peer recovery support services. These services are essential to supporting treatment engagement. The project addresses COSSUP's allowable use of implementing evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other drugs and recovery support services for pre-trial and post-trial populations leaving jail. Deliverables include providing discharge planning for 750 detention center residents over the life of the grant, providing transitional housing for 262 indigent detention residents transitioning from the detention facility to the community over the life of the grant, and providing virtual peer recovery support services to up to 503 individuals as they transition from the detention facility to the community.

Gunnison County

In June of 2019, Gunnison County, Colorado, was awarded the Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Planning grant (RCORP) to better understand the current services and resources to prevent, treat and support people who are recovering from substance use disorder (SUD). The Consortium initially consisted of six key organizations: Gunnison County Juvenile Services, Gunnison County Health and Human Services, the Health Coalition of the Gunnison Valley, the Center for Mental Health, Gunnison Valley Hospital, and Western Colorado University. Over the past three years this group has grown to over 30 individuals/organizations representing diverse sectors of the community including parents, youth, and individuals with lived experience. This Consortium completed a needs and gaps analysis report and developed a three-year strategic plan. The Consortium, now titled Grasp, will oversee the implementation efforts of the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse program. Grasp is dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and recovery of SUD across the lifespan. Program activities include: (1) strengthen diversion program and explore alternative to ticketing for youth and adults; (2) education and prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students; (3) increase services for children and youth impacted by their parents’ or other family members’ substance use with wraparound services and using the sequential intercept model with the embedded clinical social worker; (4) increase medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and rural ambulatory medically supervised withdrawal services in Gunnison and Crested Butte; (5) implement harm reduction strategies and expand upon naloxone distribution; (6) support recovery housing in the community and on Western Colorado University’s campus; (7) data collection and reporting. Program goals include: (1) improve the quality and sustainability of rural behavioral health care services through supporting rural health care providers to offer coordinated, evidence-based, trauma-informed SUD, and other care services; (2) reduce drug-related arrests for people aged 35 and younger in Gunnison County and reduce recidivism at the jail; (3) address structural- and system- level barriers to improve rural residents’ access to quality, integrated SUD, and other behavioral health care services.

Colorado

Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) is applying for Category 2 funding in the amount of $5,999,998. The Community and Law Enforcement for Addiction Recovery (CLEAR) Project is a multilateral, community-based opioid overdose response program that will be piloted in six jurisdictions across Connecticut. The CLEAR Project will establish partnerships between community agencies and law enforcement to increase connections to care for people with a substance use disorder (SUD) and create a collaborative response to addiction among community partners. For each jurisdiction, the CLEAR Project will conduct assessments; implement an IPIS/Cordata Integrated System for data tracking and referral management; establish a coordinated safety net of recovery coaches and overdose response teams; support families, including through the identification and referral to services of children impacted by a family member’s SUD; increase access to medication-assisted treatment; and implement a community-based, data-driven dispatch response to surges in overdoses. The goal is to create a replicable model for overdose response that can be scaled in communities across the entire state. Sites were selected based on need, population diversity, and readiness to implement the program. The project serves Bridgeport, Greenwich, Norwalk, Torrington, Winsted, and the State Police Troop B and State Police Troop L service districts; together, the districts represent much of Fairfield and Litchfield counties. The project includes partnerships between DMHAS and the McCall Center for Behavioral Health, Liberation Programs Inc., the Bridgeport Police Department, the Greenwich Police Department, the Norwalk Police Department, the Torrington Police Department, and the Winsted Police Department. The project will engage Dr. Carol Gregory and Dr. Kelly Firesheets as evaluation partners. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rates of overdose deaths. The project will also benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

Connecticut

Executive Office of the Governor Of Delaware

Delaware is disproportionately impacted by the abuse of illicit opioids and prescription drugs as seen in our high rates of overdose deaths from heroin and other opioids and lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. Delaware is third in the nation for rates of overdose fatalities. In 2021, 515 Delawareans died from a drug overdose. The Delaware COSSAP Saving Lives will implement new opioid-intervention programs in six geographically diverse localities and establish pre-arrest or post-arrest law enforcement diversion programs for individuals who commit non-violent, drug-related offenses by utilizing community-based substance use disorder and behavioral health services. This project coordinates services statewide and two geographic locations are in rural parts of the state. Grant funds will implement strategies identified in the statewide coordinated plan to provide law enforcement resources to address the opioid epidemic in Delaware (38 percent of funds). Funds will include coordinating social services with law enforcement for response to children impacted during a drug overdose (10 percent of funds). Funds will expand the take-back program for unused controlled substances found in the home, hospitals, and long-term care facilities (2 percent of funds). The project goals include: (1) increase number of law enforcement diversion programs; (2) reduce incidence of overdose deaths; (3) increase transitional housing availability (20 percent of funds); (4) increase services to youth impacted by addiction; and (5) produce an evaluation report. The project includes partnerships between the Criminal Justice Council, Division of Public Health’s Office of Health Crisis Response, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, and Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police. The project includes an evaluator from the University of Delaware.

Citrus County

Citrus County is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $387,581. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office Substance Abuse Social Worker Program will embed social services with law enforcement in order to rapidly respond to drug overdoses where children are impacted. Additionally, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office intends to provide prevention, response, and diversion from the criminal justice system to individuals who are affected by substance misuse. The Sheriff’s Office will employ two substance misuse social workers to fulfill these goals. The substance misuse social workers will review and follow up on all reports of nonfatal overdoses, including contacting individuals who have experienced an overdose and connecting them with community-based resources. The substance misuse social worker will collaborate with child protective investigators with the Department of Children and Families (DCF), as well as case managers with Youth Family Alternatives (YFA). The social worker will communicate successes in treatment and assist in potential reunification of children and will also collaboratively work with DCF and YFA to connect children with early intervention therapy resources to reduce the likelihood of adverse childhood experiences affecting them. The Sheriff’s Office will also create and introduce a Marchman Act Assessment tool to be used in all non-fatal overdose cases. This project serves Citrus County, Florida, which has an approximate population of 149,657 residents. Partnerships include strong relationships with community partners, DCF, and YFA.

City of Port St. Lucie

The City of Port St. Lucie (PSL) is located on the Southeast Coast of Florida with a population of 217,523 spread over an area of about 120 square miles. PSL has grown by 32.2 percent since 2010, at a rate of about 2.9 percent annually and has a population density of 1,843 people per square mile. This growth has brought with it considerable challenges, which includes the proliferation of drug overdoses. For this project, the Port St. Lucie Police Department (PSLPD) received grant funding for an Overdose Intervention Diversion Detective (OIDD) to expand its efforts to establish an enhanced response to opioid abuse within the city over grant period. The need to have a OIDD to focus on these cases is apparent and the traditional law enforcement response has proven inadequate to effectively address this growing concern in our community. This grant would help fund investigation of overdose cases and provide a critical service to the victims and families by connecting them to the community resources in place to address this issue. The number of overdose cases has had a negative impact on the community and made this detective position a vital necessity to response to overdoses. PSLPD recognizes that enforcement alone will not address this crisis, but by working together with various community partners, PSLPD believes it will increase access to and availability of substance treatment and recovery support along with education and outreach to the community. PSLPD will collect data on a continual basis to measure the effectiveness of the program by tracking the most at risk citizens for overdoses through daily review of overdose incidents reported in the records management system and the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP). PSLPD also employs the lifesaving use naloxone to reverse the effect of an opioid overdose, which is assigned to every sworn officer.

Orange County

Orange County, Florida, Government Health Services project’s Orange County Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) will increase access to evidence-based treatment and recovery support for individuals living with an opioid use disorder (OUD). The service area is all of Orange County, with a particular focus on those census tracts with the highest overdose rates, and on individuals who have more than one unintentional overdose requiring emergency response. PORT addresses field-initiated projects that bring together justice, behavioral health, and public health practitioners to implement new or promising practices–which may not yet have a research base–in addressing the impact of opioids, stimulants, and other substances on communities as a whole and individuals at risk of or with justice system involvement. This includes the application of evidence-based strategies from other fields that have not yet been fully examined in the justice context. While there is promising research on the use of a PORT model in multiple settings around the U.S., there is still a need for extensive testing and research. In addition, the focus of this proposal on improved outcomes for people with OUD, while reducing stress on the healthcare and law enforcement infrastructure is not yet a well-examined strategy. The project will target communities that see a disproportionate number of accidental overdose cases, often in areas with higher poverty rates and underserved populations. These communities have traditionally not had equitable access to awareness, prevention, intervention, or treatment. These communities also have disproportionate engagement with the criminal justice system. Targeting individuals with OUD in these communities with the intensive case management approach that PORT provides is a key way to remove barriers to equitable access and better outcomes for individuals and communities.

County of Fulton

Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health and Disabilities (DBHDD), in partnership with Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), supports the Fulton County Diversion and Deflection Recovery Program (FDR) to respond to substance use, promote public safety, and support access to SUD treatment and recovery services for individuals in Fulton County, Georgia. Annually, DBHDD provides services for over 2,600 people with mental health issues and SUD/COD at five sites throughout Fulton County. Services include screening, assessment, specialty outpatient treatment, and individual and group therapy provided through contracts with community-based providers. This project builds upon the successes of DBHDD's FY20 COSSAP to expand to Fulton County's most underserved areas and increase deflection and diversion across the county. Fulton County is the largest county in Georgia and has experienced a drastic increase in arrests of people with SUD for low-level offenses, delaying or denying vital treatment while also overcrowding jails and the court. In 2021, the City of Atlanta and Fulton County partnered to establish The Center for Diversion and Services (The Center) to provide an alternative to placing people in jail or in the detention center who suffer from behavioral health issues. The FDR program will: (i) provide training to new law enforcement officers and ongoing quarterly professional development for existing officers to promote diversion to The Center, expanding to several precincts within Fulton County; (ii) provide intensive care navigation for at least 425 diverted participants and increased access to recovery housing for those in need; (iii) provide evidence-based mobile behavioral health services to diverted individuals in recovery housing; and (iv) conduct deflection outreach to targeted areas of high crime and high usage in North and South Fulton to connect individuals with needed SUD services before they reach involvement with the criminal justice system. The program's expected outcomes are to increase diversion to The Center year-over-year, reduce recidivism in Fulton County, and increase access to evidence-based behavioral health treatments to individuals in recovery housing. Beneficiaries of this program include individuals with SUD, local law enforcement agencies, and all Fulton County residents. FDR will implement the following allowable activities: Law enforcement deflection and diversion; Naloxone for first responders; Pre-booking and post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs; Evidence-based SUD treatments and harm reduction activities; Recovery housing and peer support; Embedding peers; and Field initiated projects.

Georgia

Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

The Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council applied for Category 2 statewide area grant funding in the amount of $2,289,701. The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program will (1) establish a multi-locality naloxone initiative to include continued training for law enforcement personnel and provide funding to assist with the replenishment of the opioid reversal drug; (2) establish and implement a pre-arrest/post-booking diversion program for youth and adults who have a moderate to high risk of substance abuse within Athens-Clarke County; (3) provide K-12 youth in Athens-Clarke County with increased access to education and treatment; and (4) provide a comprehensive, real-time, information collection database for the City of Savannah to expand the pre-arrest diversion program, which is funded through the FY 2018 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site Program (COAP). This project serves serve 23 of Georgia’s 159 counties. The project includes partnerships between Athens-Clarke County Unified Government and City of Savannah.

City of Clinton

The City of Clinton is applying for Category 1c rural/tribal area grant funding in the amount of $600,000. Clinton’s Opioid and Stimulant Partnership will address stimulant use and provide a broader reach of services to those in need to provide viable resources within the community through the use of an expanded multidisciplinary team that focuses efforts toward community systems working in collaborative efforts to identify, educate, treat, and prevent further instances of substance use addiction, and fatalities within our community. A Drug Abuse Response Team will follow up with overdose victims while connecting them with interventions or treatment options. The program will also update opioid community assessment, expand and enhance a MAT program, as well as partner with community agencies for recovery support services that include peer support/case management and healthcare treatment. This project serves Clinton, Iowa, and its 25,637 residents. The project includes partnerships the City of Clinton Administration, Clinton Police Department, Clinton Fire Department, MercyOne Clinton Medical Center, Clinton Substance Abuse Council, Area Substance Abuse Council, Life Connections, and Bridgeview Mental Health Center. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the disproportional impact on the community by the abuse of illicit opioids, stimulants, or other substances; specific challenges rural communities face; and enhancing public safety in Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Boone County

The Boone County, Illinois, Health Department (BCHD) Community Outreach Advocacy and Recovery (COAR) is a community level program that coordinates interventions to provide behavioral health services in the jail and the community. The COAR program created medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in the local jail and implemented a Navigator model to provide case management services to individuals flowing through the criminal justice intercepts identified in Boone County’s Sequential Intercept Model. The COAR program is requesting funding to build upon current programming. This program proposes the following allowable activities: (1) Evidence Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment, such as medication-assisted treatment; (2) Embedding persons with lived experience at any intercept of the Sequential Intercept Model; and (3) Real-time and enhanced data collection. The COAR program will enhance its current MAT program by adding a second medication option, Buprenorphine, and implement re-entry coordination planning using a quality improvement, weekly Coordination Call with local and jail providers. The Navigator position, who has lived experience, will be enhanced by completing the process to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) and will lead the Coordination Calls in the jail and increase peer recovery mentors in the community. This position will also support the criminal justice system through a transition of bond reform. A COAR Strategist will be hired to follow the recommendations of the JusticeCounts project and provide upkeep to the data dashboard, as well as coordinate with partners to gather health equity data. The MAT Jail program (including staff, EHR, transportation and medications) is 22 percent of the budget, the Navigator position (including supervision and mileage) accounts for 41 percent of the budget, and the COAR Strategist salary accounts for 19 percent of the budget.

Lake County

The Lake County, Illinois, Health Department and Community Health Center project serves Lake County, Illinois, with a population of 711,239. The purpose of this project is to provide wraparound evidenced-based treatment for consumers of the A Way Out 3.0 program including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), recovery support services, peer support, case management, and transitional and recovery housing. A Way Out 3.0 will serve as an evidence-based treatment initiative for individuals at high risk of overdose and substance abuse and as a pre-booking and post-booking alternative to incarceration. The project will focus on increasing access to treatment, increasing treatment success rates, reducing overdoses, and providing community outreach. This project will aim to have 90 percent of consumers with opioid use scheduled to receive services or treatment within 24 hours of initial contact; 70 percent of consumers will successfully complete their first treatment episode; and 90 percent of consumers will receive information regarding MAT and/or naloxone. Additionally, peer support groups will be offered bi-weekly for consumers, and one community outreach session will be conducted by the A Way Out team per month. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment episodes for heroin and other opioids, high rates of overdose deaths, and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. An individual from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences will serve as the evaluator for the project.

Dubois County

Dubois County is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $600,000. The Community Supervision Recovery Continuum will feature law enforcement/first responder diversion, post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs for individuals at high risk for overdose or substance misuse, and recovery support services, including transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services. Dubois County Community Corrections (DCCC) will develop a behavioral health team (BHT) that will be available to respond to behavioral health crises with law enforcement and provide guidance for diversion. DCCC will renovate its 102-bed work release facility to allow for separate housing pods; two pods (one for males and one for females) will be designated as “therapeutic communities,” where a group-based approach to rehabilitation is used to develop pro-social behaviors and work toward recovery. The BHT will augment this programming with individual and group counseling sessions and peer recovery support services. The Dubois County Sheriff’s Department and the Jasper Police Department will participate in Crisis Intervention Team training. The project serves Dubois County, with a population of 42,542. The project includes partnerships with the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office, the Jasper Police Department, and DCCC. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project also provides an opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and the community and will benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

The Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County

The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (doing business as Eskenazi Health) project is carried out by three agencies—the Substance Use Outreach Services Program (SUOS), the Safe Syringe Access and Support Program (SSAS), and Project POINT—and will encompass a multi-pronged approached to support patients, staff, and community/government partners. These programs will provide community-based prevention services in the form of education and prevention programs and naloxone distribution; community-based intervention in the form of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and harm reduction activities and support services; and post-intervention support in the form of transitional housing assistance and peer recovery services. The project will focus on the following activities: (1) a drug take-back program (approximately 7 percent of budget); (2) real-time data collection (approximately 11 percent of budget); (3) naloxone distribution (approximately 17 percent of budget); (4) K-12 education and prevention programs (approximately 25 percent of budget); (5) evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs as well as harm reduction activities and recovery support services (approximately 21 percent of budget); (6) transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services (approximately 19 percent of budget). This grant-funded initiative is a collaboration between Eskenazi Health and partner agencies, including the Marion County Coroner’s Office and the Indiana Department of Health Laboratory Services Commission, and will impact first responders, substance use disorder providers and patients, and governmental agencies throughout Marion County during the life of the grant and beyond.

Tippecanoe County

Tippecanoe County Government is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $1,200,000. The NewLeaf Wellness Center and Treatment Program will intervene at the pre-trial state or post-conviction state of criminal cases by identifying mental health and addiction treatment needs and connecting those individuals with the appropriate services. It will provide needed mental health and substance misuse services to participants through Tippecanoe County Community Corrections’ newly formed NewLeaf Wellness Center. Educational and treatment services provided through NewLeaf Wellness Center will include evidenced based practices such as living in balance, relapse prevention, cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-informed care, and moral reconation therapy. The overall goal of this project is to accomplish a reduction in recidivism, jail overcrowding, and drug-related fatalities. This project serves Tippecanoe County, Indiana, which has an estimated population of 196,195. The project includes (but is not limited to) partnerships between local law enforcement agencies, Tippecanoe County Courts, Tippecanoe County Community Corrections, Valley Oaks, Meridian Health Services, NAMI, Calla Collaborative Health, Purdue University, Court Services, and Health Call. This project will engage Tippecanoe County Community Corrections Executive Director Jason Huber as the research partner for this project.

Unified Government of Wyandotte County

Wyandotte County has seen a steep increase in opioid overdose and overdose deaths since 2018. To address this the Wyandotte County Health Department (WCHD) has started a Peer Support Navigation Program to assist with linkage to care. Hiring peers is an evidence-based practice that increases a person with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) likelihood of seeking recovery-based services due to the shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment regarding the challenges of changing SUD behaviors. Wyandotte County also suffered a great loss in the fall of 2022 when the only inpatient treatment center in the county, Mirror Inc., shut its doors permanently. This closure eliminated the potential for nearby residential treatment, which directly affects not only general community members who are interested and open for recovery access, but those experiencing potential incarceration due to drug use as well. Now that there is no inpatient option, local drug court participants do not have an immediate treatment follow up for their programming, nor a Mirror employee that had worked with drug court to provide assessments to establish this treatment connection. This has resulted in drug court participants sitting in jail for up to 2 months awaiting an assessment for follow-up care. The closing of Mirror Inc. established a new partnership between WCHD and the local drug court. This partnership has developed a greater collaboration in the corrections setting. First, to utilize this funding to hire a Masters Licensed Addiction Counselor (LMAC) through Wyandot Behavioral Health Network (WBHN) to provide assessments that can decrease the time it takes for drug court participants and general probation offenders to access recovery services. WBHN is a family of organizations serving the mental health needs of Wyandotte County, Kansas and beyond. Along with mental health services, they offer outpatient SUD treatment services, and they are starting a Medication Assisted Treatment program. WBHN hiring the LMAC, would allow them to complete assessments needed and allow them to create a services chart should they want to receive services from the organization. The LMAC could also provide some treatment such as substance use treatment and mental health therapy, if further collaboration is to take place. Creating this position and embedding it in the court and community corrections facilities will aid in care navigation as well as provide a consistent person thus providing a more coordinated approach for the for the individual.

