(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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Naloxone Plus: A law enforcement officer or other first responder engages an individual in treatment as part of an overdose response.
4. First Responder / Officer Prevention Referral: A law enforcement officer or other first responder initiates treatment engagement, but no criminal charges are filed.
5. Officer Intervention Referral: A law enforcement officer initiates treatment engagement; charges are filed and held in abeyance or a citation is issued.

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

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.