In 2023, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), awarded funding to eight grantees across the country to implement harm reduction-public safety collaborations aimed at reducing the risk of overdose and other drug-related harms for people who use drugs and people with substance use disorders who are, or may become, justice-involved. The power of these collaborations and lessons learned from these partnerships have the potential to change the way communities view and address substance use nationally.

This brief offers a quick summary of the historical tensions between harm reduction and public safety, lessons learned from real-world pilots, with case studies and further resources to learn more about harm reduction and public safety partnerships.