Kansas

Kenton County Fiscal Court

Kenton County Fiscal Court applied for Category 1b suburban area grant funding in the amount of $900,000. The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program will develop, implement, and expand Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion to policing agencies with pre-arrest diversion coordinators to reduce incarceration and lower the cost to communities and provide a case manager for those leaving incarceration to reduce recidivism. The program will also contract a peer support specialist to assist quick response teams responding to overdoses to establish connections, provide harm-reduction information, and easy access to naloxone. In addition, the program will provide supportive services to those wanting treatment and those in recovery. Supportive services will include referrals to community partners, case management, transportation, recovery housing, assistance with identification and an Indigent Essentials Backpack. This project serves Kenton, Pendleton, and Grant counties with a total population of 205,701. The project includes partnerships between Mental Health America, Northern Kentucky Community Action, Life Learning Center, Transitions, Sun, Alexandria’s Angels, Erlanger Police social workers, and the City of Falmouth.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) project includes a First Responder diversion program and will provide naloxone as leave behind kits for ambulance first responders. This project will be implemented in Lexington-Fayette County, a jurisdiction represented by a merged city-county government, in central Kentucky. CPOOL has four specific objectives. The first objective of CPOOL is to hire two qualified Social Workers and a Peer Support Specialist to enhance a multidisciplinary response team of law enforcement, fire and emergency services, treatment providers, recovery advocates, and other community partners. Second, CPOOL will increase the rate of successful client contacts and referrals to services for individual survivors of drug overdose identified by emergency response by the Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Medical Services (LDFEMS). The third objective is through the implementation of a naloxone Leave Behind program by the ambulance crews that have responded to the 911 call for the non-fatal overdose. The fourth objective is to provide reentry support to individuals who are preparing to leave treatment and transition back home, including to help connect to support services, treatment providers, and recovery housing as needed. In CPOOL, there will be continued collaboration with substance use treatment providers like Hope Center, Chrysalis House, and Isaiah House; support programs Voices of Hope; and policy makers such as the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. Additionally, LFUCG will work directly with the Training and Technical Assistance provider selected by BJA. CPOOL meets one area of Priority Consideration. LFUCG will work with the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol as a research partner to complete an evaluation on the project.

Purchase District Health Department

The Purchase District Health Department is partnering public health, public safety, and recovery communities to address SUD/OUD epidemic with the purpose of impacting racial and gender equity of recovery service delivery and reducing drug-related harms including overdose and incarceration. The project serves eight counties in far western Kentucky with a population totaling 200,000 people. Project activities fall into four categories: 1) Reducing overdose by (a) distributing naloxone to at-risk individuals and their families and (b) educating young people about fentanyl; 2) Implementing a deflection/pre-arrest diversion program that increases access to substance use and behavioral health treatment; 3) Implementing a warm-handoff to peer support for individuals released from jail; and 4) Providing housing vouchers for individuals in recovery. Expected outcomes include reduced drug-related recidivism, increased utilization of substance use disorder services, and improved coordination of services between public safety, public health, and behavioral health service providers. The intended beneficiaries of the project are individuals with active substance use disorder, individuals in recovery, justice-involved individuals, and families of individuals with substance use disorder. The project includes a rigorous evaluation component and research activities to inform future programming and best practices.

Whitley County Health Department

Whitley County, Kentucky, is one of many Appalachian communities devastated by illicit drugs. Drug overdose mortality in this county far exceeds Kentucky’s rate, the Appalachian region’s rate, and is nearly double the U.S. rate according to the University of Chicago’s NORC Opioid Community Assessment Tool. This project aims to reduce the impact of illicit substances on people and community. Primary activities include: (1) embedding community health workers in local law enforcement agencies; (2) supporting ongoing collaboration between local law enforcement agencies, the local health department, and a local federally qualified health center providing integrated behavioral health services; (3) collecting real-time data; and (4) supporting law enforcement, first responder, and jail diversion opportunities. This project expects outcomes to include a reduction in overdose deaths, a decrease in repeat law enforcement and first responder responses, and increased access to treatment.

City of New Orleans

The City of New Orleans Health Department is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $900,000. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program will support a team of LEAD direct service staff. This team will include a case management supervisor overseeing a team of case managers and peer support specialists tasked to provide services within the fidelity of the LEAD model. Major tenants of this approach include providing intensive case management services within a person-centered, trauma-informed, and harm-reduction framework. LEAD case management staff members work to address the root causes of behaviors that led participants to encounters with law enforcement. This approach also benefits the New Orleans Police Department by providing a long-term solution that has historically been addressed through the immediate response of an arrest. Goals of the initiative include reducing municipal arrests and re-arrests in the 8th District related to mental illness and substance use through LEAD diversions to case management, potentially expanding LEAD eligible charges to include simple possession of illicit drugs, and developing and implementing an evaluation plan. This project serves the city of New Orleans, which is contiguous with Orleans Parish and has an estimated population of 390,144. The project includes partnerships with the New Orleans Police Department, the National Alliance on Mental Illness New Orleans, the New Orleans City Attorney’s Office, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Coordination, the Orleans Public Defender’s Office, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, and the LEAD National Support Bureau. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a jurisdiction with high rates of overdose deaths and a project that will benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas or persistent-poverty counties, advance the promotion of civil rights, and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office

The Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office (LPSO) will develop and implement a comprehensive opioid prevention effort that promotes civil rights and racial equity in the identification, response, treatment, and support of those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. The goal of Project Comprehensive Opioid Prevention Effort (COPE) is to deploy needed service activities and protocols to reduce overdose deaths, promote public safety, and support access to prevention, harm-reduction, treatment, and recovery services, both in the community and the justice system. The Project will function under the direction of a Project COPE Steering Committee, which is a permanent multidisciplinary coordinating body that focus on addressing the issues that arise due to the impacts of illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs. It is composed of representatives from the LPSO, court system, Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Office, Parish Government, public and private school systems, Nicholls State University, and prevention, intervention, and treatment agencies. Program activities include law enforcement deflection and diversion, real time data collection, education, and prevention, pre and post booking treatment alternatives to incarceration, evidence-based substance use disorder treatment, and social workers and peer embedment at any intercept of the Sequential Intercept Model. A program-specific priority is in support of Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government.” In partnership with the Kingdom Impact Global Worship Centre, underserved populations that have been adversely affected by the opioid epidemic will be identified and strategically facilitated under the program.

Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government

The project supports a community collaboration among the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney's Office Extensive Narcotics Diversion Program (END) and partner public agencies and community organizations to address substance use disorders while reducing unnecessary prosecution and incarceration for felony level drug offenses. The END program seeks to divert non-violent offenders from the traditional court system offering a treatment and recovery resolution instead. The END program is a pre-booking and post-booking treatment alternative to incarceration program. It is a prosecutor led court diversion /intervention program; it utilizes court programming to prioritize and expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals at high risk of overdose; it coordinates evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants and other drugs. Funding will be used to improve and enhance the screening process to increase the number of qualified felony level drug offenses that are offered the opportunity to receive case management referrals and treatment in lieu of conviction and incarceration. The goal is to identify appropriate END participants as early as possible in the process and to increase our capacity to handle the additional participants. By providing expanded case management, treatment referrals and other social services through the program, we can address the substance use and any disorders while pausing the court process in order to allow the participant to address these issues and begin the recovery process. In 2022, the district attorney's office received referrals totaling 625 felony drug offenses. Of these 61 were screened and approved for participation in the END program, being offered the opportunity to participate in supervision and treatment, avoiding trial, conviction and incarceration. Forty-two (42) of these cases, 6.72%, eventually enrolled in the program. The expansion of the program would seek a 20% year over year increase in the number of participants given the opportunity to treatment alternative to traditional case processing. In addition, recent losses in funding and other economic challenges such as COVID-19 and Hurricane IDA have also degraded our ability to offer treatment alternatives to incarceration thru pre-trial diversion programming. BJA support through this award will allow the END program to expand prosecutor screenings to identify all eligible participants, provide dedicated case management, data collection, and increased drug testing to support treatment and recovery as an alternative to incarceration.

Louisiana

City of Boston

The Boston Police Department's project aims to 1) increase coordination and collaboration across the Boston Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, and North Suffolk Community Services, Inc., in addressing opioid epidemic in a highneeds area of Boston known as Mass and Cass (at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue); 2) strengthen the Services Over Sentences (SOS) Program so that it can better serve high-risk, high-need individuals who have been arrested in the area; 3) support Boston Police Department's Street Outreach Unit and City-Wide Bicycle Unit to provide increased outreach and diversion from arrest, as appropriate, to individuals experiencing mental illness and/or substance use disorders in the Mass and Cass area; and 4) conduct process and program evaluations so that the process by which these partnerships are formalized can be better understood and replicated, and to assess the effectiveness of the program in getting high-risk, high-need individuals into treatment and recovery. Project activities include establishing an interagency MOU; hiring two dedicated North Suffolk recovery coaches; hiring a full-time SOS Coordinator through the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office; supporting the Street Outreach Unit and City-Wide Bicycle Unit in their efforts to provide pre-arrest diversion; and partnering with Dr. Melissa Morabito to conduct the evaluations. These are allowable activities, falling under the umbrella of post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs and law enforcement diversion programs. Expected outcomes include strengthened collaboration across the Boston Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and North Suffolk; increased SOS participation and service provision to eligible individuals; reduced criminal sentences for individuals who participate in the SOS Program; decreased recidivism among individuals who participate in the SOS Program; and increased number of individuals diverted from arrest to diversion. Substance-using individuals in the Mass and Cass area who have been recently or previously arrested for a crime (including individuals with outstanding warrants), but have not yet been prosecuted or sentenced, are the intended beneficiaries of the project. Subrecipient activities include the provision of recovery coach services (the cornerstone of the SOS Program) through North Suffolk, high-level project coordination through the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, and evaluations to be performed by Dr. Morabito.

Massachusetts

City of Fitchburg

The Fitchburg Police Department is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $504,063. The Fitchburg Outreach Initiative, a multidisciplinary program established in partnership with Community Health Link of Worcester, will incorporate referrals, prevention, response, case management, and education. This program is based on successful law enforcement diversion programs such as LEAD and PAARI. The Fitchburg Outreach Initiative will hire a full-time substance misuse clinician to be embedded within the police department to respond to opioid overdoses, substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders in the City of Fitchburg. The clinician will provide follow-up and post encounter outreach to overdose survivors and their families. Additionally, the program will divert low-level offenders experiencing substance use disorders away from the criminal justice system and into treatment when it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Fitchburg Outreach Initiative will also launch an educational campaign highlighting prevention and resources available to families and survivors. The project serves the City of Fitchburg, which has a population of 40,882 residents. The project includes a partnership with Community Health Connections, a multi-faceted social and behavioral service agency that provides detox services, inpatient clinics, outpatient clinics, 24/7 urgent care for substance use disorders, a homeless shelter, mental health services, recovery services for youth, and family support services. Additional partnerships have since been created with GAAMHA which is an organization that provides a wide range of services including recovery support. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project will also benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

City of Holyoke

The Holyoke, Massachusetts, Police Department (HPD) proposes to implement the Expansion of Recovery from Addiction to Substances Efforts II (ERASE-II), which is a multi-component and multi-discipline project designed to significantly improve efforts to curb and eliminate the substantial opiate, stimulant, and substance problem in Holyoke with a goal of a fully sustainable addiction response program in the city. Holyoke is a small, postindustrial city of 38,238 people with elevated levels of concentrated poverty, illicit drug use and abuse, drug trafficking and gang activity. ERASE-II is comprised of a multidisciplinary team, which includes partnerships with community-based service providers Center for Human Development (CHD), the Holyoke Police Department (HPD), Gandara (a community-based behavioral health provider), CERTE (our research and evaluation partner), the court, and the Hampden County Sheriff who oversees the Hampden County Correctional Center in the Holyoke jurisdiction. The purpose of ERASE-II is to implement a multi-component intervention program with project activities that include; (1) support individuals with opioid, stimulant, and other illicit substance issues with interventions to reduce addictions and associated mental health needs, (2) to reduce overdoses and overdose deaths through prevention and intervention strategies, (3) to divert individuals with substance use issues, and (4) to reduce substance-related crime in Holyoke. To meet objectives, we will: implement a team comprised of an Intervention Officer, two Recovery Coaches, and an Outreach Coordinator. The team will: (1) intervene in OD calls, (2) identify engage and recruit ERASE-II clients, (3) provide direct supports and peer-to-peer services to clients, (4) refer and connect ERASE-II clients to evidence based programs, including MAT and Detox programs, (5) divert clients from arrest and divert from incarceration, (6) connect homeless clients with substance addiction to short term housing, (7) conduct extensive outreach and community-based support of clients, (8) provide a walk-in support space for individuals with substance use issues in a central location, (9) provide transitional supports to clients returning from incarceration, (10) improve data management and case management capabilities to better support clients, (11) utilize data to investigate harmful criminal practices (e.g., identification and removal of batches of fentanyl laced drugs), and (12) conduct a research evaluation of the project. All activities will target census tracts that meet the requirements for priority considerations under the High Poverty Area and the Enhanced Public Safety in the Qualified Opportunity Zones which are associated with the majority of drug related activities and arrests and calls relating to drug overdoses.

Massachusetts

City of Holyoke Police Department

The City of Holyoke Police Department (HPD) applied for Category 1c rural/tribal area grant funding in the amount of $597,650. Project ERASE (Expansion of Recovery from Addiction to Substances Efforts) will implement a multicomponent intervention program designed to (1) support individuals with opioid, stimulant, and other illicit substance issues with interventions to reduce addictions and associated mental health needs, (2) reduce overdoses and overdose deaths through prevention and intervention strategies, and (3) reduce substance-related crime in Holyoke. This project serves Behavioral Health Network and Gandara, the Holyoke Police Department, Hampden County Sheriff, Holyoke Probation, and research partners. The project includes partnerships between the House of Corrections to provide detox treatment options and develop a law enforcement liaison between HPD, the courts, and probation personnel. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high-poverty area and enhanced public safety in Qualified Opportunity Zones.

City of Lowell

The Lowell Police Department is proposing to enhance and expand the Community Opioid-Outreach Program team (Lowell Police, Fire, Health, Trinity EMS, Lowell House) by adding a youth services coordinator to focus on the needs of children affected by the opioid epidemic, two outreach specialists to expand service to the homeless community by serving as a liaison between agencies to improve communication and connect their various resources, and conduct pro-active outreach to any individuals with substance use disorder before an overdose. Grant funds will support a coordinator, crime analyst, full-time clinical recovery specialist and youth services coordinator, outreach recovery specialist and research team. University of Massachusetts Lowell will serve as the research team comprised of researchers from Center for Community Research & Engagement, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, and Community Health and Sustainability.

City of Newburyport

Newburyport Police Department (NPD) in Massachusetts, one of the founding departments of the Essex County Outreach Program, proposes to expand the outreach program to encompass all of Essex County. The Essex County Outreach Program is a series of stigma-free entry points to treatment on demand. The program supports nonarrest or early diversion program models that reach people before they enter the criminal justice system. The program supports multiple law enforcement entry points to treatment, including self-referrals to the stations. Cross-sector collaboration and partnerships are key to the program’s success which is supported by clinicians, social workers, recovery coaches, and trained volunteers.

City of Newburyport

The City of Newburyport, Massachusetts, leads the Essex County Outreach (ECO) program. The primary focus of the project is law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion programming (98 percent of the budget), followed by real-time data collection (two percent of the budget). This project serves the area of Essex County, which has a population of 785,205. ECO is a police-directed post-overdose outreach model and serves to make treatment more accessible for those struggling with substance use disorder (SUD) and their families. The key components of this program are informed by a recent Sequential Intercept Mapping Model (SIM) process that ECO completed, as well as lessons learned from the first four ECO program years. The ECO COSSAP grant prioritizes the following strategies that have emerged as gaps in resources: (1) program coordination/administrative support; (2) funding for police overtime for post-overdose follow-up visits; (3) clinical/child advocacy services; (4) housing and transportation resources to support clients in early stages of recovery; (5) addiction and recovery training for police officers; and (6) expansion of access to harm reduction supplies/kits. This project includes partnerships between the 34 police departments in Essex County, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, and all local treatment providers and community service providers. ECO is administered by the Newburyport Police Department along with the Essex County Chief’s Association. The research partner for this project will maintain the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) software which records real-time data on all overdoses that occur in Essex County. CIMS also manages and documents incident follow-up outreach visits to determine the success at connecting individuals with treatment services, shares information across communities using a county-wide incident notification system and provides real-time reporting tools.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Sheriff's Department Hampden

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sheriff’s Department Hampden applied for a Category 1b suburban area grant in the amount of $900,000. Hampden County Sheriff’s Department’s All Inclusive Support Service Program will reduce opioid-related overdoses and related fatalities. The program will take a multipronged approach to (1) enhance a database in Hampden County that will allow for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of comprehensive, real-time overdose information, and (2) implement a law enforcement, first responder-driven multidisciplinary overdose prevention, response, and diversion referral model known as the Rapid Response and Connection Program. This project serves Hampden County, Massachusetts, which has a population of 470,406. The project includes partnerships between the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, Office of the District Attorney, Baystate Medical Center, Trinity Health Mercy Medical Center, local law enforcement entities, and other established community partners. Priority considerations addressed in project include the disproportionate impact from substance use on a rural, high-poverty census tract and public safety impact in Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Lowell, City of

The City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Police Department (LPD) project will expand and enhance the City of Lowell's existing Community Opioid Outreach Program (CO-OP). The CO-OP was implemented in 2016 to try to connect persons in Lowell, who recently overdosed, to services. The partners include LPD, Lowell Fire Department, Lowell Health Department, Pridestar Trinity EMS, and Lowell House Addiction Treatment and Recovery, Inc. The purpose of the project is to meet the growing needs of those with substance use disorder (SUD) in the City of Lowell. Project activities will include adding a Recovery Housing Specialist and bilingual Outreach Recovery Specialist to the CO-OP team. These positions will be essential to addressing the needs of homeless individuals with SUD and better serving individuals with SUD who speak English as a second language. The LPD is also proposing to provide financial assistance for transitional and recovery housing with recovery support services to individuals that qualify. Additionally, the department will continue to support the Lowell Health Department's Youth Outreach Specialist. This individual will assist youth and their families impacted by substance use and work closely with the Recovery Housing Specialist to secure housing for homeless young adults (18-26) with SUD. The LPD is also proposing to partner with the University of Massachusetts Lowell to conduct an evaluation of the project to understand the effect the program has on the opioid epidemic in the City of Lowell and the lives of those struggling with SUD and housing. Expected outcomes include securing transitional or recovery housing for 36 homeless individuals with SUD, increasing the number of individuals that access recovery services (i.e. youth and individuals that speak a different language), and increasing the number of individuals with SUD that make forward progress on stages of change. The project will address the following allowable activities: expand law enforcement and first responder deflection program (80%) and provide transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services (6%). 14% of the budget will also be dedicated to program evaluation. A breakdown of the budget is below. Additionally, please note that the LPD was awarded the BJA FY 19 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program in the amount of $900,000 (2019-AR-BX-K005). This grant will end in September 2023.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County, the North Quabbin Region, and other partners, will expand services provided by the Community Opportunity, Network, Navigation, Exploration, and Connection Team (CONNECT) project. Serving 30 rural communities across nearly 1,000 square miles, CONNECT became the first team serving 86,773 residents to respond to fatal and non-fatal overdoses in July 2021 in the only federally designated rural county in Massachusetts. CONNECT was created to address consistently high levels of fatal overdoses in a region marked by persistent poverty, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove up opioid-related fatalities by 45.5% between 2020 and 2021. Despite the presence of CONNECT, gaps remain. Lack of law enforcement and first responder capacity, budget cuts, and staff turnover have emerged as issues. The distribution of naloxone to our law enforcement and first responders remains a priority as many municipalities cannot afford it due to high costs. Advancing racial equity in our work has also emerged as a priority, as data reveal people of color are disproportionately impacted by opioid overdoses in Massachusetts. Rural isolation and lack of access to services remain a concern, where limited transportation routes and Internet connectivity prevent individuals from accessing SUD treatment services and peer recovery coaching supports in community settings, preventing their entry into the mental health and criminal justice systems. To address these challenges, CONNECT will: 1) implement a set of new strategies at Intercept Zero that would include the creation of a CONNECT Mobile Outreach Program to visit residents in their communities, including targeting priority populations (e.g., trade workers), create self and at-risk referral pathways to leverage CONNECT services to prevent opioid overdoses from occurring, provide grief support visits, and create an opioid fatality review team; 2) embed peer recovery coaches in community, court, and emergency room settings; 3) continue to provide naloxone to law enforcement and first responders; 4) support CONNECT Cultural Humility Initiative to ensure the diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice principles are part of our community outreach; and 5) expand real-time data collection with our Critical Management System for CONNECT's new services. Led by research scientists Pamela Kelley and Dr. Sean Varano, Kelley Research Associates will act as CONNECT's Research Partner to assess its effectiveness.

