Milwaukee Overdose Public Health and Safety Team (OD-PHAST)

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.

This project would expand and further coordinate current efforts to address overdoses, as well as overall substance misuse issues across the county. The OD-PHAST project aims to: (1) expand the delivery and analysis of near real-time data between multiple public health and public safety partners; (2) utilize both aggregate data and insights from case reviews to develop strategies and recommendations for changes to reduce the likelihood of future overdose incidents; (3) increase capacity to deliver timely toxicology findings to public health and safety partners; (4) enrich understanding of fatal overdose risk factors through expanded next-of-kin interviews; and (5) connect families impacted by overdose, particularly children, to services to mitigate the impact of the trauma experienced.

CA/NCF