Behavioral Health & Overdose Reduction Initiative

In partnership with a team of scientists and subject matter experts from the University of North Florida and Georgia Southern University, the Community Services Board of Middle Georgia proposes to implement the Behavioral Health & Overdose Reduction Initiative. The purpose of the project is to implement and deliver sorely needed behavioral health and substance misuse services to 16 underserved rural Georgia counties (Bleckley, Burke, Dodge, Emanuel, Glascock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Pulaski, Screven, Telfair, Treutlen, Wheeler, & Wilcox). Project activities include: 1) an initial gap analysis to identify counties of greatest need per treatment services availability relative to extent of substance misuse and mental health disorders; 2) infuse jail-based screening for substance misuse, mental health, and co-occurring disorders; enhance connections to treatment; 4) enhance CBT and other evidence-based modalities; 5) deliver MAT as needed; 6) deliver substance use prevention sessions to middle school-aged students; 7) conduct a mixed methods process and implementation evaluation to provide improvement feedback and specify program performance and impact; and 8) engage a sustainability plan of partnering with multiple justice system agencies and practitioners in the 16 county region for 2024 and/or 2025 grant submissions. Expected outcomes include: infusion of jail-based disorders screeners; increased number of Georgians connected to treatment services; decreased overdoses and fatal overdoses in the region; improved relapse and recidivism outcomes; and development and execution of a sustainability plan informed by the process and implementation evaluation. Citizens residing in the sixteen-county region are the primary project activity beneficiaries though scientific findings from the project should also yield implications for similar programming elsewhere.