Massachusetts

Middle District Attorney's Office

The Worcester County Regional Outreach project at the Middle District Attorney’s Office (MDAO) enhances county-wide response to substance use, misuse, and abuse for non-fatal overdoses and children affected by opioids. This program implements a post-overdose follow-up strategy using the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) to track fatal and non-fatal overdose incidents. CIMS allows overdoses to be tracked in real-time and alerts the follow-up team of the need for a home visit. Police and clinicians or recovery coaches make home visits within 72 hours of a non-fatal overdose and provide the survivor and their family with resources and referrals for service. Services are also offered for any children involved with the incident or individual. The Worcester County Regional Outreach project has the following goals: 1) To reduce the number of unintentional overdose deaths in Worcester County; 2) To increase the number of individuals receiving treatment and recovery support services in Worcester County; 3) To improve outcomes for children affected by substance abuse; and 4) To build a sustainable model for long term substance abuse and overdose prevention.

Northampton, City of

The Northampton Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Drug Addiction Recovery Team (DART) Enhanced Model will provide deflection interventions at sequential intercepts zero and multiple communities in Hampshire and Hampden counties in Western Massachusetts and will provide regional data collection and synthesis for the region, including an additional ten communities in Berkshire County. DHHS played a leadership role throughout the opioid crisis in Western Massachusetts and is committed to continuing to strengthen that work. The project will build upon DHHS's current multi-sector, cross-county foundation of police departments, recovery centers, behavioral health and treatment providers, and hospitals. The specific aim of the enhanced model is to improve engagement with communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by inequality. The DART model consists of teams of first responders, community responders, and harm reductionists who offer free support to people who use drugs, and their families, after an opioid overdose or other high risk substance use. DHHS will collaborate with local recovery centers to hire community responders, with the goal of more effectively reaching nonwhite and homeless individuals with SUD, as well as persons with co-occurring SUD and mental health disorders. Moreover, DHHS will shift its model to ensure that more post-overdose responses are conducted by a non-police DART member whenever possible to increase engagement with persons from historically marginalized groups. Secondly, DHHS plans to conduct outreach activities in communities in the catchment area that are most impacted by environmental harms and risks (known as environmental justice communities), as people living in these overburdened communities may be more at risk for drug use and overdose. The goal of these activities is to reduce SUD stigma and increase deflection of individuals with SUD and cooccurring disorders prior to police intervention. Thirdly, DART will continue to support partnering police departments in obtaining an ongoing supply of Naloxone and will expand distribution to individuals likely to reverse an overdose in the community. Lastly, DART will continue its focus on real-time data collection and analysis and utilize the UMass Center for Program Evaluation to support evaluation of program efficacy and quality assurance. DART aims to divert individuals with SUD and co-occurring disorders from involvement with the criminal justice system and reduce the high rates of opioid overdose deaths in the region, specifically among historically marginalized groups.

Massachusetts

Town of East Bridgewater

The Town of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, received funding to support the existing Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) program and all the funding goes towards law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion programming. This project serves the area of Plymouth County, which has a population of 533,033. PCO is a police-directed post-overdose outreach model and serves to make treatment more accessible for those struggling with Substance Use Disorder and their families. The key program components will enhance the current PCO model in two ways. First, the creation of a standardized training curriculum for all police officers, dispatchers, and civilian employees of police departments throughout Plymouth County, including the fundamentals of addiction, overdose prevention and response, trauma informed responses to addiction/overdoses, and adverse childhood experiences (ACES). It is expected that 75 percent of all police personnel will be trained through this funding. Second, the creation of two satellite offices in underserved parts of the county identified as overdose “hot-spots” to expand the capacity of PCO staff to engage with clients in non-adversarial settings; conduct harm reduction training and distribution of supplies; provide drop-in services that focus on removing barriers to accessing treatment (assistance with obtaining identification, insurance applications, and transportation); and provide referrals for employment, housing, mental health counseling, and local treatment/recovery resources. This project includes partnerships between the 27 police departments in Plymouth County, as well as the Bridgewater State University Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney and Sheriff, and all local hospitals and treatment facilities. PCO is administered by an advisory board that is comprised of police chiefs, physicians, and public health experts. The research partner for this project will maintain the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) software which records real-time data on all overdoses that occur in Plymouth County. CIMS also manages and documents incident follow-up outreach visits to determine the success at connecting individuals with treatment services, shares information across communities using a county-wide incident notification system and provides real-time reporting tools. This proposal signifies a strategic expansion of the PCO model to fill critical gaps in current resources and services.

Massachusetts

Town of East Bridgewater

The Town of East Bridgewater project supports the existing Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) program. Ninety-seven percent of this budget will support the allowable use category of law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion programming and 3% will support real-time data collection. This project serves the area of Plymouth County, which has a population of 541,589.1. PCO is a police directed post-overdose outreach model and serves to make treatment more accessible for those struggling with Substance Use Disorder and their families. The key program components of this project will enhance the current PCO model in three ways. First, the expansion of the reentry strategy to provide recovery support to pre-trial court-based populations including referrals to local resources, sober living scholarships, and transportation vouchers. Second, the expansion of recovery supports to youth including weekly youth recovery support groups and the development of a policy and curriculum for educational SUD classes that schools can add to the existing school drug policy violation disciplinary options. Finally, the creation of an Overdose Fatality Review process to identify gaps in services and resources that contribute to fatal overdose events including six OFR meetings reviewing 12-18 fatal events per year. This project includes partnerships between the 27 police departments in Plymouth County, as well as the Bridgewater State University Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney and Sheriff, as well as all local hospitals and treatment facilities. PCO is administered by an Advisory Board that is comprised of Police Chiefs, Physicians, and Public Health experts. Kelley Research Associates (KRA) will serve as the research partner for this project and also maintain the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) software which records real-time data on all overdoses that occur in Plymouth County. CIMS also manages and documents incident followup outreach visits to determine the success at connecting individuals with treatment services, shares information across communities using a county-wide incident notification system and provides real-time reporting tools. Previous COSSAP funding from 2018 and 2020 allowed PCO to establish long-term viability.

Massachusetts

Town of Seekonk

The Seekonk Police Department is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $798,156. The Bristol County Outreach Opioid Intervention/Mental Health Program is a law enforcement-led post-overdose outreach collaboration among eight towns in Bristol County that will facilitate access to treatment for individuals struggling with substance use disorder, as well as support for their families and friends. The program includes hiring a project coordinator/clinician and a recovery specialist to support the eight-town coalition of police departments in their efforts to provide post overdose/referral recovery support services to individuals experiencing non-fatal overdoses and those determined to be at risk for overdose. Outreach teams will conduct post-overdose home visits within 72 hours of an overdose to offer access to treatment. Outreach will also include distribution of harm reduction tool kits including naloxone. All eight towns currently use countywide overdose/referral tracking software called the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS), which tracks all fatal and non-fatal overdoses, shares data among law enforcement agencies, and documents post-overdose follow-up. The project serves the towns of Dighton, Easton, Fairhaven, Mansfield, Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Somerset in Bristol County, which have an aggregate population of 136,738. The project includes partnerships between the municipal police departments in Dighton, Easton, Fairhaven, Mansfield, Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Somerset. The project will engage Kelley Research Associates as a research partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Cecil County

The Cecil County Department of Community Services (DCS) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $762,064. The project will enable the expansion of the Cecil County Prevention and Overdose Response and Trauma Support Services initiative (PORTSS), a first responder-led project. The PORTSS team, comprising a coordinator from the Department of Emergency Services, a peer recovery specialist from the Cecil County Health Department, and a case manager from DCS, will help bridge an identified communication gap between responding agencies and service providers and ensure outreach to victims and families. With the addition of the DCS case manager (a social worker), the team will assess needs, coordinate referrals, assist families, and follow up on family engagement. Services to families will include a warm handoff to substance use disorder treatment, trauma therapy for children and their caregivers, revitalization of Cecil’s Handle with Care program, referrals for behavioral/mental health services for children, assistance with accessing community resources (food, housing, utility assistance, etc.), educational assistance, and regular follow-up. The PORTSS team will utilize real-time data from Cecil County’s heroin coordinator, located in the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and 9-1-1 call logs, enabling it to receive real-time notification of overdose “hot spots.” The PORTSS team will also provide regular training to first responders on adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and ethics. The project serves Cecil County, a largely rural jurisdiction with a population of nearly 103,000. The project includes partnerships with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office, public schools in the county, the Cecil County Department of Social Services, Voices of Hope, Inc. (a recovery partner), and Bodhi Counseling and Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, behavioral health providers. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Maryland

Cecil County, Maryland

Cecil County, Maryland, will enhance the community's response to the opioid crisis by offering a public safety-led multidisciplinary team response to serve victims of overdose, their children and family members, and our professional partners. The initiative is entitled the Prevention and Overdose Response and Trauma Services Supports program (PORTSS). Cecil County has previously received COSSAP grant funds and this project will augment and supplement the activities of that grant, while assiduously maintaining separation of financial and programmatic measures. In January 2022, Cecil County officially launched the PORTSS team. The team offers services to overdose victims and family members as Cecil implements a two-generation strategy to reduce substance use disorder and consequent childhood trauma. Services include a warm handoff to treatment, trauma therapy for children and their caregivers, and assistance with accessing community resources. Additionally, the team is continuously collecting, reviewing and sharing data, providing direct therapeutic services to first responders, training and supporting public safety, school staff and other professionals, promoting community awareness, and sharing all available resources to meet the needs of this population. With additional funding, Cecil County intends to continue current efforts and provide new services, including transportation for clients in recovery houses, an annual Trunk-or-Treat/Drug Take-Back event, youth diversion and tobacco, drug, and alcohol education, youth social and emotional learning, a Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) program, continuing education for local mental health professionals, and a central data sharing system. The nature of the work supported by the PORTSS initiative requires ongoing, uninterrupted service to provide continuous trauma therapy, overdose response, prevention efforts, education, and data management. To avoid the inevitable delays that occur at the start of a new grant cycle, Cecil County is proactively applying for funding mid-cycle, attempting to insure an uninterrupted flow of services.

Maryland

Executive Office of the State of Maryland

Maryland has taken numerous steps to combat the increasing number of overdoses and deaths resulting from the heroin and opioid crisis. Some of these efforts include creating workgroups, enacting legislation, and declaring a State of Emergency. Although Maryland remains committed to addressing this crisis, overdose deaths continue to significantly impact the state at an alarming rate. According to the CDC, the overdose death rate in Maryland increased from 20.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2015 to 44.6 in 2020. Based on the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP), overdose deaths in Maryland increased by 8.28 percent, from 12,581 in 2018 to 13,623 in 2021. During the same time, heroin and non-fatal/fatal overdoses increased by 3.7 percent, while fentanyl overdoses increased 108 percent. Furthermore, there were a total of 32,405 overdoses in Maryland between January 2020 and June 2, 2022. For the Maryland Efforts to Expand the Fight Against Opioids (MEEFAO) project, the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services (GOCPYVS) is partnering with the Maryland Department of Health, the Opioid Operational Command Center, the Maryland Judiciary, and more to respond to the growing challenges resulting from the opioid epidemic. The Maryland Statistical Analysis Center will also be engaged to support action-oriented research, performance management, and evaluation of all selected sites. The evaluation of MEEFAO is expected to contribute to the national body of knowledge as it relates to best practices. The expected outcomes of MEEFAO will also decrease opioid overdose deaths, decrease recidivism rates, improve relationships between law enforcement and the community, and improve social and behavioral outcomes in the community.

St. Mary's County

The St. Mary’s County Health Department (SMCHD) is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $899,963. The St. Mary’s County Day Reporting Center project will provide community-based services and treatment to offenders under parole/probation in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The offenders will live at home and report to the center on a daily basis. While at the center, the offenders receive various services including substance misuse counseling, anger management, moral reconation therapy, parenting skills, relapse prevention, mental health coordination, job skills, case management, educational classes, life skills, after-care planning, and touch-ups. This project serves a population of roughly 113,510 individuals in St. Mary's County. The project includes partnerships between SMCHD and St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center (SMCDRC).

Town of Scarborough

The Town of Scarborough is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $600,000. The project will support the expansion of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program in the Scarborough Police Department (SPD), launched in November 2020 under the guidance of the LEAD National Support Bureau. Individuals are linked to the program by police officers and receive an intake assessment consisting of goal identification and setting, referrals for services, and social support. Program participants are also able to enroll in the Heroin Opioid Prevention Effort (HOPE) program, a Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (PAARI)-model program operated by SPD. The project will support the hiring of a case manager to assist the SPD Social Services Division. Additional funding will be used to support short-term housing costs for individuals enrolled in the program; clinical and psychiatric care for individuals without health insurance; and emergency services to facilitate transportation of participants, food, clothing, prepaid phone service, and necessities. Deliverables for this project include reducing recidivism for participants and increasing referrals for services. The project serves Scarborough, a community of 20,352 citizens in Southern Cumberland County, spread over 70.63 square miles. The project includes partnerships with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office; Maine Health-Maine Medical Center Psychiatry; Spurwink Behavioral Health Services; Milestone Detoxification Center; and the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Cass County, Inc.

Cass County, Inc. applied for Category 1c rural/tribal area grant funding in the amount of $600,000. The Cass County COSSAP Project will employ a collaborative and comprehensive “gap-filling” approach to develop, implement, and/or expand/enhance existing trauma-informed evidence-based programming in order to identify, respond to, treat, and support those affected by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other substances. Objectives include the expansion of access to supervision, treatment, and recovery support services across the criminal justice system. The program will also create co-responder crisis intervention teams of trained law enforcement officers and behavioral health practitioners to connect individuals to trauma-informed and evidence-based co-occurring SUD treatment and recovery support services, as well as provide overdose education and prevention activities, and address the needs of children impacted by substance abuse. The project includes partnerships between 43rd Circuit Court judges, Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network, Office of the Sheriff, Office of the Prosecutor, Community Corrections, defense attorney, program coordinator, and the program evaluator. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the challenges that rural communities face and Qualified Opportunity Zone.

Macomb County

Macomb County is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $595,168. The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office/Families Against Narcotics (FAN) REDIRECT Diversion Program will reduce the number of overdoses, assist people in getting treatment for addiction, reduce drug-related crimes, and improve the relationship between law enforcement and the community. The overall goal of REDIRECT is to reduce both drug-related crime and overdose mortalities among high-need/high-risk people in Macomb County who may have committed a minor, non-violent, drug-related offense by offering them a referral to treatment and continuum of care, in lieu of arrest and prosecution of criminal charges. The objectives are to launch REDIRECT in all 18 police departments within the county, provide a continuum of care to participants for 12 months to support their sobriety, and to reduce the stigma of addiction within law enforcement and the community. This project serves Macomb County, which has a population of approximately 873,000. The project includes a partnership with FAN, a grassroots organization known and respected by law enforcement throughout the county. Priority considerations addressed in this application include that the project will benefit individuals residing in a high-poverty area or persistent-poverty county.

Michigan Department of State Police

The Michigan State Police (MSP) is applying for Category 2 funding in the amount of $5,675,564. The MSP COSSAP project will provide subawards to multiple community agencies in seven counties (Genesee, Grand Traverse, Kent, Lake, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Shiawassee) across Michigan that have not previously received Bureau of Justice Assistance funding to develop and expand their overdose prevention programs. The selected counties are a mix of rural and urban jurisdictions that have experienced a high overdose burden, have limited access and resources to substance use treatment services compared to other counties in the state, and are ready to implement their programs within the required time frame of the grant. Strategies include development and expansion of quick response teams, law enforcement embedded social workers, jail-based medicated-assisted treatment with recovery coaches, law enforcement assisted diversion, naloxone for first responders, and drug checking sites; the latter will be the first program in Michigan to pilot this service for people who use drugs. The project will also support drug take back events. The MSP will partner with local agencies to ensure that there is no duplication of funding. The goal of the project is to reduce the rate of overdoses and the racial/ethnic disparities in overdose mortality rates in order to help families and communities heal and recover. The project serves Genesee, Grand Traverse, Kent, Lake, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Shiawassee counties, with a total population of 1,458,377. The project includes partnerships between MSP and local public health departments, community organizations, and law enforcement agencies in each of the participating counties. The project will engage the University of Michigan School of Nursing as an evaluation/research partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Michigan

Oakland County

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) provides law enforcement services to the citizens of Oakland County, Michigan–a population of more than 1.2 million residents. The county’s overdose crisis is a public safety and health emergency that threatens the well-being of individuals who misuse drugs and impacts the safety of communities. Prescription drugs and prescription drug abuse are driving an epidemic of overdose deaths that include the boundaries of Oakland County. Mutual trust is essential to maintain public safety and a partnership between law enforcement and the mental health community to provide applicable services and enhanced response to persons in crisis is needed. This grant seeks to expand an existing law enforcement deflection and diversion program and educate community members on the crisis response concept and 100 percent of the budget will be dedicated to these activities. The program will provide the ability to expand individual agency Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained law enforcement officers, along with the creation of a county-wide crisis response team made up of dedicated CIT law enforcement officers who receive advanced training and respond where the need arises, like a county-wide task force. The crisis response program will include 12 communities that contract with the OCSO for law enforcement services and 39 local and multijurisdictional law enforcement agencies within Oakland County. The Crisis Response Unit will provide training to teachers, counselors, and citizens in the crisis response concept. The training is not a certification in CIT but will enhance an understanding around crisis response and mental health. By creating a county-wide crisis response unit and increasing CIT training, officers will be better equipped to respond to individuals experiencing a crisis and divert them to mental health agencies to receive appropriate care. The anticipated outcome of this program is a decrease in overdose deaths within Oakland County.

