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Research paper: International Journal of Drug Policy
Examining the implementation of police-assisted referral programs for substance use disorder services in Massachusetts
Davoust, et.al (2021) examined the implementation of police-assisted referral programs in five Massachusetts communities between June 2019 and March 2020.
Five key themes emerged regarding the implementation of police-assisted referral programs across the communities:
1) program development was an ongoing process;
2) partnerships between police departments and community stakeholders were essential for starting and sustaining a program;
3) high-level leadership influenced program priorities and facilitated implementation;
4) program success was defined in multiple ways; and
5) programs contributed to shifts in beliefs about substance use and addiction among police officers.
Read the full publication.
Report & Program Spotlight: Overdose deaths increased nationally in 2020
How one QRT program responded to increase in ODs during the pandemic
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a health network advisory at the end of December reporting large increases of overdose death from synthetic opioids from March through May of 2020. The most recent provisional data available from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that approximately 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May 2020. It is the largest number of drug overdoses for a 12-month period ever recorded.
When the first stay-at-home order was implemented in March, Huntington QRT (WV) tried to continue to operate, but after about two weeks they realized there was no way to reduce personal contact. After a quiet April, May exploded.
“Quickly, the team said, ‘We’ve got to go back out there,’” Connie Priddy, compliance officer for Cabell EMS and coordinator of Huntington’s Quick Response Team (QRT), said. “‘We’ve got to find a safe way to operate.’ So we put in place a limit of the number of people in a vehicle. We wear PPE. We don’t enter homes, which we usually do. We were realizing that it really is important to have that personal interaction with people.” The QRT has also done community events, offering naloxone training, HIV testing and COVID-19 testing. Read more.
Huntington QRT is a mentor site for the COSSAP Law Enforcement/First Responder Diversion and Referral Mentoring Initiative. Interested? Learn more and apply for mentoring.
Webinar: National Center for State Courts
Strengthening Families: What Role Can Courts Play in Upstream Family Preservation?
February 4, 2021 at 4:00–5:00 p.m. ET.
This webinar will focus on helping courts strengthen their collaborative community roles to help at-risk families affected by the opioid crisis and substance use disorders prior to a petition or child welfare involvement. These preventative, upstream measures can decrease the negative impact on children and help families stay together. Presenters will discuss two jurisdictions—Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama—and their upstream and pre-petition work to help at-risk families before child welfare becomes involved. Register for the webinar.
Webinar: Lex Loci Labs
How to Manage and Grow Your Pre-Arrest Diversion Program
February 24 at 12 p.m. EST
Lex Loci Labs offers a customized pre-arrest diversion case management platform for administrators to efficiently manage diversion programs, facilitating a more cost-effective and equitable justice system. In a 15-minute webinar, learn how Lex Loci’s diversion management platform can help you efficiently manage your program, from officer referral through program completion and recidivism tracking. Register here.
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PTACC's Deflection Classifieds
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Funding Opportunities
SAMHSA Grants including:
Building Communities of Recovery to mobilize resources within and outside of the recovery community to increase the prevalence and quality of long-term recovery support from substance abuse and addiction. Applications Due: February 15, 2021. Apply.
Grants to Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths
The purpose of this program is to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths by training first responders and other key community sectors on the prevention of overdose-related deaths and implementing secondary prevention strategies, including the purchase and distribution of naloxone to first responders. Applications due by March 1, 2021. View the funding opportunity.
Other funding sources
Equity-Focused Policy Research: Building Cross-Cutting Evidence on Supports for Families with Young Childrento fund a body of research that illuminates strategies and policies that enhance families’ equitable access to key resources for supporting their children’s healthy development. Applications Due: February 16, 2021. Apply.
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Research Studies
Seeking Safety Peer Recovery Studies
Seeking Safety is now recruiting adults (anywhere in the U.S.) as part of peer-led mobile app study that will address trauma and substance abuse. Apply here.
They are also recruiting recruiting adults ages 18-26 with substance abuse (anywhere in the U.S.) for a study on a new high-tech app to detect emotions. Apply here.
Conferences
Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit (@RxSummit)
April 2021: Virtual annual gathering for stakeholders to discuss what's working in prevention and treatment.
National Council for Behavioral Health
May 2021: The largest conference in mental health and addiction care.
West Coast Symposium on Addictive Disorders
June 2021: Promoting the design, provision, and monitoring of outcomes-based substance use disorder services.
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Did you see it?
Deschutes County, Oregon Goldilocks Program
The goal of the Goldilocks Program is to get as many individuals as possible into the first of three tiers -- the “just right” option.
Learn more.
Abt Associates: Reimagining Response to Vulnerable Populations in Crisis
Online scan to collect information on first responder-led programs that were designed to maximize diversion from the justice and emergency systems to treatment and community-based services. Read more.
Emerging Best Practices in Law Enforcement Deflection and Community Supervision Programs
This volume is the first-ever peer-reviewed journal focused on deflection and reflects the mounting acceptance of and critical need for deflection as a collaborative initiative that connects public safety and public health to keep individuals out of the justice system. Learn more.
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Want to get involved in the growing field of deflection and pre-arrest diversion?
Then join a PTACC Strategy Area!
Check It Out! The PTACC National Pre-Arrest Diversion Resource Website.
PTACC is the NATIONAL voice of the pre-arrest diversion field and provides vision, leadership, advocacy, and education to facilitate the growth and practice of deflection and pre-arrest diversion across the United States.
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