Forward the Bulletin to colleagues with this link: View as Webpage
With recent data from our evaluator, RTI International, the Opioid Response Network will be releasing our first year summary. See preliminary information below.
More community trainings are scheduled. ORN community trainings are free two-day meetings  focusing on the opioid crisis. The purpose is to share ORN resources , provide opioid use disorder training and help participants develop technical assistance requests and action plans for their communities. Select upcoming trainings will be hosted in Indianapolis, IN; Montgomery, AL; Reno and Las Vegas, NV; and Juneau, AK.

Are you participating in an ORN event? We need your help! We want to see your smiling faces at ORN events across the country. Please take photos at your events and share with jane@aaap.org and nic@aaap.org so we can post in the Bulletin and on our website.

Do you need ORN brochures? As a reminder, i f you have events coming up or just would like to have some brochures in hand, please let jane@aaap.org and nic@aaap.org know.

The 2019 Opioid Response Network Summit was held from May 15-17 in Kansas City. Technology Transfer Specialists and Partners worked collaboratively on how to streamline and optimize our efforts across the country and locally. Stay tuned for a recap.
Shedding Light on Barriers States are Confronting with the Opioid Crisis
The National Council for Behavioral Health has conducted a series of focus groups in sample states to gain an understanding of their grant-funded activities and uncover barriers.

Jerria Martin, Alabama Prevention Consultant

Jerria Martin, executive director of Drug Free Communities in Selma, Alabama, believes that education is the foundation of drug prevention. She is working with the Alabama state Department of Mental Health on an intensive technical assistance request across 19 of the poorest counties in the country to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment.

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network’s (ATTC) virtual learning communities for TTSs across the country have been a major success. These communities promote evidence-based practices for opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery. One topic covered this month was cultural intelligence.

Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) has recently received a request from the Massachusetts Hospital Alliance and is working on materials for them. They continue curriculum development, regional trainings, webinar development and in-person clinical training.

On April 10, C4 Innovations presented a summary of housing first and recovery housing principles to TTSs. They have also started a webinar series, which was delivered in West Virginia. Texas and Pennsylvania have begun a series of webinars on the topic of recovery housing.

*This information reflects updates as of April 23, 2019. Stay tuned for more from the Opioid Response Network Summit held last week.
CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) has been working on prevention TA requests in the southwest region and have been asked to do a training at a community college.

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is currently vetting new consultants in states with low consultant numbers (Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi) and identifying and vetting TA consultants who have expertise with tribal communities.

RTI International has been working on gathering the impact data shared above and we are looking forward to sharing more.

The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) has been meeting with potential new partners, liaising with SAMHSA and focusing on disseminating branded promotional materials across the country.
New MAT Video Brings Hope Against Opioid Addiction Epidemic
The Rhode Island Office of the Governor, Rhode Island Department of Corrections, Brown University, and the Opioid Response Network have released a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program video. Its goal is to inform and educate viewers about what has made Rhode Island’s MAT program successful. And consequently, by creating successful MAT programs across the nation, to help in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Follow this link for the full video and a breakdown by chapter.

This two-part video presentation provides p harmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treating pediatric dental pain, screening and assessment tools for substance use disorders in pediatric patients and their families, and more. Access the presentation here...

Author: Brian Hurley, MD, MBA, DFASAM; Video: UCLA School of Dentistry provided production.
From the National Drug Early Warning System, NDEWS Presents : Recent enhancements in the timeliness and specificity of drug overdose death certificate data from NCHS.

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Time: 2:00 PM EST. The webinar will last approximately 60 minutes. 


In a blog post, Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz , Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, urges clinicians to increase the number of OUD patients they treat . She states "the opioid crisis would change greatly if even half of the clinicians trained to treat people would practice to their waiver caps." She highlights the pressures and the free resources available, directing readers to www.OpioidResponseNetwork.org.


This brief provides guidance to state governments on increasing the availability of evidence-based medication-assisted treatment in criminal justice settings.


The White House Council on Economic Advisors has released a white paper on opioid costs and impact of the epidemic. It separates the crisis into two waves – first the large growth in prescription opioid related deaths that lasted through 2010 and the increase in illicit opioid deaths since.


Overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants continue to increase. During 2015–2017, age-adjusted cocaine-involved and psychostimulant-involved death rates increased by 52.4% and 33.3%, respectively.


AAMC (Association on American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell Kirch, MD, lauds the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals for their multifaceted efforts to tackle pain management and opioid use disorder.


orn@aaap.org 401-270-5900
www.OpioidResponseNetwork.org
The Opioid Response Network (ORN) was created as a result of the SAMHSA-funded STR-TA grant. ORN provides free technical assistance to organizations, healthcare centers, single state agencies, and individuals in the prevention, treatment and recovery of opioid use disorder.

Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 6H79TI080816 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials of publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Copyright 2019 STR-TA