St. Joseph County

The County of St. Joseph applied for Category 1c rural/tribal area grant funding in the amount of $600,000. The County of St. Joseph COSSAP Project will employ a collaborative and comprehensive “gap-filling” approach to develop, implement, and/or expand/enhance existing trauma-informed evidence-based programming in order to identify, respond to, treat, and support those affected by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other substances. Objectives include the expansion of access to supervision, treatment, and recovery support services across the criminal justice system. The project will also create Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) to enhance co-responder crisis intervention teams to connect individuals to trauma-informed and evidence-based co-occurring SUD treatment and recovery support services; provide overdose education and prevention activities; and address the needs of children impacted by substance abuse. This project serves St. Joseph County, Michigan, with a population of 60,964. The project includes partnerships between the 45th Circuit Court of Michigan, sheriff, Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, defense attorney, Office of the Prosecutor, Community Corrections, program evaluator, and program coordinator. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the specific challenges that rural communities face and a Qualified Opportunity Zone.

City of Duluth

The City of Duluth is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $899,982. The Substance Use Response Team of the City of Duluth Police Department’s Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force (LSDVCTF) proposes a program model that would expand upon the services it currently provides, allow for the program to assist more individuals regardless of drug of choice, and shorten times between overdose events and contact from the team, thereby allowing for quicker access to treatment. This project serves the entire LSDVCTF region, which includes St. Louis, Carlton, and Lake Counties in Minnesota, as well as the city of Superior in Wisconsin. This entire region has a total population of 288,732. The project includes partnerships between St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services, St. Louis County Drug Court, the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, and SOAR Career Solutions. This project will engage Dr. Jeff Maahs from the University of Minnesota Duluth as the research partner for this project. Priority considerations addressed in this application include services and referrals in designated Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Rice County

The Comprehensive Longitudinal Efforts Addressing Narcotic Use Proliferation (CLEANUP) will address illicit substance use in Rice County, Minnesota, with a population of 67,000 people. It will reduce overdose deaths, promote public safety, and support access to treatment, recovery, and harm reduction in the community and justice system. A multidisciplinary coordinating body, the Rice County Opioid Council, will support law enforcement and justice systems to intervene earlier using deflection and diversion to shift efforts from punishment to restorative practices. Through the Recovery Support Team, the project will support access to treatment, housing, basic needs, peer recovery support and culturally/linguistically appropriate services to improve outcomes for those struggling with substance use disorder, prioritizing Latin and East African communities. Activities under the grant include police-assisted recovery and deflection (14 percent of budget), pre-charge adult diversion (36 percent of budget), recovery support team (36 percent of budget), pre-/post-treatment housing (14 percent of budget). Council partners have implemented most of the remaining allowable activities, and with the resources made possible by this grant and the support of a research partner, Rice County will have a comprehensive model that could serve as a national model for other rural communities. The project benefits individuals from underserved rural Rice County struggling with substance use disorder, with a focus on underserved communities, especially Latine and Somali.

Lamar County Board of Supervisors

The Lamar County Board of Supervisors applied for Category 1c rural/tribal area grant funding in the amount of $599,981. The Lamar County Guardian Project objectives are to divert 100 individuals with SUD from jail and into community-based treatment and to provide counseling and case management services to 150 individuals suffering SUD while inside the correctional facility. All 250 individuals would be provided with case management and outreach services provided by staff and volunteers under this project umbrella. This project serves Lamar County, Mississippi, which has a population of 63,300. The project includes Healthcorr, LLC, a provider servicing the Lamar County Jail. Healthcorr, LLC will provide a Licensed Clinical Social worker to be staffed in the Jail. This position will provide booking assessments, counseling services, medical referrals, and tools needed to be successful outside of Jail. This position will also accept referrals from law enforcement for outpatient treatment services in lieu of collecting additional chargers. Lamar County Jail will provide a Substance Use Officer to act in a case management role on a case by case basis. This officer will be the liaison between courts, medical facilities, treatment facilities and additional correctional facilities. This position will offer assistance once released in order to remain successful sober. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities and emergency medical services, and rural challenges.

Mississippi State Department of Health

The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) project is titled Mississippi COSSAP Advanced Response Enhancement System (MCARES), will enhance real-time response to illicit substance use and misuse; reduce overdose fatalities; promote rapid response; and support access to prevention, treatment, and recovery. MCARES is a statewide project that will mitigate the effects of opioids, stimulants, and other substances by delivering initiatives that collectively identify, respond to, treat, and support those locally impacted at the community level while ameliorating racial and health inequities. This three-pronged approach of demand reduction, harm reduction, and supply reduction ensures a holistic initiative, one that while directed at the state level, simultaneously enlists and enhances local capabilities to sustain these efforts beyond the project’s timeframe. Attention will be focused on counties or county clusters within the state that have a documented record of elevated vulnerability to the impacts of opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs. MCARES will select six community-based organizations within six of the nine Mississippi public safety districts to direct the community-based response, prioritizing areas of high need through a data-driven process in which multiple years of fatal and nonfatal overdose death rates will be carefully analyzed along with other indicators to create community risk profiles. MCARES goals include: (1) comprehensive, real-time, regional information collection, analysis, and dissemination that promote the use of data for both efficient and effective planning and response to overdoses and emerging drug trends (35 percent of total budget); (2) expansion of naloxone distribution for first responders and direct distribution to end users (e.g., individuals experiencing a drug overdose) (10 percent of total budget); and (3) evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and harm reduction activities (20 percent of total budget). To attain these goals, MCARES will implement activities to achieve the following outcomes: (1) development and implementation of a state-level overdose spike response framework to guide transportable response units in rapid local response efforts; (2) transportable response units to provide a concerted, collaborative rapid response to communities experiencing a drug overdose spike, based on real-time surveillance data received by MSDH; (3) expanded naloxone access to individuals suffering from a nonfatal overdose; and increased MOUD for under-insured and uninsured Mississippians.

Mississippi

Mississippi State Department of Health

The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is applying for a Category 2 statewide area grant in the amount of $6,000,000. The Mississippi Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program will implement universal SUD screening with comprehensive evidence-based SUD interventions delivered through collaboration between patient and provider. They will improve the timeliness and quality of drug overdose information on death certificates and the transfer of this information electronically to support the rapid exchange of death information. The program will select an appropriate web-based naloxone administration training portal to train law enforcement and other first responders on administration of naloxone and expand the availability of naloxone to those that receive training. Also, the program will extend and expand access to evidence-based treatment interventions through MSDH county health departments. This project serves all citizens of the state of Mississippi, a predominately rural state with a population of 2.9 million residents. The project includes partnerships between the Mississippi Public Health Institute, Mississippi Office of Forensics Laboratories, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Priority considerations addressed in this application include rural, high-poverty areas, and Qualified Opportunity Zones.

City of Billings

The City of Billings applied for Category 1b grant funding in the amount of $900,000. The Billings Peer Support Diversion Program (Billings PSDP) will develop a peer support-driven prebooking diversion program that provides support for individuals at high risk of overdose or chronic substance abuse. The program will use trained and certified peer support specialists, working independently and embedded with law enforcement to engage in street outreach with the chronically homeless through mobile behavioral health crisis response. The primary objective of the project is to use evidence-based strategies to divert high-risk individuals from incarceration into treatment and social support services. The project will also overcome local barriers related to length of treatment for methamphetamine recovery and limited recovery housing options in the community. This project serves individuals who have been arrested and chronically homeless individuals with opioid or stimulant use disorders in all of Yellowstone County, with a focus on downtown Billings, where this population is concentrated. The project includes partnerships among the City of Billings, Billings Police Department, Downtown Billings Association, and Rimrock, Montana’s largest mental health and substance abuse treatment provider. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a Qualified Opportunity Zone.

City of Jacksonville

In 2016, Jacksonville, North Carolina, was ranked in the Castlight Health report (The Opioid Crisis in America’s Workforce) as the 12th top city for opioid abuse rate in the US, with 8.2 percent of people in the community who receive and abuse an opioid prescription. The report stated that approximately 16,000 residents struggle with prescription abuse. Current statistics show a significant problem in the county, including a rise in overdose deaths following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Onslow County rate of death from overdose increased by 85 percent from 2019 to 2021. The 2022 COSSAP project will expand on the successes of the 2019 project and continue to partner with stakeholders in developing and executing a comprehensive effort to respond to, treat, and support those impacted by the opioid and substance use crisis. The project’s goal is to decrease overdose deaths in our community by developing resources that provide services to individuals struggling with opioid and substance use disorders and their family members. The project will be comprised of seven components; (1) redevelopment of a Quick Response Team, a focused effort to allow individuals to be diverted from the justice system at the two lowest levels of the Sequential Intercept Model; Intercept 0 Community Services and Intercept 1 Law Enforcement; (2) support implementation of peer navigators within the community paramedic program for overdose victims encountered through emergency medical services to swiftly direct them to services and assist with case management after encounter; (3) a law assisted diversion program to direct low level drug offenders to treatment and prevent them from entering criminal justice system (4) an overdose fatality review team to bring together various stakeholders with different perspectives to review overdose deaths; (5) child psychology services to provide therapy for children with adverse childhood experiences due to exposure to substance use in additional to a substance use counselor to work with the school system providing education and referral services to families experiencing SUD. The project will also include evaluation utilizing experienced social science research evaluators. This project will serve individuals in the City of Jacksonville (pop 72,447) and the County of Onslow, NC (pop 193,893) and includes partners from the governmental, non-profit and service provider business entities. These partners include: Onslow County, Onslow County Department of Social Services, Onslow County Health Department, Onslow County Emergency Services, the Dix Crisis Center, Integrated Family Services, the Onslow County District Attorney’s Office, District and Superior Court Judges, Onslow County Schools, Onslow Memorial Hospital, and the Onslow County Partnership for Children.

North Carolina

Gaston County

The purpose of the Gaston County, North Carolina, project is to initiate the following activities: (1) bring together multiple county entities—substance abuse treatment providers, law enforcement, courts, health care providers, and the faith-based community—to collaborate in implementing a law enforcement assisted diversion program (LEAD); (2) augment treatment and recovery services for individuals who are at high risk for overdose and recidivism and are participants in recovery court; and (3) incorporate transitional/recovery housing assistance and certified peer recovery support services into both the LEAD and the recovery court programs. The expected outcomes are to improve public safety, reduce criminal recidivism, and reduce the associated costs of legal and criminal-justice-service utilization. The service area is all of Gaston County, the seventh largest county in North Carolina, with a population of 230,226. The project expects to serve approximately 50 participants yearly: 25 through LEAD and 25 within the recovery court. The Gaston County Police Department is the lead agency and partners include the District Attorney’s Office, Olive Branch Ministry—an affiliate of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, and the Gaston County Controlled Substance Coalition. The Coalition is a permanent task force of community leaders that will serve as the multi-disciplinary body for the project. The District Attorney’s Office will assign an Assistant District Attorney to both the Operational and Coordinating Groups. Olive Branch Ministry will provide training for stakeholders in the principles of harm reduction and will provide certified peer support specialists. The project will also identify a contracted source to provide evidence-based clinical assessments and individualized treatment plans. The Gaston County Police Department will supervise three full-time positions: a LEAD case manager, a recovery court case manager, and a project coordinator. Case management will focus on the whole individual and stress comprehensive assessment, service planning, and service coordination. The project coordinator’s roles and responsibilities will include consulting with the multi-disciplinary coalition, overseeing the programmatic and financial components of the grant, collaborating with stakeholders to develop program resources (e.g., policies, protocols, and screening forms), arranging trainings, troubleshooting stakeholders’ concerns, identifying resources, facilitating meetings, developing information-sharing systems in collaboration with the coalition, and streamlining communication.

North Carolina

Lincoln County

Lincoln County, North Carolina, is a mix of urban and rural communities. There were 143 cases of documented overdose/substance misuse in 2019 compared to 380 in 2021–over a 100 percent increase. In all age ranges, overdose/substance misuse increased since 2019. Lincoln County lacks critical infrastructure to support enhanced needs of individuals with substance use disorder and county leadership is prepared to make the necessary changes to align Lincoln County with the priority areas outlined by the state government in North Carolina. Currently, there is no deflection or diversion work happening in Lincoln County, so the Lincoln County Health Department is using grant funds to create a community paramedicine-led Post Overdose Response Team (PORT), the first deflection and diversion program of its kind for first responders in the county. The full budget will be used to build and implement the program including hiring staff, buying supplies, acquiring a robust data tracking system among other expenses that might arise. The PORT would serve individuals with substance use disorder to mitigate injury and death. The PORT program will consist of a certified community paramedic, a certified peer recovery support specialist, and a licensed clinical social worker. The team will connect with eligible individuals and their family members to provide peer support services, linkages to appropriate care, education on the disease of addiction, harm reduction services, safety education, parenting education, and education on any co-occurring health care needs, and training to those who suffer from a substance use disorder and their loved ones. The goals for this program include: (1) reduce reoccurring use of emergency services or hospital emergency departments; (2) connect people with services for acute or long-term needs; and (3) assist individuals in recovery, sobriety, and daily life skills.

North Carolina State Department of Health and Human Services

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services (NC DHHS) will implement evidence-based strategies to reduce the rate of opioid overdose associated with individuals involved in the local justice system. NC DHHS will competitively subaward nine sites to implement pre-arrest diversion programs, jail-based overdose prevention education and naloxone upon release, jail-based medication assisted treatment, and connections to care upon release. Six sites will be new projects and three sites will involve expanding or enhancing existing projects. The state will collaborate with a research partner for the project.

Wake County

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) will develop an Opioid Abuse Management Program, which aims to reduce the high rate of opioid overdoses and opioid fatalities in Wake County. The Opioid Abuse Management program will be overseen by a Program Coordinator who will implement and oversee the progress of the program. Funding through the program will ensure that all deputies are equipped with naloxone to administer and reverse the effects of an overdose. The program will also provide handheld narcotics analyzers and necessary accessories, which will enable deputies to quickly identify suspected controlled substances in emergency situations. Tablets will also be funded through the program and will be provided to deputies responding to substance abuse calls. These tablets will provide a direct connection to Alliance Health Access and Information Line, where deputies will receive immediate virtual assistance from a social services professional. Tablets will also be used in the Detox Unit by project staff for reporting and data management, as well as by residents housed in the Detox Unit to assist with job applications, substance abuse treatment programs, and telehealth visits. WCSO recognizes that our duty of care must not stop upon a resident’s release and therefore will implement collaborative partnerships with behavioral health clinics and treatment providers to expand our comprehensive efforts to respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs of abuse once released from our care. WCSO will procure a software company to develop and implement a Substance Abuse Disorder Management Platform that will track treatment during incarceration and upon release. This software will connect the WCSO with outside healthcare professionals to better understand patterns and to share crucial information.

New Hampshire Department of Justice

The New Hampshire Department of Justice (DOJ) is applying for Category 2 funding in the amount of $4,710,993. The project will enable the expansion of the Prevention, Enforcement, & Treatment (PET) Program, which is designed to help lower recidivism rates of overdose victims and provide support to families of those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) by tasking a police officer to respond to overdose calls in a jurisdiction and to connect individuals and their family members to lifesaving resources. The project will expand PET from Laconia to six other counties across the state in partnership with Amoskeag Health, a nonprofit health care provider who, along with the Manchester Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team Technical Assistance Center (ACERT TAC) will enable a multigenerational approach to SUD. The ACERT TAC will provide training and resources for the communities to ensure their networks of programs and services are trauma-informed. The project will integrate PET and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) into the first responders’ curriculum when responding to calls related to drug use. PET will offer a core of services to the families of individuals with SUD while identifying and utilizing resources from Manchester ACERT TAC to address the ACEs in children. The project serves the State of New Hampshire, which has an estimated population of 1,377,529. It will focus on the jurisdictions of Laconia, Belmont, Berlin, Claremont, Londonderry, Manchester, Somersworth and Merrimack. The project will include partnerships between the New Hampshire DOJ and the Belmont Police Department, the Berlin Police Department, the Claremont Police Department, the Laconia Police Department, the Londonderry Police Department, the Manchester Police Department, the Somersworth Police Department, the Merrimack Police Department, and Amoskeag Health. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

New Hampshire

Atlantic City (Inc)

Atlantic City is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $600,000. The Atlantic City COSSAP program will focus on promoting public safety and supporting access to recovery services, strengthening data collection and sharing, aligning and maximizing resources, and preventing substance use. It will implement a comprehensive plan to reduce the risk of overdose death and enhance treatment and recovery engagement through recommendations made by the city’s overdose fatality review team, bringing together stakeholders with different perspectives and different data sets to improve public health and clinical practices. Strategies include enhanced outreach to overdose survivors and their families and enhanced targeting of high-frequency cases. Goals of the project include reducing the impact of opioids, stimulants, and other substances on individuals and communities, reducing the number of overdose fatalities, and mitigating the impacts on crime victims by supporting comprehensive, collaborative initiatives, in part by enhancing the proactive use of prescription drug monitoring programs to support clinical decision making and preventing the misuse and diversion of controlled substances. The project serves Atlantic City, which has a population of 37,999. The project includes partnerships with the city’s Director of Public Health, the Jewish Family Services Department, Southern Jersey Family Medical Center, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Behavioral Health, the Atlantic City Police Department, the Atlantic City Municipal Court, and emergency medical services. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Burlington County

Burlington County is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $900,000. The Burlington County COSSAP Program will expand law enforcement and other first responder deflection and diversion programs; embed social services within law enforcement in order to rapidly respond to drug overdoses where children are impacted; incorporate comprehensive, real-time, regional information collection, analysis, and dissemination; include naloxone training and distribution; and utilize evidence-based treatment, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), as well as recovery support services including transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services. The project will support the 24/7 Operations program, a naloxone plus/Quick Response Team model that delivers services to people who use drugs through a “warm hand-off” from police to trained peer recovery specialists, expanding this service to reach the Burlington County Jail population; expansion of the Straight to Treatment program, a self-referral pathway in which people facing addiction can walk into police stations at designated times and get assessed, referred, and transported to treatment; and expansion of Hope One, a mobile access unit that offers critical support for persons and their families struggling with addiction, with the goals of preventing drug overdoses and deaths and providing linkages to treatment and recovery support services, in collaboration with the county sheriff’s office, the Department of Human Services, Volunteers of America, the New Jersey Transit Police, and community organizations. It will also support law enforcement-initiated training for motel/hotel owners on the distribution of Narcan, as well as the distribution of Narcan doses to replenish county and local law enforcement supplies, as needed. The county will also develop improved systems for collecting and analyzing data to improve internal operations and decision making while contributing to the state and national body of best practices on responding to the opioid crisis. The project serves Burlington County, which has a population of 446,596. The project includes partnerships with the county’s Department of Corrections, the Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Human Services, the County Prosecutor, and several treatment providers. The project will engage the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers University as an evaluation partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

New Jersey

Cumberland County (Inc)

The County of Cumberland (Inc) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $900,000. Fighting Relapse Effort Employing Drug Offense Monitoring Plus (FREEDOM+) is a collaborative diversionary program that will offer treatment and key peer recovery supports as a critical intervention that interrupts perpetuated criminal behavior. Additional harm reduction, prevention, and intervention efforts like Narcan distribution and education, fentanyl test strips, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Drug Take Back Initiative, and integrating Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) and Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI) programs are the "plus" part of this project to support community members fighting to be substance free. The FREEDOM+ program aims to drive those caught in the cycle of relapse and drug-seeking behavior toward treatment on threat of legal consequence, while setting up the participant for success with compassionate peer recovery support services. This project serves an estimated 600 defendants who will be offered, through their defense counsel, an opportunity to participate in FREEDOM+, with hopes that the offered opportunity and supports will motivate as many as 50 percent of participants to remain compliant into sustained recovery. The project includes partnerships with the Cumberland County Department of Human Services (CCDHS), which is a primary partner in implementing FREEDOM+, and its substance misuse programs. CCDHS operates a state licensed treatment facility where they will administer Comprehensive Drug and Alcohol Evaluations and provide a quality, evidenced-based, multi-faceted approach to address substance use problems for individuals and families. CCDHS also operates the Capital Recovery Center, which will be instrumental in managing the progress of defendants participating in FREEDOM+ and providing holistic peer recovery supports. This project will engage Rutgers University’s Walter Rand Institute (WRI) as evaluator. FREEDOM+ advances the U.S. Department of Justice priorities in three ways: by increasing access to justice, protecting the public from crime and evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and the community. In addition, Cumberland County meets the Office of Justice Programs priority of being a high-poverty area.

