Kenosha County Opioid Overdose Reduction Project

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) Program is the first major federal substance use disorder treatment and recovery legislation in 40 years and the most comprehensive effort to address the opioid epidemic. CARA establishes a comprehensive, coordinated, and balanced strategy through enhanced grant programs that expand prevention and education efforts while also promoting treatment and recovery. The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based program was developed as part of the CARA legislation signed into law on July 22, 2016. In FY 2017, the Overdose Outreach Projects will provide funding and technical assistance to units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to plan, develop, and implement comprehensive diversion and alternatives to incarceration programs that expand outreach, treatment, and recovery efforts to individuals impacted by the opioid epidemic who come into contact with the justice system. Funding may be used to connect survivors of a non-fatal overdose with treatment providers or a peer recovery coach in an emergency department; provide survivors of non-fatal overdoses, and their friends and family, with access to naloxone and other recovery support services; provide prioritized—ideally immediate—access to detox and treatment services; overdose prevention education and community outreach and engage a research partner to conduct action research providing skills and assistance in identifying performance measures, tracking measures to assist in the improvement of program implementation and fidelity, providing subject matter expertise and guidance.

Kenosha County, Wisconsin has the fourth highest rate of opiate-related overdose deaths and the highest rate of heroin-related overdose deaths in the state. To stem increasing rates of opioid overdose, the Kenosha County Department of Human Services will implement the Kenosha County Opioid Overdose Reduction Project, which builds upon the community naloxone distribution-enabling Wisconsin Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths Prevention Project (WI-PDO). The project utilizes certified peer specialists to link overdose survivors with treatment. In addition, the project stipulates the creation of a community education campaign about opioid abuse, harm reduction, and abuse treatment alternatives. To ensure long-lasting success, the project will leverage key data sets to provide an extensive analysis of the opioid crisis in order to guide policymaking. NJM Management Services, Inc. will serve as the action research partner.

CA/NCF