Pilot Projects: Harm Reduction and Public Safety

Catholic Community Services of Western Washington

Arrest and Jail Alternatives

Geography: Olympia, Wash.

National Council Member Organization

Catholic Community Services of Western Washington (CCSWW) leveraged the funding from this grant to grow their Arrest and Jail Alternatives (AJA) program, which supports public safety by utilizing peer case managers and mental health professionals to assist community members marginalized based on multiple intersecting identities, including homelessness, addiction, disability and criminal justice involvement.

Project activities include:

• Adding CCSWW’s Olympia AJA operations to its behavioral health licensure and preparing to offer adult behavioral health services, including counseling and medication management (pending approval from the Department of Health).
• Testing a referral system for identifying potential program participants.
• Strengthening relationships between CCSWW and the Olympia Police Department (OPD) and Olympia Crisis Response Unit (CRU).
• Preparing for launch of preventive outreach project for people at risk of overdose, homelessness, mental health crisis and criminal justice involvement.

Project outcomes:

• AJA formally moved under CCSWW’s Adult Behavioral Health wing, allowing for more accessible, low-barrier mental health programming.
• The preventive outreach project received its first three referrals from OPD and CRU for potential program participants.

Project promotion:

• Harm Reduction and Public Safety Partnering to Prevent Overdose (NatCon23 presentation)

In the grantee’s own words:

“OPD was immediately receptive to the suggestion of a pilot project for harm reduction and continues to be actively engaged in program development. One of the greatest successes of the relationship [between CCS and OPD] has been the mutual admiration between peer specialists with histories of addiction and criminal justice involvement and law enforcement officers.”

CenterPointe

CenterPointe Overdose Outreach Program

Geography: Lincoln, Neb.

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC)

CenterPointe used the funding from this grant to expand the reach of their Lincoln Street Outreach and Crisis Response teams to touch all individuals who have a near-overdose or overdose related interaction with the Lincoln Police Department (LPD). CenterPointe also used the funding to provide overdose education to the broader Lincoln community via an overdose prevention public education campaign.

Project activities include:

• Creating data tracking mechanism for referral, contact and resource metrics.
• Establishing relationship in which Lincoln Police Department began sending referrals for individuals who have experienced or are at risk of overdose and CenterPointe responded to these referrals by offering services and supplies to those individuals.
• Purchasing and equipping van to provide mobile outreach and crisis response.
• Developing and implementing monthly check-ins with CenterPointe leadership and LPD partners.
• Creating and printing public campaign materials and placing billboards in and around Lincoln.

Project outcomes:

• Purchased and equipped a van to store supplies and transport individuals in need of services or supplies throughout the community.
• Received the first five referrals from LPD for program participants.
• Printed more than 10,000 flyers.

Project promotion:

• Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Partnerships (Behavioral Health Training Institute 2023 session)

In the grantee’s own words:

“The purchase of the outreach van will have the biggest long-term impact on the individuals at risk for overdose or who have experienced overdose, as it will be used for years to come to transport necessary supplies to individuals and to transport those individuals to appointments for substance use assessments.”

Families Against Narcotics

Families Against Narcotics – ReDirect

Geography: Michigan

Families Against Narcotics (FAN) leveraged funding from this grant to expand harm reduction and case management services within their Comeback Quick Response Team (QRT) program in Oakland County, Mich. Each Comeback QRT is composed of a public safety partner and a combination of a FAN peer recovery coach, a FAN family recovery coach, and a ReDirect case manager. The QRT responds within 72 hours to homes of individuals who have recently experienced an overdose and visits individuals who have had recent substance-related interaction with law enforcement as a preventative response. The funding through this grant allowed FAN to add a harm reduction case manager (CM) to three QRTs within Oakland County to assess clients, offer wraparound services and find ways to “meet them where they are” to continue their engagement.

Project activities include:

• Integrating CM into existing law-enforcement-partnered Comeback QRTs in Madison Heights, Southfield and Troy.
• Building rapport with law enforcement officers and educate them on harm reduction services.
• Creating a protocol for following up with participants who do not accept services on the initial visit (“call back model”).
• Developing a system of screening in which participants complete a full biopsychosocial assessment if they state goals for change.