New Jersey

New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety

The New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety (DL&PS), Office of the Attorney General, is applying for Category 2 funding in the amount of $6,000,000. The project will establish Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs in six areas of New Jersey. DL&PS will use available data to identify areas where LEAD would best be implemented, prioritizing sites that have been disproportionately impacted by the misuse of illicit opioids, stimulants, or other substances. DL&PS will work with each site, in conjunction with project partners and a consultant, to ensure that each program design is an approved LEAD replication. During the planning phase, DL&PS will contract with a consultant for support, training, and technical assistance; hire a project coordinator to ensure that performance measures, deliverables, and reporting requirements are satisfied; work with public safety and public health entities on data collection needs; and procure an academic partner to assist in developing data collection guidelines, oversee site data collection, and evaluate the programs. DL&PS will seek assistance with data collection from the Integrated Drug Awareness Dashboard. The project serves the State of New Jersey, which has a population of 9,288,994. The project includes partnerships between DL&PS and New Jersey’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the New Jersey Department of Health, the New Jersey State Police’s Drug Monitoring Initiative, the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program, and the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project also provides an opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and the community.

New Jersey State Parole Board

The New Jersey State Parole Board (NJSPB) is applying for a Category 2 award in the amount of $3,278,813. The FY 2021 COSSAP-New Jersey State Parole Board project will provide peer recovery-based services to individuals with substance use disorder who are under parole supervision, as well as expand Rutgers University’s current Intensive Recovery Treatment Support (IRTS) program and create a team of providers specifically dedicated to the needs of individuals under NJSPB supervision. The target population to be served under this grant will be a minimum of 110 adult offenders released from New Jersey state correctional facilities to parole supervision residing in any one of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Medium-to-high-risk offenders will be identified prior to their release from prison and will be referred, when released on parole, to receive IRTS services with the aid of a Peer Health Navigator. The project includes a partnership with Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. Priority considerations addressed in this application include protecting the public from crime and evolving threats, building trust between law enforcement and the community, and serving individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

Rio Arriba County

Rio Arriba County, through Rio Arriba Health & Human Services (RAHHS), is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $582,810. The project will enable RAHHS to expand its Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Program, resulting in enhanced coverage during peak off-business hours and an expanded intake network in order to maximize the number of beneficiaries of the program. While referrals from law enforcement will be prioritized, referrals will also be accepted pre-arrest from community providers, as will self-referrals. RAHHS will also work with the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) to develop a reimbursement model for care that is consistent with LEAD, provides the actual services needed by LEAD clientele, and can be scaled to the 32 other counties in New Mexico. The project will assign one certified peer support worker case manager to district court to serve and redirect LEAD clients back to LEAD who disappear into the corrections system in other counties and will expand prevention efforts by assigning a half-time clinician to provide dialectical behavioral therapy to at-risk youth in the Española and Chama School Districts. Deliverables include the referral of 80 individuals by law enforcement for pre-arrest diversion to treatment. The project serves Rio Arriba County, which has an estimated population of 38,921. The project includes partnerships with BHSD, the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office, the Española Police Department, the New Mexico State Police, Adult Probation, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the First Judicial District Court, the Rio Arriba Community Health Council, the Northern New Mexico Rural Health Network, and the Opiate Use Reduction (OUR) Network. The project will engage Dr. Anne Hayes Egan of New Ventures Consulting as an evaluation partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

New Mexico

Nevada Office of the Attorney General

The Nevada Office of the Attorney General (NOAG) is applying for Category 2 funding in the amount of $5,751,772. The project involves enhancing existing or implementing new drug deflection/diversion programs undertaken by Mobile Outreach Safety Teams (MOST) or Forensic Assessment Services Triage Teams (FASTT), increasing provision of naloxone, and conducting drug take-back days to address drug/mental health crisis situations. MOST is a jail and hospital diversion program whereby public safety personnel and behavioral health clinicians collaborate to address the behavioral health needs of people involved in or at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. FASTT provides assessment and case management for individuals who are screened as moderate to high risk using the Ohio Risk Assessment System and those with mental health and co-occurring disorders. The project serves seven sites from Nevada’s 16 counties and one independent city: Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Lincoln, Lyon, Nye, and Storey. The subaward sites consist of three designated rural areas, three designated frontier areas, and the smallest urban area in Nevada. The project includes partnerships between the NOAG and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services and community coalitions. The project will engage the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR’s) program evaluation team as an evaluation partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include high rates of overdose deaths and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Southern Nevada Health District

The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) serves Clark County, Nevada which reports a population of 2,338,127 individuals. This COSSUP project will be carried out by two main agencies: Southern Nevada Health District and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), in an effort to further integrate and expand current multijurisdictional partnerships in Clark County, Nevada, to end fatal drug overdose. These agencies will create a field-initiated linkage to care team that responds to overdoses using a public health framework, called Southern Nevada Post-Overdose Response Team Supports (SPORTS). In addition, the project will enable the expansion of law enforcement diversion services and increase training on the importance and use of naloxone for law enforcement and other first responders and increase naloxone availability for their use and distribution. Expected outcomes include an increase in access to linkage to care and diversion services and decrease in fatal drug overdose. The project will also involve a research partnership with the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Public Health to assess the effectiveness of the model and implementation to achieve stated outcomes. The two sub-awardees on the project are LVMPD and UNLV. The initiative will also further current funded partnership activities of the Southern Nevada Opioid Advisory Council. The grant beneficiaries include first responders, people and families that experience overdose, governmental agencies, substance use disorder treatment agencies, and recovery community organizations throughout Clark County, Nevada, during the life of the grant and beyond.

Albany County

The Albany County, New York, project focuses on evaluating, supporting, and expanding the Albany Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. The program will support law enforcement deflection and diversion, an embedded clinician at the Albany County Department of Mental Health, and a field-initiated project bringing together justice and a behavioral health practitioner. The clinician will serve LEAD clients at intercepts identified using the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), which bridges longstanding gaps in such services. A robust program of external evaluation would be provided through a partnership with the University at Albany’s School of Public Health, paired with enhanced data analysis and reporting across the initiative. Such evaluation will identify barriers to program implementation; assess program acceptability and benefits from the community perspective; and assess whether the program leads to desired outcomes. The findings are expected to contribute significantly to existing literature on engagement among individuals with substance use disorders who are justice-involved and individuals who are unlikely to participate in office-based clinical services. The project includes the adoption of LEAD in two or more municipalities and the addition of social contact referrals, which will serve as a second pathway into LEAD to go beyond pre-arrest diversions that have been in place in the City of Albany since 2016. With this change and expansion to additional jurisdictions, the program will serve approximately 75 additional clients. Among other benefits, this expansion is expected to advance racial equity by facilitating an increased emphasis on referrals of black individuals, who historically have represented 60 percent or more of arrests in Albany but only 38 percent of all diversions. Case management is provided by Catholic Charities Care Management Services, which has been serving Albany LEAD clients since 2016 and engages in a range of harm reduction-based programs on behalf of New York State and other funders.

New York

Cayuga County

The Comprehensive Substance Use Diversion Program strives to reduce overdose fatalities in Cayuga County, New York, by embedding recovery peer support and other targeted services at specific points of contact for individuals with substance use disorder and diverting them from justice-involvement toward treatment and recovery. Local surveillance data shows that fatal overdoses overwhelmingly involve opioids and psychostimulants and increasingly impact women. This program puts a priority on providing services for women and people of color who have been historically underserved and will address specific challenges for people in crisis, people entering the legal and/or child welfare system, and people who have been released from treatment and/or incarceration. The diversion program will use the Sequential Intercept Model to expand or complement existing services in each of the intercepts and other points of contact. The program intends to fill six identified gaps: (1) naloxone education and distribution to rural law enforcement/first responders to enhance public safety and response during overdose emergencies; (2) embedded peer support and advocacy in child welfare departments (before justice involvement) to increase positive relationships, treatment retention, family unifications; (3) 911 diversion of people in crisis to mental health professionals to provide immediate care and stabilization and diversion from law enforcement and emergency room; (4) rapid linkage to MOUD and enhanced programming for Intervention Court participants and outreach to increase referrals to Intervention Court, prioritize treatment over incarceration, improve health and social outcomes; (5) enhanced post-incarceration/post-treatment peer support to ensure continued recovery support, promote treatment retention, provide support for securing job training and housing options; (6) embedded peer support and advocacy in child welfare departments (after justice involvement) to promote positive relationships, treatment retention, family unifications. The program will implement the following activities/allowable uses: (1) naloxone for law enforcement and first responders (12 percent); (2) embedding peer support in different settings (39 percent); (3) law enforcement/first responder diversion programs (2 percent); (4) court programming to prioritize and expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals at high risk of overdose (13 percent); (5) evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs (0 percent); (6) recovery housing with peer support (5 percent); and (7) pursue comprehensive, real-time, regional information collection, analysis, and dissemination via the development of a publicly-accessible overdose data dashboard (8 percent).

New York

Chautauqua County

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $899,910. The Chautauqua Comprehensive Addiction Response and Evaluation System (Chautauqua CARES) is a county-wide, multi-sector network of law enforcement, behavioral health, and other community agencies collaborating to increase the accessibility, timeliness, and effectiveness of support for individuals with substance use disorders and their families. Chautauqua CARES will work to more fully incorporate law enforcement and behavioral health care roles in helping individuals and families struggling with addiction. The project will include development of a law enforcement diversion program for nonviolent drug offenders and support an expanded treatment program within the county jail. Chautauqua CARES will serve to coordinate and oversee standardized training, ordering of supplies, and evaluation of naloxone administration by first responders throughout the county and will further expand and raise the profile of drug take-back activities in the county. Chautauqua CARES will support law enforcement’s involvement in prevention efforts through coordinated school-based and other outreach activities. Goals for the program include increasing the number of county residents receiving services for substance use disorder and reducing the numbers of fatal overdoses in the county. The program will be overseen by the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department. The project serves Chautauqua County, which has a population of 126,903. The project includes partnerships with the Unified Court System Eighth Judicial District, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, the Chautauqua County Public Defender’s Office, the Chautauqua County Office of Probation, the Jamestown Police Department, the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, the Chautauqua Substance Abuse Response Partnership, the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services, Prevention Works, and HOPE Chautauqua. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

New York

County of Greene

Greene County is a fully rural county in upstate New York with a high burden of overdose. In 2021 the county rate of opioid involved overdose deaths was double the upstate New York average. That same year, Greene County ranked 2nd of 57 upstate New York counties for overdose deaths involving opioids and it ranked 1st for deaths involving heroin. Fentanyl drives the epidemic, with 88% of deaths in the last two years involving fentanyl, often in combination with stimulants, heroin or other substances. Fatality rates are particularly high in the Mountain Top, a remote region of the Catskill Mountains. Greene County Public Health will establish Data Driven Opioid and Recovery Coordination (DDORC) and aim to reduce overdose fatalities, and to decrease sub-county disparities in fatality rates. Specifically, Greene County will expand epidemiological surveillance of overdose trends and disparities in overdose volume and assess access and linkage to treatment and recovery resources. Greene County will also expand MAT services, focusing on linkage to care for justice-involved people and we will enhance Law Enforcement and First Responder Leave Behind and Diversion programs, as well as other novel programs for First Responder overdose response. All of this work will be guided collaboratively by the DDORC, a group of multidisciplinary stakeholders led jointly by Public Health and Public Safety. Specific project goals include: 1) utilize real-time overdose and other substance use related data to describe and address overdose risks, barriers and facilitating factors for substance use treatment and recovery, and disparities in accessing substance use related services; 2) increase access to evidence-based substance disorder treatment by expanding MAT services available at Greene County Public Health and build linkage to care systems between public health and public safety that specifically target justice-involved individuals; 3) increase coordination between public health and public safety partners through support of law enforcement diversion and overdose response programs and overdose-related EMS services; and 4) implement and convene a data-driven multidisciplinary coordinating body lead by Greene County Public Health with participation from public safety partners and other county and community-based agencies that serve people who use drugs. Greene County Public Health will coordinate this project in partnership with the Greene County Sheriff's Office and Albany Medical Center's Divisions of Prehospital Care and Addiction Medicine, sub-recipients, as well as with support from the Regional Emergency Medical Organization (REMO).

New York

Niagara County

The project serves all of Niagara County, New York, along with sub-recipient agency Community Missions Inc and partners including probation, law enforcement and public health, will create Niagara County PATH-3D (Presenting Alternatives for Treatment and Healing – Deflect, Destigmatize, attend to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), a two-pronged, harm-reduction approach connecting individuals to recovery supports and treatment while diverting from criminal justice involvement. PATH-3D will expand the community’s quick response to opioid overdose team (QRT) to include response to overdoses of any drug type and add Family Peer Support (CRPA-F). QRT will expand referral sources beyond law enforcement, including other first responders, hospitals, providers, and self-referral. Dispatched to conduct follow-up with individuals post overdose, the QRT will engage an individual and assess for and assist with a broad range of social, medical, and recovery support needs. Family support will be provided, including for a fatal overdose. The QRT will connect with 40 percent of individuals referred, will link 50 percent of those served with recovery supports, and affect a 10 percent decrease in overdoses countywide. PATH-3D will also create a probationer response team (PRT), embedding a licensed clinician and CRPA into probation to assist probationers at risk of violation or revocation due to substance related issues. The PRT will engage probationers, assess, develop individual plans, and connect participants to recovery supports. Recognizing the disparate impact of overdose and criminal justice involvement on black, indigenous, and people of color in the community, PATH-3D will select program design and activities promoting racial equity and removing barriers to access for historically underserved and marginalized individuals.

Rockland County, NY

The County of Rockland, New York, applied for Category 1b suburban area grant funding in the amount of $899,964. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program will start with a pilot with the largest law enforcement agency in Rockland County and then roll out to other police agencies. The goal is to improve public safety, reduce the number of low-level substance-using offenders from entering the criminal justice system, address issues of disproportionality, and strengthen the relationships between prosecution, law enforcement, and the community. This project serves Rockland County, New York. The project includes partnerships between the District Attorney’s Office, Town of Clarkstown Police Department (for the pilot), all local law enforcement agencies in Rockland County, the Rockland Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependence, and the Samaritan Daytop Village. Priority considerations addressed in this application include high-poverty areas and Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Seneca Nation of Indians

The goal of the Seneca Nation project is to combat the substance abuse epidemic plaguing the Seneca Nation’s communities through collaboration between numerous entities within the Seneca Nation, community groups, and local organizations. The following objectives have been identified to assist in reaching this goal: (1) establishment of a multi-disciplinary team board comprised of Seneca Nation entities and community organizations to address gaps in data collection within communities and Indian Country, create a strategic plan for the development of an inpatient treatment facility, and identify potential solutions to solving the substance abuse epidemic plaguing our Territories; (2) collaborate with the legal entities to assist individuals in obtaining needed resources for treatment, in addition to addressing any barriers that may exist for the people struggling with addiction; (3) provide trainings centered on Seneca culture and evidence-based practices for Behavioral Health and Seneca Strong; and (4) provide peer support, groups, individuals and community education surrounding the opiate epidemic through collaboration with internal and external entities.

Sullivan County

In Sullivan County, New York, the existing diversion programs generally fall into five deflection typologies: self-referral, officer referral, active outreach, naloxone plus and officer intervention. The Sullivan County District Attorney's Office’s Hope Not Handcuffs (HNH) is an example of a program where community and law enforcement collaborate to encourage those with a substance use disorder (SUD) to seek community-based treatment. Hope Not Handcuffs of the Hudson Valley (HNH-HV) wants to continue taking a progressive and innovative approach to combatting SUD in the region and have begun laying the groundwork to implement a third deflection typology–officer and assistant district attorney intervention–but implementing this type of deflection pathway has come with its own set of challenges including a lack of community resources, buy-in from local law enforcement officers, and capacity issues within HNH-HV itself. Sullivan County is a very rural county in New York and no successful work with this SUD population can happen without neighboring Orange County because of the vast amount of community resources that are shared between them. The program has two components: (1) expanding the work HNH-HV is already accomplishing, building on the cross-system collaboration already occurring in the region, and adding a pre-arrest/post-arrest deflection pathway that will begin as a pilot program in Sullivan County and (2) expanding the program to neighboring Orange County, with a goal of reducing the number of non-fatal and fatal drug overdoses. The project includes creating a law enforcement and other first responder deflection and diversion program and creating a pre-booking or post-booking alternative-to-incarceration program.

