(Chicago) – Applications are now open for the Law Enforcement/First Responder Diversion and Referral Mentoring Initiative, which has been launched as a resource to support law enforcement and fire/EMS interested in starting or expanding diversion and/or referral programs for individuals with substance use disorders.
Law enforcement and other first
responders are on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, frequently
encountering individuals with substance use disorders and responding to drug
overdose calls. The Mentoring Initiative fosters
partnerships between law enforcement,
first responders, public health and/or
behavioral health agencies. It is designed to help reduce and prevent
overdoses, divert people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental
health disorders to services before they enter the justice system, and connect individuals
to evidence-based treatment services and recovery supports.
A variety of
multidisciplinary overdose prevention, response, and diversion and referral
models, led by law enforcement and other first responders, have emerged in
communities throughout the nation. They include the following five pathways
from law enforcement or other first responders to services in the community:
- Self-referral: An individual voluntarily initiates
contact with a first responder (a law enforcement, fire services, or EMS
professional) seeking access to treatment (without fear of arrest) and receives
a referral to a treatment provider.
- Active Outreach: A law enforcement officer or other first responder identifies or seeks out individuals in need of substance use disorder treatment; a referral is made to a treatment provider, who engages them in treatment.
- Naloxone Plus: A law enforcement officer or other
first responder engages an individual in treatment as part of an overdose
response.
- First Responder / Officer Prevention Referral: A law
enforcement officer or other first responder initiates treatment engagement,
but no criminal charges are filed.
- Officer Intervention Referral: A law enforcement
officer initiates treatment engagement; charges are filed and held in abeyance
or a citation is issued.
Peer Mentoring Sites
Eight programs have been selected to serve as peer mentor sites for communities that are interested in starting programs, or for established programs that are interested in learning innovative practices to enhance their existing initiatives. In this way, communities will have the opportunity to learn from established or innovative programs that have shown success in meeting the treatment needs of individuals with a substance use disorder, and who in some cases may have experienced an overdose.
The mentor sites represent a
diverse cross-section of model strategies and examples of successful
collaborations between law enforcement and first responders, behavioral health
providers, and other community partners to connect individuals with opioid use
disorder to treatment, instead of entering the criminal justice system. These
mentor sites, as host agencies, will offer their experience and expertise to
visiting law enforcement and first responder agencies.
The mentor sites were
selected to ensure representation of the five pathways described above. They are:
- Colerain Township
Quick Response Team (QRT), Colerain Township Department of Fire and Emergency
Medical Services (OH)
Pathway: Naloxone Plus, Self-Referral, Active Outreach, Officer
Prevention
- Huntington Quick Response Team (QRT), Cabell County Emergency Management Services (WV)
Pathway: Naloxone Plus, Active Outreach
- Lake County’s A Way Out, Mundelein Police Department (IL)
Pathway: Self-Referral, Naloxone Plus, Officer Prevention
-
Lucas County
Lucas County Sheriff’s Office D.A.R.T. Program (OH)
Pathway: Naloxone Plus, Self-Referral, Active Outreach, Officer Prevention,
Officer Intervention
-
Philadelphia Police
Assisted Diversion (PAD), City of Philadelphia (PA)
Pathway: Self-Referral, Active Outreach, Officer Prevention
-
Pima
County’s Unified Medication Assisted Treatment Targeted Engagement
Response (U-MATTER), Tucson Police
Department (AZ)
Pathway: Self-Referral, Active Outreach, Naloxone Plus, Officer Prevention, Officer Intervention
- Plymouth County Outreach, East Bridgewater Police Department (MA)
Pathway: Naloxone Plus, Self-Referral, Active Outreach, Officer
Prevention, Officer Intervention
-
Seattle Law
Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), Public Defender Association (WA)
Pathway: Officer Intervention, Active Outreach, Naloxone Plus,
Officer Prevention
Applications
for mentoring are being accepted through
the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (COAP)
website. Communities that are interested in starting or
expanding their law enforcement/first responder diversion and referral programs
are invited to submit applications for mentoring.
The scope of
this effort is limited to programs that have been created to serve individuals
with opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders (not including
marijuana) that have substantial law enforcement, fire services, or EMS
engagement. Diversion or referral programs operated by prosecutors or the
courts are not within the scope of this effort. Likewise, programs with a
primary focus on addressing homelessness, untreated mental health disorders,
and/or public nuisance offenses are not within the scope of this effort.
TASC’s Center for Health and Justice (CHJ) will support travel for selected mentees to
visit mentor sites and learn about their diversion programs that are
successfully connecting individuals with opioid use disorder to treatment and
recovery services. This initiative is sponsored by funding through the Bureau
of Justice Assistance.
Additional information
regarding the Law Enforcement and First Responder Diversion Mentoring Initiative,
including instructions on how to request technical assistance from the sites, is
available at the COAP website.
For more information on the
Mentoring Initiative or COAP Resources, contact Hope Fiori, hfiori@tasc.org, 312-573-8204.
This project was supported by Grant No.
2017-AR-BX-K003, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of
Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of
Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the
National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of
view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department
of Justice.
TASC’s Center for Health and Justice (CHJ) offers practical, results-driven strategies to
reduce recidivism by addressing addiction and mental illness among criminal
justice populations. In partnership with researchers and program experts from across
the country, CHJ provides consultation, training, and public policy solutions
that improve community health, reduce rearrest, and save money.