Paterson Coalition for Opioid Assessment and Response (Pat-COAR)

The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) was developed as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) legislation. COSSAP’s purpose is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, implement, or expand comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs of abuse.

The objective of Category 1 is to encourage and support the development of comprehensive, locally driven responses to opioids, stimulants, and other substances that expand access to supervision, treatment, and recovery support services across the criminal justice system; support law enforcement and other first responder diversion programs for nonviolent drug offenders; promote education and prevention activities; and address the needs of children impacted by substance abuse.

The Paterson Coalition for Opioid Assessment and Response (Pat-COAR) will support a peer recovery support specialist to perform proactive outreach on a group and personalized basis with residents in “hot spot” areas, as identified based on the collective data and research of Pat-COAR. The program will also support an Overdose Fatality Review Team to better analyze and understand overdose cases and trends, allowing Pat-COAR to identify any gaps in services or policies that would potentially minimize its high rate of overdoses. Also, the program provides to hire staff needed to build the capacity and sustainability of Pat-COAR over time, as well as support the proposed activities. This project serves the city of Paterson, which has a population of 145,800 residents. The project includes partnerships between law enforcement entities from the local (Paterson Police Department), county (Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office), and interstate/federal (New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) levels; addiction and health professionals from local (Paterson Department of Health and Human Services/Division of Health), county (Passaic County Department of Health and Human Services/Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services), and regional (St. Joseph’s University Medical Center) levels; community-based partners who work hands-on to develop policy (Health Coalition of Passaic County) and programs (Eva’s Village) to support the region’s substance-using residents; and traditional Narcan distributors (Paterson Fire Department and Paterson Emergency Medical Services).

CA/NCF