CHJ First Responder Partnerships TTA Initiative (CHJ-FRP)

Signed into law on July 22, 2016, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 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 objectives of the program are two-fold. First, it aims to support locally-driven responses to the opioid epidemic and state-led initiatives designed to reduce opioid misuse and the number of overdose fatalities. Second, it supports efforts by PDMPs and their stakeholders to expand the implementation, enhancement, and proactive use of prescription drug monitoring programs to support clinical decision-making and prevent the misuse and diversion of controlled substances. This TTA program is designed to complement the site-based competitive solicitation, and to provide targeted customized TTA to existing and future COAP sites. In category 1, BJA seeks an applicant that will help local communities plan, implement, sustain, and enhance initiatives led by law enforcement agencies or other first responders that respond to the opioid epidemic.

Through the First Responder Partnerships (FRP) TTA Initiative, TASC’s Center for Health and Justice (CHJ) will advance first responder diversion as a broad-based strategy that also supports public safety. The CHJ-FRP initiative will feature an expansive network of national partners with experience working alongside TASC/CHJ to develop innovative resources for diversion, from police to parole and points in between. Representing multiple fields, the CHJ-FRP initiative will feature six partners—International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Association of State EMS Officials, AdCare Criminal Justice Services, Addiction Technology Transfer Center and Prevention Technology Transfer Center networks, and Faces & Voices of Recovery.

The CHJ-FRP initiative will provide structured technical assistance to help local communities plan, implement, sustain, and enhance initiatives led by law enforcement agencies or other first responders that respond to the opioid epidemic. This will include providing ongoing TTA (both remote and onsite) to site-based grantees throughout the duration of their BJA grant awards, assisting with project design in the planning phase, developing a profile of each grantee that describes the results of the project, facilitating partnerships with relevant stakeholders, overseeing the data collection process, and addressing issues that may hinder a site’s progress toward achieving its goals. TASC’s CHJ and its partners will also develop a set of written products and tools that guide local efforts to: (1) establish partnerships between law enforcement and other first responders, and public health and behavioral health agencies that respond to the opioid epidemic; (2) establish education and prevention programs that connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students; and (3) establish social services partnerships with law enforcement in order to rapidly respond to opioid overdoses where children are impacted.

CA/NCF

To support communities affected by the opioid epidemic, and advance first responder diversion as a broad-based strategy that also supports public safety, TASC’s Center for Health and Justice (CHJ), the training and technical assistance (TTA) arm of TASC, Inc. (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities) proposes the CHJ First Responder Partnerships (CHJ-FRP) TTA Initiative. CHJ will lead this effort, working with national partners and experts to enhance TTA delivery to first responder agencies and community behavioral health partners at every stage—from planning to implementation to sustaining and enhancing existing efforts—to maximize the impact of these deflection programs in reducing overdoses due to opioid and stimulant use, and limiting justice involvement for individuals experiencing substance use disorders. 

To meet BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) aims, the CHJ-FRP will feature a strong group of national organizations representing multiple fields responsible for delivering deflection services. The initiative includes six major partners—International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Association of State EMS Officials, and the Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center network through University of Missouri–Kansas City—and other nationally recognized subject matter partners. This collaborative will allow for broad reach to practitioners of first responder and treatment services, affording the opportunity to deliver COSSAP products and resources to a wide audience while bringing the experience of these organizations to COSSAP site-based grantees.

Through the CHJ-FRP, CHJ and its partners will provide TTA, products and tools that help communities establish, sustain, and enhance best practice deflection initiatives led by first responders and community behavioral health agencies responding to the opioid and stimulant epidemic. This goal will be achieved through two primary objectives: 1) information development and dissemination on pre-arrest deflection best practices to first responders and behavioral health providers, and 2) facilitation of adoption and enhancement of first responder led deflection initiatives in local jurisdictions for individuals with a substance use disorder.

Key activities will be structured to meet the objectives of this national program, including: a) provision of outreach and training and technical assistance; b) individual and group mentoring program and virtual learning collaborative; c) webinars and podcasts, publications, tools, and profiles of COSSAP site grantees; d) conference participation (national COSSAP conference, national association partner conferences), and e) ongoing coordination of activities with other national COSSAP TTA providers.