Project outcomes:

• 77 QRT visits:
  • 55 unique households
  • 36 answered doors
  • 33 conversations
  • 9 individuals and families accepting services and comfort kits during the initial visit with law enforcement
• More than 1,700 harm reduction supplies distributed:
  • 920 long syringes
  • 520 short syringes
  • 117 fentanyl test strips
  • 33 safe sex kits
  • 31 safe smoke kits
  • 9 safe snort kits
  • 60 Narcan kits
  • 4 red sharp boxes
  • 13 black sharp boxes

In the grantee’s own words:

“Our pathway for transparency around harm reduction when engaging law enforcement is through connection and continuing education. Knowing that harm reduction is an up-and-coming evidence-based practice, we are continuing to develop new ways to educate law enforcement on how harm reduction services save lives, decrease overutilization of health systems, reduce drug related-crime and recidivism, help build human connection and essentially make their jobs better in the process.”

Moab Regional Recovery Center

Improving Outcomes for Incarcerated and Recently Rural Individuals with Substance Use Disorder

Geography: Moab, Utah

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC)

Moab Regional Recovery Center (MRRC) leveraged this funding, in partnership with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, to provide targeted outreach and services to individuals in or recently released from the jail in Grand County, Utah. MRRC also used the funding to provide enhanced training for all corrections staff around harm reduction and substance use disorder.

Project activities include:

• Implementing in-person group therapy sessions in the jail.
• Implementing weekly virtual Coffee and Recovery groups hosted by peer recovery specialists.
• Collaborating with jail staff to create novel-risk-reduction kits for distribution upon release from jail.
• Establishing positive and supportive relationships with staff at Grand County Jail.
• Increasing one-on-one peer support services in the jail.

Project outcomes:

• Distributed 46 risk reduction kits.
• Conducted release survey with 48 individuals, of which:
  • Five provided contact information and expressed a desire for targeted follow-up.
  • Seven have shown up post-release at the clinic as a direct result of the jail program.
• Held 13 in-person group therapy sessions in the jail.
  • Eight attendees on average per session
• Held 21 virtual Coffee and Recovery sessions.
  • Five attendees on average per session
• Individuals who attend groups in jail have been consistently enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn about overdose prevention, medication options for OUD and AUD, and other harm reduction strategies and supplies.

Project promotion:

• Harm Reduction and Public Safety Partnering to Prevent Overdose (NatCon23 presentation)
• Feature on local radio station, KZMU

In the grantee’s own words:

“Since our project began, there is an ongoing interest in discussing overdose reversal in the groups we host, and many individuals express that this is the first time they’ve had an opportunity to learn about harm reduction.”

Osborne Association, Inc.

Fulton Community Reentry Center

Geography: Bronx, N.Y.

National Council Member Organization

Osborne Association leveraged the funding from this grant to prepare for providing harm reduction services to formerly incarcerated people housed at the Fulton Community Reentry Center.

Project activities include:

• Hiring two peer workers to staff the project.
• Preparing peer workers to be trained in harm reduction techniques and opioid overdose prevention.
• Strengthening relationship with the New York Police Department and Parole Bureau.

Project outcomes:

• Assigned two to three parole officers to the Fulton Community Reentry Center, rather than multiple different parole officers across residents.
• Identified potential eligible residents.

In the grantee’s own words:

“The fact that [the Parole Bureau] agreed to assign Fulton residents to the same two or three parole officers is a huge success and a great help to this project, in particular. We will not need to explain to 30 or 40 different parole officers that participating in naloxone training does not mean that a person on parole is using opioids. Instead, parole officers can see this training for what it is: a genuine demonstration of formerly incarcerated people’s commitment to the health and safety of the people around them.”

Recovery Resource Council

Dallas Overdose Response Team

Geography: Dallas, Texas

Recovery Resource Council used the funding from this grant to pilot expanding their Overdose Response Team to the city of Dallas, in partnership with Emergency Medical Services for Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR). This team brings trained behavioral health and public safety professionals to individuals who have recently experienced an overdose within 72 hours of the incident to give them and their household the opportunity to meet with a certified peer support specialist or licensed master social worker, who offers linkages to resources and help navigating barriers.

