Rapid Response Emergency Addiction and Crisis Team (RREACT) : Multi-disciplinary first responder team

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.

The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program aims to reduce opioid abuse and the number of overdose fatalities, as well as to mitigate the impacts on crime victims. The program also supports the implementation, enhancement, and proactive use of prescription drug monitoring programs to support clinical decision making and prevent the abuse and diversion of controlled substances.

The First Responders Partnerships category is to support multidisciplinary opioid response partnerships that include, at a minimum, a law enforcement/first responder component. Subcategory 1a supports partnerships that focus primarily on law enforcement/first responder and behavioral health and/or public health partnerships. Subcategory 1b supports partnerships that focus not only on law enforcement/first responders and behavioral health, but also on victim services and child welfare.

The Columbus Department of Public Safety’s Rapid Response Emergency Addiction and Crisis Team (RREACT) will hire a project manager, fund a case manager, and fund staff at the Franklin County Family and Children First Council to provide wrap-around service coordination and trauma counseling for children and families impacted by overdose. Grant funds will be used to establish standard protocols for case management for overdose survivors who do not immediately choose to enter treatment, incorporate connection to kinship supports and trauma counseling for children and family members impacted by overdose, implement standards case management protocols, and measure the impact of community-based RREACT services on repeat overdose, entry into treatment, and future engagement with the justice system. The Columbus Division of Fire (which operates the RREACT Program) will partner with an external researcher who will be selected through a competitive bid.

CA/NCF