COSSAP Project

This project will serve the Sixteenth Judicial District in northern Arkansas, a rural region comprised of five counties: Izard, Stone, Fulton, Cleburne, and Independence. The mission of this project is to reduce the impact of substance misuse, including overdose deaths, in the area. This will be accomplished by helping more people with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) receive treatment instead of entering the criminal justice system. This project will also help increase community awareness about substance misuse and improve the ability of law enforcement agencies and communities to respond to overdoses. The primary focus for activities will be law enforcement deflection/diversion and access to peer recovery support services, and most of the activities will be conducted by COSSAP investigators and Peer Recovery Support Specialists (PRSS). Peers are individuals who have experienced SUD, are in sustained recovery, and have been trained to help others achieve recovery. By expanding access to peer support services, this project will connect more people with SUD to the treatment they desperately need. COSSAP investigators are deputies from the Izard County Sheriff’s office who are also assigned to the existing Drug Task Force for the district. Having designated COSSAP agents on the district task force will ensure that more cases involving substance use can be referred for peer support and that treatment arrangements can be made as quickly as possible. This project will also include outreach and education activities across the district and will improve the accuracy and efficiency of data collection.

Allowable Use and Approximate Budget %: 
Enhancing access to peer recovery support services - 35%
Law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion - 35%
Embedding PRSS at multiple points of Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) - 10%
Prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students - 10%
Drug take-back programs - 5%
Data collection - 5%