Project activities include:

• Hiring a Certified Recovery Peer Support Specialist.
• Developing approach to working alongside a community health paramedic to respond to overdoses.
• Proactively providing naloxone kits and harm reduction materials to individuals at risk of overdose.
• Developing relationship with DFR.

Project outcomes:

• 173 overdose responses
• 97 people served
• 47 target clients served
• 50 friends and/or family members served
• 90 naloxone kits distributed
• 9 Narcan trainings held
• 168 Narcan kits distributed in trainings

Project promotion:

• Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Partnerships (Behavioral Health Training Institute 2023 session)
• Dallas’ new overdose response team saving lives one person at a time (NBC-DFW)
• Dallas fentanyl strike force’s latest win: More Narcan for DPD patrols, new testing tool (Dallas Morning News)
• Good Morning Texas: Overdose response team (WFAA)
• DFR sources: Paramedics responded to 27 suspected opioid overdoses across city on Tuesday evening (WFAA)
• Response team moves to DFW to help fight fentanyl overdoses (FOX 4 KDFW)
• Dallas Fire-Rescue launches overdose response team (FOX 4 KDFW)
• Dallas’ opioid response team meets overdose victims in their most desperate hours (Dallas Observer)

In the grantee’s own words:

“We know our program is making a positive impact because our team is attempting to give every person who survives a 911-reported overdose a linkage to care, no matter their ZIP code, income level, demographics or employment status, whether they transport to a hospital or not. It creates an opportunity for an intervention that may have never happened otherwise, because we are going to them, rather than waiting for them to come to us.”

SOAR Initiative

Piloting a Replicable Deadly Batch Alert System Model

Geography: State-based – Ohio and beyond

The SOAR Initiative (SOAR) leveraged the funding from this grant to expand their Deadly Batch Alert system to a new pilot site in Indianapolis, Ind. This system features a mobile application and text alert system that notifies people who use drugs, their loved ones, and first responders when overdoses surge or particularly dangerous drugs are circulating in the community.

Project activities include:

• Launching a text app alert system with Overdose Lifeline in Indianapolis.
• Planning analytics dashboard for use by local grassroots partners and public officials in Indianapolis.
• Establishing regular check-ins with Overdose Lifeline team.
• Beginning to approach potential partners to expand the system to another site.

Project outcomes:

• 48 individuals signed up for text alerts program in Indianapolis.
• Participants report positive experiences with the system.
• One participant submitted a report through the system.
• Four alerts were sent out to participants via the system.

Project communications:

• Example Deadly Batch Alert
• Ad for Deadly Batch Alerts
• Xylazine information
• Announcement of recent project success

In the grantee’s own words:

“By providing timely information and alerts, the project has empowered participants to stay informed and take necessary precautions or seek assistance in opioid-related emergencies.”

Wilkes Recovery Revolution

Wilkes Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) Project

Geography: Wilkes County, N.C.

National Council Member Organization

Wilkes Recovery Revolution, Inc. (WRR) used the funding from this grant to create a post-overdose response team (PORT) in conjunction with Wilkes County Emergency Medical Services, Wilkesboro Police Department, North Wilkesboro Police Department and Wilkes Medical Center. This team is focused on 1) targeted naloxone and fentanyl testing distribution, 2) warm handoffs to syringe service programs and substance use disorder treatment and 3) community and individual overdose-response training sessions.

Project activities include:

• Hiring a peer outreach worker.
• Creating a designated phone extension for referrals, staffed 24/7.
• Strengthening relationship with local Emergency Medical Services and Wilkes Medical Center.
• Creating and distributing leave-behind kits for post-overdose support.
• Holding trainings for public safety and community partners.

Project outcomes:

• 450 PORT kits distributed
• 2 public safety partner trainings held
• 1 training session held with community members
• 33 referrals made to PORT from public safety partners

In the grantee’s own words:

“Law enforcement officers continue to utilize our services (harm reduction and otherwise) on a regular basis, ensuring that anyone they encounter receives the services they need. Wilkes Medical Center staff have seen the positive impact we are having on their patients and have invited our outreach worker to spend as much time as possible on the unit, to ensure no person slips through the cracks.”