Metropolitan Overdose Data to Action Program (MODTAP)

The Orleans Parish District Attorney (OPDA)’s office is submitting this proposal to create a multidisciplinary coordinating body by consolidating existing anti-opioid committees into a singular body - the Metropolitan Overdose Data to Action Program (MODTAP). The service area of this project is the city of New Orleans, which is home to a diverse community with significant underserved populations and the anchor of a metropolitan area totaling just under one million individuals.

As each city, and even each neighborhood, necessarily has unique needs that must be understood and addressed in order to achieve success, all available data must be consolidated to ensure that an "individualized" response can be deployed to each geographical area. Only by doing so can we avoid the figurative problem of not enough butter over too much dry toast. This data-driven approach is the only way to ensure that resources are applied in the right area and at the right time, and best practices are adopted. In New Orleans, the coalition is willing, but the data is weak. That is to say, while there has been great support for across-the-board efforts in responding to the crisis, the actual utilization of the plethora of data available to drive collaborative decision-making has been lacking. Each stakeholder collects data, makes decisions, and applies resources independently in their own silo. Even in areas where there is general agreement on the efficacy of an agreed-upon strategy, there is no consensus being developed on how to deploy it most effectively.   

MODTAP would be charged with collecting, reviewing, and disseminating data collected by the member organizations and the local Overdose Mapping Application Program to conduct quarterly Overdose Fatality Reviews (OFR). The OFR process will be supported by evidence-based Risk Terrain Mapping that will guide the policy recommendations and collective actions of MODTAP on a micro-level. In turn, OPDA will use the findings and recommendations by MODTAP to maximize participation in the diversion of substance use disorder-related offenses into non-criminal legal system resolutions.

Planned activities for MODTAP is real-time data collection and post booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration program (Included: 50% of a screening ADA to identify candidates for referral to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program (LEAD).

OPDA will also assign a project director and fill three full time positions – a database administrator, a data support specialist, and a GIS analyst to train and deploy the RTM and GIS software in support of the OFR process.