Expanding the Addiction Response with Locally Generated Solutions

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 will serve Arlington County (population 235,000) and is particularly focused on response in high-poverty regions of the county where opioid use and opioid overdoses remain prevalent. The project also works across traditional jurisdictional boundaries to provide wraparound services for individuals identified as high risk or otherwise involved in the Arlington criminal justice system. The purpose of this project is to improve access to and treatment in the detoxification program; provide early intervention to people arrested on substance use-related charges and identify alternatives to incarceration; improve recovery options by adding a reentry program to an established residential program; maintain collaboration between the police and BHD to address opioid overdoses and activity hotspots; assess and provide interventions for children and families impacted by substance use; and evaluate the use of evidence-based treatment and outcomes. The proposed addition of 1.0 FTE therapist and 1.0 FTE case manager will allow BHD to enhance services along the Sequential Intercept Model. The therapist will be focused on establishment, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based programming in a variety of treatment settings and will be the clinical lead for the creation of diversion service plans and “Plans of Safe Care” for substance-exposed infants. The case manager will serve as the lead clinical staff for co-response with police and fire services to the community, and will provide community outreach, education, and naloxone distribution. Both positions will expand the reach of MAT programming in the county and will address gaps identified through comprehensive community assessment. A key feature of the proposal is a collaboration with an academic partner, Dr. Taxman from George Mason University, to evaluate performance, including outcomes and outputs, along with the development of fidelity assessments to measure evidence-based practice adoption. The project expands upon existing partnership with the police and fire departments, Child Protective Services, the offices of the sheriff, the public defender, and the Commonwealth’s attorney.

CA/NCF