The City of Ithaca

The City of Ithaca applied for Category 1b suburban area grant funding in the amount of $900,000. The Ithaca LEAD Program (ILP) will reduce repeated arrests and incarceration for people whose unlawful conduct stems from unmet behavioral health needs in the city of Ithaca and adjacent towns in Tompkins County, New York. ILP will reduce racial disparities in criminal justice involvement for the region’s African-American population, reduce unnecessary arrests and prosecutions imposed on the justice system, improve officer efficiency, maximize the value of the city’s community-based service array, and improve outcomes for this complex population. In the era of COVID-19, these changes are especially critical. Across the nation, officers are confronting new challenges in interacting with people on the street; jails are striving to reduce incarceration so as to mitigate COVID-19 risks; and judges, attorneys, and court staff are seeking to reduce congestion in courtrooms. This project serves the city of Ithaca, New York. The project includes partnerships with Tompkins County District Attorney and Legislature, Community Leadership Team DCI, Ithaca Police Department, Tompkins County Sheriff, REACH Medical, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, and the LEAD National Support Bureau. Priority considerations addressed in this application include Qualified Opportunity Zones, as well as challenges faced by rural communities and high-poverty areas.

Ulster County

Ulster County is applying for Category 1b suburban area grant funding in the amount of $900,000. The High-Risk Mitigation Team (HRMT) will increase ORACLE’s capacity to respond to overdose scenes by providing crisis intervention training (CIT) to officers throughout Ulster County. The project will develop the HRMT to work directly with ORACLE, providing certified peer advocate services (CRPA) and intensive case management within the city of Kingston, New York. The project will also develop an initial alert system for first responders in Kingston to alert the ORACLE team of overdose when it happens. This project serves Ulster County, a community of approximately 177,573 people. The project includes partnerships between the Ulster County Department of Health and Mental Health, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, and ORACLE team. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin or other opioids and a high rate of overdose deaths.

Ulster County

The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office will; (1) expand a law enforcement diversion co-response team previously funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance modeled after LEAD, PAARI, QRT, and traditional care management to provide peer services within the rural areas of the county; (2) provided peer care management services in the Ulster County Jail to provide MAT programing support, as well as pre/post re-entry services to assist the coordination of re-entry for individuals with SUD, linking individuals with community-based treatment and recovery supports which increase access to behavioral health care, and following up with individuals for up to post release; and (3) provide naloxone vending machines in public spaces at the jail and in the community as a harm reduction measure for close networks of individuals experiencing opioid use disorder to gain easy and equitable access. The project includes collaboration between Ulster County Department of Mental Health, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, and Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement's High Risk Mitigation Team. This expansion project aims to increase collaboration between law enforcement and the community with the following goals: (1) reduce opioid fatalities in the rural region of the county by 40 percent in three years; (2) decrease opioid fatalities among incarcerated individuals upon re-entry by 40 percent over the course of three years; (3) increase naloxone distribution to the families and networks of individuals experiencing opioid use disorder by 100 percent within three years. The goal of all proposed programs is to enhance relationships between law enforcement and black, indigenous, and people of color communities struggling with substance use disorder by ensuring that all outreach and practices are trauma informed and sensitive to the historical and systemic racism.

City of Columbus

The City of Columbus Department of Public Safety project implements The Rapid Response Emergency Addiction Crisis Team (RREACT) program. The purpose is to expand comprehensive, multi-disciplinary first responder led outreach with the goal of stabilizing the household and reducing barriers and increasing access to drug and/or behavioral treatment for the individuals with substance use disorder. RREACT program activities include connecting overdose survivors with evidence-based harm reduction services and licensed treatment programs; addressing healthcare disparities and increase access to overdose prevention, treatment, and recovery resources for minority groups; connecting families with trauma specialists to rapidly respond to the needs of children impacted by drug overdose; implementing drug take-back campaigns in partnership with the DEA and local community organizations; expanding access to peer recovery and case management services for individuals with substance use disorder and justice involvement and their families; developing and implementing harm reduction and drug prevention campaigns for K-12 students within the vulnerable communities. Expected outcomes include: the development of culturally appropriate protocol for SUD/OUD EMS outreach protocols, harm reduction and case management protocols and drug prevention campaigns for at-risk youth; increased provision of evidence-based treatment for individuals with substance use disorder; decreased rate of opioid misuse and drug overdose death rate, including prescription and illicit opioid overdose death rates; increased access to critical child and kinship supports for kids and other caregivers in the home impacted by opioid use. RREACT program will serve individuals who experienced a non-fatal overdose and their households residing in Franklin County in the city of Columbus. RREACT actively partners with local treatment providers, public health departments, justice agencies and Franklin County's Family and Children First Council to achieve desired project outcomes. Mighty Crow, Inc. serves as the evaluator for the project.

Ohio

City of Springfield

The City of Springfield, Ohio, is the applicant and fiscal agent for the project and the Community Development Department will serve as the administrative lead for the City of Springfield, in partnership with Mental Health Recovery Board and McKinley Hall. Nearly half the county population is concentrated in Springfield’s four federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zones. The Recovery Resource and Community Advocacy Project advances racial equity, supporting underserved and marginalized communities. African Americans comprise 9 percent of the county, but at least 18 percent of Springfield residents–nearly a quarter of whom live in poverty and 15 percent are disabled. The black community is disproportionately impacted by incarceration, high rates of homelessness, and overdose fatality. Clark County’s overdose fatality rate has consistently been one of the highest in Ohio at 61 (per 100,000) and is currently climbing, even as rates decrease in other parts of the state. The project expands medication-friendly recovery housing, culturally responsive peer support, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment inside the jail, and increases re-entry access to medically-assisted treatment (MAT) and naloxone. The project includes gender-responsive treatment for women in jail, the first recovery housing for women, access to MAT. The project will also educate and advocate among community and justice agencies for the legal right to continue MOUDs in custody and to bring methadone into the jail for pregnant women. Advocacy and empowerment training is also one of the service deliverables for project participants, with Legal Action Center’s Know Your Rights-MAT presentations, harm reduction, ending race and gender-based health disparities, women’s empowerment training, and MAT anti-stigma outreach and education. Almost 30 percent of funds will support recovery housing, while more than 60 percent will allow local project partner McKinley Hall to increase the evidenced-based treatment services they currently deliver inside the jail, embedding peers, clinicians, and harm reduction services, and to provide care coordination and MAT upon re-entry.

Ohio

Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board

The Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board (CCMHB) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $858,171. The project will enable the expansion of existing Quick Response Teams (QRTs) in Clermont County. The CCMHRB will expand two of the three QRTs, with a focus on improving outreach and treatment connection rates; increase QRT outreach provided by the Clermont County Sheriff Office's (CCSO) QRT; enhance the QRTs to include a mental health professional to address mental health concerns encountered on QRT outreach attempts; and hire a coordinator to implement a "Handle with Care" program to provide support to children who encounter an overdose and/or have had their parents involved in recent drug charges. The goal of the project is to reduce overdoses and provide connection to treatment and support services for individuals with an opioid misuse disorder and/or a stimulant misuse disorder and their families/loved ones. It is estimated that 300 Clermont County residents will be served by the project annually, including youth and adults. The project serves Clermont County, a largely rural county with a population of 208,234. The project includes partnerships with the CCSO, Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health, Child Focus (a children’s mental health provider), and local school districts and law enforcement agencies. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project also provides an opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and the community.

County of Marion

The Marion County Prosecutors Office in Marion County, Ohio, project will enhance the Prosecutor Intervention Program for people suffering from substance use disorders (SUD)/opioid use disorders (OUD). The target population for the program are individuals with SUD/OUD who encounter the criminal justice system and are charged by law enforcement with a low-level offense. It is well known that incarceration is not a suitable solution for people suffering with SUD/OUD, so the overarching goal of this program is to divert individuals from incarceration and instead place them in appropriate treatment, ensuring compliance with the treatment program, and help them achieve long-term recovery. The service area is all of Marion County, OH. Marion County is in North Central Ohio and encompasses 404 square miles. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county is 65,359 (census.gov, 2020) and has been identified as a rural area by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. In 2020, the Age-Adjusted rate of Unintentional Drug Overdose Deaths in Marion County was 60.6, 15 points higher than the Ohio average of 45.6 (Ohio Department of Health 2020 Drug Overdose Data). The Marion County Prosecutor Intervention Program (PIP) allows the Prosecuting Attorney to divert individuals struggling with SUD/OUD from the criminal justice system to appropriate treatment services. An assigned project coordinator works with each client to ensure: 1) Connections to appropriate treatment and community resources; 2) Stable housing; 3) and follow up engagement. Marion County has a unique level of collaboration within the county. Local law enforcement, EMS and fire, regional hospitals, Marion County Courts, and local treatment agencies recognize the need for additional services for the population struggling with SUD/OUD. The creation of the PIP program has strengthened the relationships and collaboration efforts of county agencies, creating a solid foundation to enhance their capability of responding and providing emergency treatment for those struggling with SUD/OUD as well as working to reduce overall recidivism rates and overpopulation of the jail system.

Ohio

Erie County

The Erie County, Ohio, Health Department (ECHD) project will expand prevention and harm reduction services to combat the opioid epidemic in Erie County. The Erie County Pathways project will focus on providing enhanced care to law enforcement/first responders dealing with behavioral or mental health issues, and youths through school programming. ECHD has identified five primary objectives for this project: (1) developing a pathway and increase services for first responders who are able to access behavioral and mental health care and services in a secure manner; (2) enhancement of Erie County drug take back programs by securely collecting opioids and other illicit substances for disposal during twice-yearly destruction events and distribution of Deterra; (3) partnering with Erie County school districts to expand prevention programs for adolescents; (4) Post overdose response: funding the Erie County Sheriff’s office 9-11 Dispatch for the Drug Overdose Response Team to conduct visits with non-fatal overdose survivors ; (5) Increase referrals/prevention education for mental health and substance use treatment and recovery services. The project includes the following activities: (1) drug take back programs and prevention education outreach for adolescents as well as distribution of Deterra bags for the community (10 percent); (2) law enforcement/first responder mental health and substance use program (25 percent); (3) Implement Botvin Life Skills. Collect pre-post survey data from schools that implement Botvin educational programming/create evaluation (10 percent); (4) Increase referral for mental health and substance use treatment/recovery services through prevention education as well as referral systems for schools, responders and the SUD community (15 percent); (5) education/prevention programming connecting law enforcement and schools (20 percent); (6) evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) prevention, and referral support services (10 percent); and (7) Participate and provide prevention education during community events and school events (10 percent). The target service area for this project is Erie County, Ohio, with a population of about 74,000 individuals. The three-year project will develop, implement, and coordinate alcohol and other drug prevention/treatment/recovery care to strengthen and expand access to treatment and recovery for those struggling with addiction. Target populations are adults and adolescents. ECHD operates the Erie County Community Health Center through which integrated health care plans will be developed for individuals struggling with SUD/OUD as well as family members/caregivers.

Ohio

Fairfield County

The South-Central Ohio Major Crimes Unit and its Outreach/Overdose Response Team (Project FORT) serves Fairfield County which is situated in south central Ohio adjacent to Columbus, the state capital. According to 2021 US Census estimates, the population of Fairfield County is 161,064 with the area bearing a distinctly Appalachian feel in both geography and demographics. With an average of 3,280 overdose events occurring each day in Ohio Fairfield County has observed a huge increase in the use of Fentanyl/Fentanyl analogues and psychostimulants like Methamphetamine. In 2018 73 percent of all drug overdoses involved Fentanyl or a Fentanyl analogue while deaths associated with Methamphetamine have increased by 487.5 percent since 2014. This shift from traditional opiates has had a dramatic impact on the number of incarcerations in Fairfield County. In just five years recidivism rates have increased by 77 percent in Fairfield County. The Major Crimes Unit/Project FORT through a new collaboration with Fairfield County Reentry Program seeks to lower recidivism rates as well as reducing overdoses and overdose deaths targeting individuals in rural areas. The initiative will provide enhanced access to treatment and recovery services and Medically Assisted Treatment for individuals being released from jail. This project would provide an aftercare plan and care team for everyone that would include: (1) connections to appropriate treatment and community resources; (2) Peer Support/Recovery Coach; and (3) follow up engagement with Project FORT. Additionally, the Major Crimes Unit would add a full-time overdose death investigator who would create a comprehensive response plan to overdose and overdose deaths, liaison with local law enforcement and conduct follow up investigations with a goal of bring closure to these grieving families and hold those responsible for these tragic and unnecessary deaths accountable. With COSSAP funding, Project FORT will work to decrease recidivism rates and increase the number of individuals engaging in treatment and recovery services through breaking the cycle of incarceration for those struggling with substance use disorder by providing: (1) immediate connection to treatment/recovery services upon release; (2) follow-up care; (3) enhanced access to recovery housing; (4) transportation to treatment/recovery services; and (5) comprehensive investigation of overdose deaths.

Ohio

Hamilton County

Hamilton County, Ohio, is situated at the southernmost tip of the state, bordering Kentucky and Indiana and has an estimated 826,139 residents. Hamilton County includes 49 distinct cities, villages, and townships, the largest of which is Cincinnati. In 2021, Hamilton County suffered 454 overdose deaths and continues to witness 50-70 overdoses per week. As the opioid epidemic worsens, the Hamilton County Justice Center has become the largest detox facility in Hamilton County, with 6,000 individuals detoxing annually. Hamilton County needs intentional and strategic interventions to deflect individuals out of the criminal justice system and into evidence-based care and treatment that is most appropriate to address their needs. This project is lead by the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition (HC ARC) and involves Hamilton County’s Co-Responder Deflection Pilot (HC CORE), which is a collaborative, co-responder intervention to assist individuals with substance use disorder, mental health disorder, co-occurring disorders, or experiencing homelessness, with a specially trained team of law enforcement and peer navigators who create community-based pathways to treatment, recovery support services, housing, case management, or other needs-based services. HC CORE will involve all six Police Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTACC) deflection pathways as a referral source to a single, co-responder program: (1) self-referral, (2) active outreach, (3) intervention, (4) prevention, (5) post-overdose response, and (6) community-based response. HC CORE will employ its own peer navigation team to ensure that care and case management are provided through a local and neutral lens, also ensuring that the CORE peer navigators will work with the participant from the point of first encounter, onward. The CORE Case Plan will include activities and services that enrich and stabilize the lives of the participants. By embedding peer navigators with law enforcement for deflection efforts, HC CORE will incorporate real-time data collection, drug take-back programs, harm reduction activities, and recovery support services to successfully serve individuals at all stages within the continuum of care model.

Ohio

Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition

Hamilton County applied for Category 1A grant funding in the amount of $1,000,000. The Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition (HC ARC), under the proposed quick response team (QRT) expansion program, will address and has already addressed a number of the overarching goals of the solicitation, specifically, encouraging cross-system planning and collaboration among officials who work in law enforcement, pretrial services, courts, probation and parole, child welfare, reentry, prescription drug monitoring programs, and emergency medical services, as well as health care providers, public health partnerships, and agencies that provide substance abuse treatment and recovery support services. The QRT expansion plans to engage current community stakeholders, as well as new community stakeholders and partnerships beyond the coalition to target hot-spot areas. The QRT will continue to expand its on-the-ground efforts by utilizing HC ARC member organizations to not only provide outreach and resources to individuals suffering from addiction, but also the organizations they frequent to arm them with tools and resources. HC ARC has established a coordinated multidisciplinary response team that includes law enforcement, treatment providers, government representatives from the county and city, and a program administrator. This project serves Hamilton County, population 817,473. The project includes partnerships between Hamilton County Public Health Department and the Talbert House. There are no priority considerations addressed in this application.

Hancock County

The Hancock County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board in Ohio proposes a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary collaborative approach to address and prevent the illicit use of opioids, stimulants, and other substances and its adverse consequences within a predominantly rural county. The proposed Criminal Justice Connections – Extending Our Reach (CJC-EOR) project will reduce the impact of illicit opioids, stimulants, and other substances on individuals and communities by using a multi-level approach. The project aims to: (1) expand and enhance an existing LEAD® program; (2) implement a school and/or community-based prevention/early intervention service program for children and family members who are negatively impacted by substance use and/or criminal justice involvement; (3) develop a sustainable co-responder model between criminal justice and behavioral health systems; (4) enhance the use of Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) in collaboration with community partners; and (5) expand the local workforce through formalized relationships with area institutions of higher education. The proposed project will also evaluate the system level approach which further connects public safety, criminal justice, treatment, and recovery systems to provide a greater continuum of care for individuals with substance use disorder. Activities include: law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion (30 percent); real-time data collection (15 percent); education and prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students (20 percent); evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs, such as MAT, as well as harm reduction activities and recovery support services (5 percent); and embedding social workers, peers, and/or persons with lived experience at any intercept of the Sequential Intercept Model (30 percent). The Hancock County ADAMHS Board will collaborate with Brandeis University’s Institute for Behavioral Health researchers for this project to evaluate the impact of the proposed initiatives.

Ohio

Hocking County

Hocking County is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $539,464. The Hocking County Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Project will expand the county’s deflection programming from a Quick Response Team (QRT) called QRT Hocking Overdose Partnership Endeavor (HOPE) into one that partners with outside agencies by funding positions that link students and families to treatment and services for substance use disorders. The project will subcontract with a mental health practitioner within the Logan-Hocking School District (LHSD) and a deflection specialist within the Hocking County Health Department who will work directly with overdose victims and their families or those identified as being at a higher risk for having an overdose, as well as monitor a new crisis hotline within the health department and facilitate outreach and education into the community. LHSD will house the mental health practitioner within the high school and middle school in order to meet with students who have encountered an overdose or drug use, either among themselves or their families. The practitioner will be responsible for participating in the Handle with Care Program, an evidenced-based program designed to assist children in their school setting if a law enforcement encounter has happened inside their home. A multifaceted public awareness and education campaign will be created to increase the number of families who call the hotline. The goal of the project is to expand collaboration and partnerships among providers and agencies in Hocking County and to expand the existing framework of services to include stationary positions within fixed, strategic locations where students and families affected by the drug crisis frequent. The project serves Hocking County, a rural area with a population 28,264. The project includes partnerships with the LHSD and the Hocking County Health Department. The project will engage Wes Gilkey as a research partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the promotion of civil rights, support to crime victims, and building of trust between law enforcement and the community.

Ohio

Montgomery, County of

Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County (PHDMC) is one of 113 local governmental health departments in Montgomery County, Ohio and serves an estimated population of 537,309 residents. PHDMC has provided drug epidemic surveillance since 2010 and co-leads a community-wide effort to respond to the drug crisis, the Community Overdose Action Team (COAT). The COAT members are supportive and invested in the implementation of the Continued Linkage to Hope Project. The purpose of the Continued Linkage to Hope Project is to enhance data sharing among partners, advance data collection and analysis, and expand the current Certified Peer Recovery Support (CPRS) services into the criminal justice and hospital systems by filling a gap in the continuum of care for those who are in active addiction. The Continued Linkage to Hope Project will address the allowable uses of funding by: (1) Further enhancing and expanding a comprehensive real-time data system to include regional information, collection, analysis, and dissemination. PHDMC will continue to work with its data partners to integrate hospital and criminal justice data systems into a care coordination platform that will be available to the CPR's to assist in response to those in active addiction. (2) Enhancing and expanding the current Overdose Fatality Review efforts by integrating qualitative data collection to contextualize overdose trends as well as barriers to care following fatal and nonfatal overdoses. The data has been and will continue to be used to develop program and policy recommendations and improve coordination and collaboration between agencies and community conditions to prevent future overdose deaths. (3) Prototyping a risk stratification system to prioritize and respond to drug overdose survivors by utilizing a machine-learning algorithm to identify the largest risk factors of addicted individuals. PHDMC and other county behavioral health providers will use the scores to determine the level of risk of future overdose or death. (4) Expanding law enforcement and court-based interventions to expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals who are at high risk of a drug overdose by utilizing CPRS services. The Continued Linkage to Hope Project will enhance and expand a system of care that increases engagement for those in active addiction by embedding CPRS's into the municipal courts. CPRS's will provide the much-needed support and direct connection to additional resources that will decrease future criminal justice involvement and increase individuals' likelihood of moving towards recovery.

Ohio

Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services

The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS), a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, project will support a combination of local initiatives and statewide programs and resources to reduce the impact of opioid, stimulant, and substance use on Ohio's individuals and communities. This project focuses on two primary efforts: 1) increase connectivity to treatment and supportive services through community partnerships that develop, expand, or enhance Ohio's footprint of deflection, specifically the Naloxone Plus (i.e., QRT) model, Ohio's predominant deflection pathway; and 2) build multi-sector collaboration that allows local deflection teams as well as communities that do not have deflection teams to more effectively and accurately identify people who are at risk and provide comprehensive support. Funding will be used to support a framework for providing consistent support and training to aid the efforts of local deflection programs, such that deflection programs become an indispensable and sustainable part of their community. Specifically, OCJS will provide project-based funding to support six to eight sites in Ohio to develop, expand, or proactively enhance local Quick Response Teams, identified through a grant application process designed to promote more equitable opportunity for communities to participate. OCJS will also fund a statewide law enforcement initiative, BRIDGE, to proactively alert healthcare professionals of the potential for overdoses in the wake of a large drug seizure. In addition, BRIDGE saturation events will combine local law enforcement efforts with outreach provided by QRTs and/or prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Process and outcome evaluations will be woven throughout these local and state initiatives. The Substance Use Deflection Center of Excellence will promote the latest in research and best practices by offering training, technical assistance, and resources to support deflection in Ohio. The Center will expand membership of their long-standing Collaboration Board to serve as the multidisciplinary coordinating body to increase cooperation and collaboration across all sectors.

Ohio

Clackamas County, Health Housing and Human Services

Clackamas County applied for grant funding in the amount of $900,000 under Category 1B for the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Plus project. This project serves the 424,747 residents of Clackamas County, which consists of urban, suburban, and rural areas spanning 1,879 square miles (larger than the state of Rhode Island). The goals of LEAD Plus were to continue and enhance Clackamas County’s LEAD program and to support aligned system work. Clackamas County has achieved the first of these goals by securing sustainable funding for LEAD. The LEAD program in Clackamas County offers support for individuals experiencing unmet needs associated with homelessness, mental health, and substance use. Through outreach, intensive case management, and system navigation, it aims to reduce involvement in the criminal justice system. LEAD is now administered by a different division within Clackamas County, operating without grant funding. The Children, Family, & Community Connections Division is continuing to implement LEAD Plus through efforts to coordinate substance use and overdose prevention initiatives in the county, increase the capacity of the local public safety system to address systemic issues that will reduce disparities, and implement efficient strategies for data collection. Key partners included in this project include the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Milwaukie Police Department, Clackamas County’s Health, Housing and Human Services Department, and local behavioral health, housing, and substance use prevention and treatment professionals.

County of Tillamook

Tillamook County, Oregon, will implement a project that is consistent with the goals, objectives, and intended outcomes of the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP), which include reducing overdose deaths, promoting public safety, and supporting access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services, as well as evidence-based, culturally relevant interventions for adults and affected family members at any intercept point of the justice system. The purpose of the project is to continue to build upon the work and accomplishments of Opioid Use Response in Tillamook County (OUR Tillamook), a countywide, community-based, and multisectoral consortium that was formed in 2019 to address the opioid epidemic afflicting a rural, coastal region that is home to nearly 28,000 people residing in an area just over 1,100 square miles. The COSSUP initiative will address identified gaps and opportunities to expand prevention, treatment, and recovery services for individuals experiencing substance use disorder (SUD), and will primarily target opioid use disorder (OUD) experienced by low-income and uninsured/underinsured residents. Specific project activities will include: 1) delivering crisis intervention training to local law enforcement and first responders to assist efforts to deflect and divert individuals away from adult or juvenile justice systems; 2) the purchase of NARCAN (naloxone) and related supplies for law enforcement and first responders to administer and distribute in the field to prevent or reverse rural opioid overdoses and build community trust and participation; 3) continuing education and prevention programs that connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students utilizing the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation school-based prevention curriculum; and 4) hiring a peer support specialist to create a law enforcement liaison program to build bridges of support and collaboration between law enforcement officers and people with OUD in the justice system. By the end of the 36-month project period, expected outcomes will include: 1) the completion of mental health and SUD/OUD specific crisis intervention and de-escalation training for all law enforcement agencies and first responders; 2) administration or distribution of up to 100 doses of NARCAN per month in rural cases of confirmed or suspected opioid overdose; and 3) the continued delivery of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation school-based prevention program with active law enforcement participation at three local K-12 school districts during the grant period.

Oregon

Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $599,999. The LCSO-SBIRT project will implement a screening, brief intervention, treatment, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) program aligned to the COSSAP funding purpose of expanding comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support people impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs. This project serves Lincoln County, with the service population being adults 18 years of age and older who are booked into the Lincoln County Jail and who prescreen positive for risky substance use behaviors. The LCSO SBIRT program will serve 200 people over the life of the project. The project includes partnerships between ReConnections; Amy Yates, LCSW, Justice Counselor; and Data Specialist Brooke O’Byrne. Priority considerations addressed in this application include the fact that Lincoln County has five high-poverty census tracts in an area disproportionately impacted by substance use (e.g., lack of community treatment and high rates of overdose deaths), and the project will advance justice and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

City of Erie

The City of Erie is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $459,576. The Probation Transition Response Project will strengthen methods that local law enforcement can use to develop and expand comprehensive, locally driven responses to opioids, stimulants, and other substances of misuse and address an identified gap in services and/or invention activity for probationers with opioid use risks. The gap analysis is derived from data collected over the last two years while implementing other strategies for high-risk substance use disorder (SUD) probationers. The Erie Police Department (EPD) will create a COSSAP Diversion and Investigation Unit that will help identify at-risk individuals or low-level offenders for diversion and referral programs. The goal is to help these individuals enter into support programs, be connected with resources, and avoid the possibility of negative outcomes such as incarceration or escalation of involvement in illicit substance use. EPD will also form a Survivor Follow-Up Team of two officers who will focus on individuals who have survived an opioid or illicit drug overdose. These interactions can accomplish several goals, including building trust with law enforcement, conveying the very serious nature of illicit drugs, and reinforcing that supports are available. The project's strategy will expand current law enforcement mentorship programs with Erie Public School students. The Erie Police Athletic League (PAL) has demonstrated the value and impact of the cop-kid relationship in the city after relaunching in 2015. Through this COSSAP site-based initiative, Erie PAL will further expand positive activities with officers and youth. All of these new law enforcement endeavors will leverage and complement existing resources for Erie residents impacted by opioids and substance misuse. This project serves the jurisdiction within the City of Erie boundaries, with an estimated population of 95,508, but it should be noted that the population protected by the Erie Police Department within the jurisdiction goes beyond the residents living within the city. The project includes partnerships between the Erie Police Department, Mercyhurst University Civic Institute, and the many agencies, providers, and resources available in the City of Erie for individuals and their families. Priority considerations addressed in this application include that the project will benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas or persistent-poverty counties.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) project focuses on reducing overdose death among two highly vulnerable populations: people under probation supervision and individuals recently released from incarceration. With the assistance of committed project partners, local sites will implement evidence-based models to support people who use drugs and/or in recovery who are justice-involved. County sites will develop tailored local action plans utilizing a menu of program areas. PCCD’s proposed project builds on a successful pilot program launched in 2021 with Vital Strategies and supports six counties with identifying, planning, implementing, and assessing the impact of evidence-based reforms, services, and supports that can reduce overdose among people on probation and those returning to the community post-incarceration. Each county site will receive intensive, tailored supports from the project’s training and technical assistance (TTA) partner, Justice System Partners (JSP). This work will be informed by a baseline needs assessment and other collaborative research and evaluation strategies executed by the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG). PCCD and other statewide partners will ensure these activities are supported, and that project outcomes are translated for policymakers and practitioners across Pennsylvania and beyond. Project activities include: (1) pre-booking or post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs (approximately 17.5 percent of the budget); (2) evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other illicit drugs, such as MAT, as well as harm reduction activities and recovery support services (approximately 17.5 percent of the budget); (3) transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services (up to 30 percent of the budget); (4) embedding social workers, peers, and/or persons with lived experience at any intercept of the Sequential Intercept Model (approximately 17.5 percent of the budget); (5) field-initiated projects that bring together justice, behavioral health, and public health practitioners (approximately 17.5 percent of the budget).

Pennsylvania

Chester County

The Chester County Sheriff’s Office is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $599,193. The Chester County COSSAP Program will implement a Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program for the county, for which each of the county’s 35 law enforcement officers will receive training from the LEAD National Support Bureau and for which a case manager will be hired by a treatment service provider. It will also expand evidence-based treatment services into two venues, for which a treatment specialist will be housed in the county detention facility to provide counseling along with medication-assisted treatment (MAT); provide training for all law enforcement officers on the administration of Narcan, an inventory of which will be secured for use by officers in the field; and install three new drug disposal boxes in areas in the county with the highest density of populations at greatest risk of prescription painkiller overdose. The goal of the project is to ensure victim protection and public safety while promoting civil rights and social justice. It is anticipated that the project will serve 50 low-level, non-violent offenders. The project serves Chester County, which has an estimated population of 32,184. The project includes partnerships between the sheriff’s office and the county solicitor’s office, the Hazel Pittman Center (a local public substance misuse treatment agency), the Empowering Communities for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Coalition, the Chester County Detention Center, and local emergency medical services and fire departments. The project will engage two researchers with the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation and Southeast Center for Strategic Community Development as evaluation partners. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

County of Lancaster Administration Building

The Lancaster County Opioid Action Network project represents the work of over 40 public, private, civic, and faith-based partners working together over the past three years to address a range of community problems, especially opioid related crime, misuse, and overdose. The project attempts to reduce misuse by 20% in year one and by 30% in year two. With support from a Research Team, an extensive assessment of the problem will take place, including examination of underlying contributors. A series of strategies are along with a tracking system to provide real time feedback to practitioners. Based on cursory data analysis, several strategies are and include replication of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), increased access to treatment resources, support for first responders impacted by the traumatic explosion of opioid deaths, and an overdose awareness and education component. The project will provide resources for training of every law enforcement officer in the county on LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion), promote visible prescription drug take back strategies, and assist with training, handling, and distribution of Naloxone. Priority considerations include Opportunity Zone, Poverty, and Rural.

South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services

The South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) project supports law enforcement diversion programs in six diverse jurisdictions across South Carolina (population 5,282,634). The South Carolina COSSUP Initiative is a collaborative plan between DAODAS (the Single State Authority and cabinet-level agency under the Governor's Office); six diverse law enforcement agencies serving Abbeville County (population 24,299), Dorchester County (population 163,327), Georgetown County (population 63,921), Greenwood County (population 69,241), Myrtle Beach (population 37,100), and West Columbia (population 17,466); substance use disorder (SUD) service providers, and university scientists to serve as model programs for diverting individuals from the criminal justice system and enhancing connections to services for people with SUDs and people who use drugs. Per the objectives of Category 2, the Initiative will develop a statewide law enforcement model response to substance use problems by: 1) establishing model deflection and diversion programs across six diverse jurisdictions in the state (27% of budget); 2) embedding social workers into law enforcement agencies to provide case management and support services (23% of budget); 3) delivering evidence-based substance use disorder and co-occurring (mental health and substance use) disorders treatment, including medication-assisted treatment (39% of budget); and 4) conducting a scientific mixed-methods program evaluation providing feedback and identifying improvement opportunities. To aid in implementing this plan, recovery community stakeholders from across the state will be included on the multidisciplinary South Carolina Deflection and Diversion Coordinating Council, which will serve as a permanent standing body with the mission of increasing cooperation and collaboration to sustain diversion and recovery efforts (see memoranda of understanding). The project will support OJP Priority Area 1(A) by addressing issues related to racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality through the implementation of Fair and Impartial Policing training for law enforcement and treatment services targeting underserved minority communities. The project will include a strong research-practitioner partnership with the Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research at Clemson University to provide a scientific mixed-methods program evaluation to provide empirical feedback for program improvement and dissemination of process and outcome findings to the law enforcement and research communities.

South Carolina

Bradley County

Bradley County is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $891,575. The Bradley County Prevention Coalition will implement a comprehensive plan to reduce the risk of overdose death and enhance treatment and recovery service engagement among the criminal justice-involved individuals in the community. This plan was developed as a result of the identification of top-priority needs and prevention solutions for Bradley County and includes three main areas of focus: a comprehensive Resource Hub, a Quick Response Team (QRT), and the expansion of appropriate, substance use-informed training for officers and other personnel. In a first-of-its-kind Resource Hub initiative, the goals of engaging and improving the quality of life of individuals with or at risk of a substance use disorder, promoting public wellbeing, and reducing overdose deaths are met with a focus on utilization of comprehensive, appropriate, and integrated community-based services. The Resource Hub will be a center of representation for partnering community agencies, law enforcement, court personnel and legal counsel, recovery treatment providers, and other community professionals. The Resource Hub will serve the community by including representation and direct access to all of the community’s frontline recovery support services. The development of a QRT will serve the community through assisting victims of drug and human trafficking for the first 24 to 72 hours after their identification of such, a very critical recovery service. The QRT will bridge the gap between first responders and victim service providers. The expansion of trainings for law enforcement will help to better prepare officers in the community to best respond to the population of individuals experiencing the impact of substance use disorder (particularly opioids), to include not only adults who are impacted but children and youth as well. This project primarily serve Bradley County, although ultimately all resources will be available to the benefit of the entire 10th Judicial District, which is comprised of Bradley County, Polk County, Meigs County, and McMinn County. The 10th Judicial District has a population of approximately 225,000 people, with approximately 110,000 of those being residents of Bradley County. The project includes partnerships between the Bradley Prevention Coalition, the Bradley County Sheriff's Office, the City of Cleveland Police Department, Cordata, Willowbend Farms Inc, Parkridge Valley Cleveland Outpatient Center, the Caring Place/United Way Housing Coalition, and 10th Judicial District Treatment Courts.

Tennessee

Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is applying for category 2 in the amount of $6,000,000. This project will increase local community’s capacity to respond to the presence of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) among justice involved individuals and reduce the impact of SUDs among justice involved individuals. This project will include partnerships with the Tennessee Department of Health to support the expansion of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in COSSAP jail sites and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to support Drug Endangered Children Task Forces, Field Based Drug Testing, and overdose data mapping. This project serves to support ten new implementation project sites; 1) Blount, 2) Roane, 3) Anderson, 4) Bradley, 5) Dickson, 6) Cheatham, 7) Roane, 8) Tipton, 9) Grundy and 10) Montgomery counties. Priority Considerations: Qualified Opportunity Zones: All 10 sites targeted for this COSSAP project have Qualified Opportunity Zones in their county: See Attachment 6. High-Poverty Areas or Persistent-Poverty Counties: Two of the targeted counties: Grundy and Cocke are rated by the TN Dept of Economic and Community Development as “Distressed”, while the other eight (8) counties are rated as “Transitional”. Poverty rates for all targeted counties are above the national average (12.3%) with Grundy (28.5%), Cocke (25.0%) and Bradley (18.0%) all exceeding the Statewide poverty rate of 16.7%. Address Specific Challenges That Rural Communities Face: Six of the ten sites selected have more than (50%) of their population residing in rural areas, which Grundy County having (100%) of its population residing in a rural area.

Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse will: • Support six new implementation project sites (Davidson, Montgomery, Sumner, Putnam, Wilson, and Washington counties) as well as five enhancement project sites for counties that are currently COAP funded (Sullivan, Hamilton, Knox, Jefferson, and Coffee Counties). Sullivan and Hamilton Counties will (1) embed behavioral health clinicians with law enforcement; (2) provide employment readiness and connection to employment services both pre- and post-incarceration; and/or (3) deliver evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy courses. • Enhance six regional drug-endangered children response teams in Dickson, Cheatham, Lawrence, Franklin, Jefferson, and Scott Counties. Response teams will use a collaborative approach in meeting the needs of children affected by drug overdose events as well as their parents. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will also implement a statewide prevention strategy by creating a virtual reality game with education content for students to engage with at school events. • Integrate three certified peer recovery support specialist (CPRS) positions in probation and parole offices across the state, one in each of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee. • Provide recovery support services, including recovery housing, as part of a comprehensive response. Dr. Carolyn Marie Audet and Lauren Allard will serve as the research partners for this project.

Augusta County

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for the County of Augusta, Virginia, applied for grant funding in the amount of $600,000. This project serves Augusta County, a small, semi-rural county with the population of 74,701. The purpose of the project is to expand its currently existing LEAD program to serve the expanding number persons with substance use disorder. The grant will fund a new case management program, which will connect higher-risk, felony-level offenders with community resources prior to them being charged. The program will also institute a new transfer project, which will give medical professionals and first responders the ability to ensure continuity of care for clients presenting with SUD. The project includes partnerships between Augusta County Sherriff’s Department, Blue Ridge Court Services, Valley Community Services Board, Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board, and the Institute for Reform and Solutions. Priority considerations addressed in this application include rural designation for part of the County of Augusta in seven of its census tracts.

Augusta County Board of Supervisors

The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for the County of Augusta, Virginia, proposes to implement a peer services expansion to its Pathways Program. The project will expand its currently existing Pathways Program to serve the expanding number of justice involved persons with Substance Use Disorder in Augusta County. Project activities include establishment of peer counseling and peer recovery support services both within the Pathways Program and within partnering agencies at intercepts 0 and 1 in the Sequential Intercept Model. Within Pathways, peer counseling and peer recovery support will focus on enhancing client retention, engagement, and quality of outcomes by providing evidence-based peer services. Peers placed within partnering agencies will render on-demand peer services to ordinary agency clients who present as needing services. They will also collaborate with similarly placed peers in other agencies and within Pathways. Expected outcomes include the development of a fully capable peer recovery and peer support organization capable of deploying peers both internally and externally to respond to crisis situations and participant needs in a flexible and efficient manner. Within Pathways, it is expected that client engagement rate, retention rate, and quality of outcomes will improve over their current levels. Within partnering agencies, it is expected that peers will enhance agency outcomes by enabling cross-agency cooperation and more effective engagement with their clients. This project serves Augusta County, a small, semi-rural county with the population of 77, 487. Its direct beneficiaries are those who are experiencing substance use disorder or are in cooccurring mental health and substance use crisis. However, the entire population of Augusta County will indirectly benefit through the increased efficiency and quality of outcomes within the criminal justice and public health agencies involved. The project includes partnerships between Augusta County Sherriff's Department, Blue Ridge Court Services, Valley Community Services Board, Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board.

Virginia

City of Harrisonburg

The City of Harrisonburg is applying for a Category 1 award in the amount of $600,000. The Harrisonburg Fire Department-Community Paramedic Program will implement a community paramedicine program in the City of Harrisonburg. In the past decade, emergency medical services (EMS) and fire departments have been called upon to create programs that offer care options for high-risk patient populations—such as those with substance use disorder—to reduce the burden these individuals have on community systems. Community paramedicine is a concept of prehospital care designed to use paramedics to help bridge the gap between access to primary care services and the needs of the community. The extension of acute and primary care providers and mental health (including substance use dependence) resources are made available by specially trained paramedics. The goals of this COSSAP-funded program are to increase connectivity to substance use disorder and co-occurring substance and mental health disorder treatment in the community; reduce the strain people with substance use disorders and co-occurring substance and mental health disorders have on the health care system; decrease recidivism rates linked to substance use and mental health disorders; create a roadmap to inform stakeholders and city/county leadership on the appropriate formation of the Marcus Alert System in their community; and begin determining the long-term financial sustainability of such outreach programs. This project serves the County of Rockingham, Virginia (population 81,244). The project includes partnerships between the Harrisonburg Fire Department, the Harrisonburg Police Department, the Middle River Regional Jail, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Sentara Healthcare, the Harrisonburg Rockingham Community Services Board, the Healthy Community Health Center, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Crisis Intervention Team, Strength In Peers, the James Madison University School of Nursing, and Cordata Healthcare Innovations. Priority considerations addressed in this application include serving individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

Virginia

County of Chesterfield

The Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office project serves a population of over 500,000. The initiative will allow the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office to expand evidence-based substance use treatment, peer recovery support services, and recovery housing for justice-involved individuals at multiple intercepts. These services are essential to supporting treatment engagement. The project addresses COSSUP's allowable use of implementing evidence-based substance use disorder treatment related to opioids, stimulants, and other drugs and recovery support services for pre-trial and post-trial populations leaving jail. Deliverables include providing case management, treatment, and discharge planning for 300 individuals, providing recovery housing for 130 justice-involved individuals, providing peer recovery support services to up to 240 justice-involved individuals, and providing evidence-based supervision and treatment to up to 240 individuals on pretrial supervision over the life of the grant.

City of Olympia

The City of Olympia, Washington, faces a multifaceted crisis of factors related to homelessness, the opioid epidemic, lack of available mental health services, and challenges within the legal system to provide holistic solutions that address the needs of people engaging in low-level criminal activity. By investing in intentional collaboration between local government, social services providers, and research professionals. The City of Olympia believes these challenges can be addressed in a compassionate, evidenced-based way to help reduce the strain on emergency management and create opportunities for success among people impacted by behavioral health issues and criminal justice involvement. There are two primary activities of the project: training for city-employed first responders, and support for case management, peer support, and mental health services for community members. The training topics outlined in this proposal support the continuing education of crisis workers, firefighters, and paramedics during times of crisis, along with tools and resources to cope with the immense secondary trauma they experience that often leads to high burnout. The expansion of capacity in both hours of operation and caseload of a diversion program operated by Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, and the creation of an adult mental health program within the same agency, will provide meaningful solutions to the long-term needs of the community. By utilizing a coordinated approach, the city seeks to improve direct referral pathways from highly competent and well-resourced first responders to appropriate resources for relationship-based support, creating a compassionate and effective response to a community-wide struggle. Throughout the course of the project, a comprehensive process and outcome evaluation will be conducted by a highly-qualified research team at Washington State University. The project partners anticipate outcomes that include measurable increases in perceived and demonstrated skills for first responders, increased client contacts within the diversion program, the existence and operation of a community-based mental health program providing individual and group therapy, peer services, and psychiatric medication management, and decreased dispatch call volume for behavioral health incidents.

Washington

Lummi Indian Business Council

The purpose of the Lummi Indian Business Council project is to increase the availability of care and reduce barriers to those suffering from addiction and mental health issues and to create protective factors for Lummi and Tribal Youth in Washington. The primary activities of this program will be to use the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) to help those dealing with their substance use disorder and mental health issues to help them address their illnesses. Lummi will also enhance its relationship with the Lummi Nation Police Department (LNPD) and Lummi Court System in this process. Currently, the Lummi Nation provides Narcan and Kloxxado to various community and business programs and departments, including LNPD, for overdose reverses. Lummi Nation has Drug Court and Family Court programs that prioritize and expedite treatment and recovery services and uses a variety of medication-assisted treatment evidence-based practices at their Opiate Treatment Program providing mono-buprenorphine, buprenorphine/naloxone, naltrexone, and Sublocade. It also features various harm reduction activities including transitional housing, recovery support services, needle-exchange and motivational interviewing. Lummi Nation will enhance these services and use the SIM and embed a Mental Health Counselor and Peer Counselor/Recovery Coach in Intercept 1 (law enforcement) to help those dealing with addiction or mental health issues. It will also create an education and prevention program that focuses on connecting law enforcement with K-12 students. It will not only use evidence-based practices, but also culturally based practices to ensure that protective factors are created to help children and youth be able to withstand the pressures to use drugs. Expected outcomes are to increase referrals and enrollment to mental and substance use health services through our law enforcement agency and decrease need for incarceration and increase educational and prevention services in schools to decrease alcohol and drug use in youth and school age children.

Washington

Snohomish County

The Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $1,200,000. The project will enable the expansion of the Snohomish County Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) project, a cross-sector collaborative effort involving the PAO, the local city attorneys, local police departments, the county sheriff's department, the County Executive, the Mayors of participating cities in Snohomish County, and public defenders. The LEAD program utilizes both pre- and post-arrest diversions: pre-arrest referrals are made by both police and prosecutors who identify individuals who they believe would benefit from a referral to community-based services; post-arrest diversions are made by officers who have grounds to arrest individuals who have committed LEAD-eligible violations. Expansion will enable the county to increase the number of individuals diverted to the program and possibly expand its geographic coverage, as several jurisdictions in the county have indicated that they would like to adopt LEAD. The goals of the program include reorienting local responses to safety, disorder, and behavioral health problems; improving public safety and health through health-oriented interventions; and reducing the number of individuals in the criminal justice system due to low-level law violations. The project serves Snohomish County, with an estimated population of 822,000. The project will include partnerships between the PAO and the local city attorneys, local police departments, the County Sheriff's department, the County Executive, the Mayors of participating cities in Snohomish County, and public defenders. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities. The project also provides an opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and the community, advance the promotion of civil rights, and benefit individuals residing in high-poverty areas.

Washington

City of Madison

The City of Madison Police Department proposes to enhance its pre-arrest diversion program with additional pathways to treatment that include self-referral, active outreach, naloxone plus (Quick Response Team), and officer prevention and intervention. Grant funds will be used to hire an addiction resource team comprised of an addiction resource officer, community paramedic, and certified peer specialist, as well as an assessment clinician for referred clients, program evaluator, and project coordinator. Additional funds will be used to purchase naloxone for community distribution. The project services residents of Madison and Dane County. Project partners include Public Health Madison and Dane County, Dane County Department of Human Services, Madison Fire Department, and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UW PHI). The project will engage Janae Goodrich of the UW PHI as the research partner.

County of Oneida

The Oneida County Health Department proposes to advance the Oneida County Community Response Team (OC CRT) Law Enforcement and First Responder Deflection and Referral to Treatment Program and establish recovery housing, both of which involve the progression of peer recovery coach services. The purpose is to improve current comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, evidence-based, community centered referral to treatment programs at multiple intercepts of the criminal justice system and establish recovery supports that enhance treatment and health outcomes for individuals experiencing substance use concerns. Project activities include expanding law enforcement and first responder participation in OC CRT deflection activities, as well as, collaboration with the newly formed Criminal Justice Coordinative Committee to establish comprehensive diversion programs at multiple intercepts of the sequential model. The project emphasizes developing peer recovery coach services, as well as, the integration of social workers to provide case management and care coordination services. In addition, the project aims to build an Advancing Recovery Capital Workgroup focused on establishing recovery housing, including recovery support services, in the region. Expected outcomes include: improved coordination of public health and response agency efforts through multi-disciplinary teams, increased number of evidence-based interventions within the criminal justice system, decreases recidivism rates, increased linkages to care and engagement in treatment, increased availability of recovery support resources, improved housing stability, and reduced morbidity and mortality associated with substance use. Beneficiaries of this project include various organizations involved at different intercepts of the criminal justice system by reducing recidivism rates and the burden of addressing behavioral health concerns within the system. Individuals experiencing substance use concerns will experience improved health outcomes and the ability to become productive members of society. The general community benefits from reduced property and public order crime. Most importantly, by supporting caregivers experiencing substance use concerns, the project improves social determinants of health for children living in these environments and helps impact family cycles of addiction. Subrecipient activities include: law enforcement and first responders will participate in follow-up contact interventions; recovery support services will provide case management, care coordination, and skill building services; recovery housing subrecipient will coordinate and provide guidance on steps to establishing recovery housing, finding and updating suitable locations, and training on systems of operation; data analysis subrecipient will complete process and outcome evaluation and reporting activities.

Wisconsin

Winnebago County

The Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office (WCDAO) is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $1,897,863. Stimulant and Opioid Addiction Recovery (SOAR) will develop a diversion strategy using evidence-based components for people with substance use disorder (SUD) and felony drug-possession cases and will improve data infrastructure, engaging stakeholders that include local justice, health, and service agencies and community-based service providers. SOAR will operate in two phases, the first beginning with the defendant being arrested or summoned to an initial court appearance. Phase 1 includes a 24/7 drug-monitoring program; Phase 2 consists of a post-charge diversion agreement. The project will collaborate with a recovery-services and training facility in Winnebago County that will provide certified peer support specialists. A local pharmacy will provide naltrexone shots to participants who are interested in pursuing that path. Pragmatic field tests of process improvements will document performance and feasibility of implementation. The project’s goal is to identify and respond to the needs of persons with SUD who are currently excluded from diversion programs. Deliverables include improved data collection to characterize and respond to SUD; a screening tool for treatment and diversion for persons with SUD; and improvements in domains important to the justice system, social-service agencies, the community, and SUD-involved persons, such as increased treatment engagement and reduced recidivism. The project serves Winnebago County, a largely rural county with a population of approximately 170,000. The project includes partnerships between WCDAO and the Winnebago County Department of Human Services, the Winnebago County Department of Public Health, Options Lab, the Winnebago County Circuit Court, the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office, and Fox Valley Peer-based Response, Information, Support, and Maintenance. The project will engage the New York University's Marron Institute as a research partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

Wisconsin

Cabell County

Cabell County is applying for Category 1 funding in the amount of $1,130,000. The project will enable the expansion of the Huntington Quick Response Team (QRT) by building on existing cross-system planning and collaboration among law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, fire departments, health care providers, public health agencies, the faith community, and agencies that provide substance misuse treatment and recovery support services. The QRT team connects overdosed individuals to a treatment facility within 72 hours of an overdose event and provides training on naloxone administration; it also focuses on community engagement and building readiness. The team will create operational protocols to guide its activities. The project will also create a follow-up response team that will provide active outreach to individuals who have previously interacted with the QRT to evaluate their current treatment and/or recovery progress and will offer access to services by which they can acquire skills required to join the workforce. The goals of the project are to reduce the number of overdoses in Cabell County and to reduce the number of frequent visitors with substance use disorders to Cabell County’s health care system. The project serves Cabell County, with a population of approximately 100,000. The project will include partnerships with the Huntington Police Department, the Cabell Huntington Health Department, Cabell County Emergency Medical Services, treatment providers from Prestera Center, and the faith community. The project will engage Dr. Nandini Manne from the Department of Public Health at Marshall University as a research partner. Priority considerations addressed in this application include a high rate of primary treatment admissions for heroin, opioids, and stimulants; high rates of overdose deaths; and a lack of accessibility to treatment providers and facilities.

City of Martinsburg

The City of Martinsburg, West Virginia, is partnering with the Martinsburg Initiative (TMI), to expand its substance use prevention and police social work program. The purpose of this project is to develop a comprehensive, multidisciplinary,trauma informed approach by building upon the mission of The Martinsburg Initiative: prevent substance use, build strong families, and empower the community. The project will create a position of project coordinator and add two social workers to the police department to cover all shifts. It will add a peer support specialist to the team to help with recovery services and add two school-based social workers to North and South Middle School. Additionally, a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) will also be created, trained, and implemented to address individuals with substance use and unmet needs leading to substance use. The project will have three components as primary activities covering prevention, intervention, and treatment. In prevention, school social workers will provide prevention education using the evidence-based curriculum Too Good for Drugs and TMI prevention programs, identified individuals and families will be provided Naloxone, and overdose risk screenings and education will be provided. In intervention, law enforcement referrals will be received at Intercept points 0 and 1 of the Sequential Intercept Model for justice involved individuals at risk for substance use or overdose due to unmet behavioral health or socio-economic needs; case management of identified individuals; referrals, screenings, and evidence based interventions of identified at risk students in the middle schools; and connection to proper community resources to address the risk factors of substance use and overdose. In treatment, access to treatment will be expanded due to a coordinated referral system to local treatment centers and connections from the peer support specialist to help navigate the system and recovery services. This project is expected to have numerous expected outcomes to include the creation of CIT, improved response to substance use and mental health calls, reduced overdoses and overdose deaths particularly juveniles, reduced rates of recidivism, reduced stigma, more diversion into treatment, and increased resiliency in children. The service area is Martinsburg and intended beneficiaries include individuals and children struggling with substance use and their families. By addressing substance use as a public health issue, it aims to improve health and wellbeing of all members of the community.

West Virginia

Justice and Community Services

The Justice and Community Services (JCS) Section of the West Virginia Division of Administrative Services (DAS), which is the State Administrative Agency for criminal justice-related activities in the state, is applying under Category 2 for grant funding in the amount of $6,000,000 under the FY 2020 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program (COSSAP) grant program. The purpose of the project is two-fold. First, the project will establish a cutting-edge approach to pre-arrest diversion by integrating quick response teams, LEAD, and the West Virginia Angel Initiative (Angel) to establish the WV QLA Early Intervention Program. This program will be implemented into the following nine counties: Berkeley, Cabell, Kanawha, McDowell, Mercer, Monongalia, Raleigh, Wood, and Wyoming. The total population of these counties is 763,728 and accounts for 61 percent of the overdose fatalities within West Virginia. Second, the project will assist county commissions and non-profit organizations to assist with the recruitment, retention, and training of peer recovery coaches throughout the state. Coaches will be required to possess the following credentials to be funded under this initiative: 1) a high school diploma or recognized equivalent; 2) experience with substance use challenges; 3) involved with a personal support and/or recovery system; 4) reside in stable, recovery-oriented housing the last six (6) months; 5) have no involvement with the legal system within the last six (6) months and/or pending legal issues; and 7) no intensive behavioral health involvement within the last six (6) months, including intensive services, detoxification services, and/or residential treatment services. JCS has partnered with the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy and West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Behavioral Health in the implementation, monitoring, oversight, and sustainment of the proposed project. Priority considerations addressed in this application include rural and high-poverty areas.

West Virginia

Laramie County Government

Laramie County, Wyoming, project focuses on Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), a community-based, harm-reduction intervention for individuals with law violations driven by unmet behavioral health needs. The program will expand case management capacity and hours of availability, address increasing use, and overdose within the community, and provide expanded hours and resources for client support. LEAD provides a non-punitive, health-centered approach to ensure that individuals struggling with substance use or mental illness are diverted from the criminal justice system while decreasing recidivism and improving public safety. Consistent with LEAD’s Guiding Principles, this model, based on harm reduction principles, seeks to connect high-need drug offenders to culturally competent, community-based service providers at the earliest law enforcement contact and keep individuals out of the criminal justice system. Laramie County is the most populous county in Wyoming with an estimated population of 100,863 residents, and home to the state capitol, Cheyenne. LEAD is a multi-agency collaborative between the Laramie County government, Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, the Cheyenne Police Department, Healthworks, Volunteers of America, and Crossroads Health Clinic. LEAD will build on existing efforts to address the needs of repeat drug offenders through an initiative based on shared planning, decision-making, data sharing, and evaluation that will: (1) expand outreach and hours of service to eligible individuals within the county; (2) enhance coordination of service delivery through the existing social service network; (3) increase referrals to substance use and mental health treatment centers; and (4) improve collaboration and communication among law enforcement agencies and social services providers. From the perspective of the Sequential Intercept Model, LEAD intercepts the individual and diverts the behavioral problem at the point of law enforcement response (Intercept 1) to channel drug-involved individuals into a community-based intervention whenever possible and appropriate. Expected outcomes of this project include reduced recidivism for low-level drug offenders in Laramie County, strengthened collaboration across county and city departments and community-based organizations to better meet the needs of individuals with a history of substance use, mental health disorders, or low-level drug offenses, and increased community public health and safety.

Wyoming

Grantee Projects

22nd Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office

22nd Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office

Alabama Department of Mental Health

Alabama Department of Mental Health

City of Searcy

City of Searcy

Izard County

Izard County

Johnson County

Johnson County

Pulaski County

Pulaski County

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

City of Long Beach

City of Long Beach

County of Stanislaus

County of Stanislaus

Kings County

Kings County

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County

Mendocino County

Mendocino County

Arapahoe County Colorado

Arapahoe County Colorado

Gunnison County

Gunnison County

Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

Executive Office of the Governor Of Delaware

Executive Office of the Governor Of Delaware

Citrus County

Citrus County

City of Port St. Lucie

City of Port St. Lucie

Orange County

Orange County

County of Fulton

County of Fulton

Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

City of Clinton

City of Clinton

Boone County

Boone County

Lake County

Lake County

Dubois County

Dubois County

The Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County

The Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Tippecanoe County

Tippecanoe County

Unified Government of Wyandotte County

Unified Government of Wyandotte County

Kenton County Fiscal Court

Kenton County Fiscal Court

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

Purchase District Health Department

Purchase District Health Department

Whitley County Health Department

Whitley County Health Department

City of New Orleans

City of New Orleans

Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office

Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office

Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government

Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government

City of Boston

City of Boston

City of Fitchburg

City of Fitchburg

City of Holyoke

City of Holyoke

City of Holyoke Police Department

City of Holyoke Police Department

City of Lowell