Overdose Response Strategy Regional Meetings

During the Fall of 2022 the ORS held five regional meetings across the country for PHAs, DIOs, and ORS staff to come together to discuss cross-sector overdose prevention work that is affecting their areas. Drug use and distribution does not abide by state lines so collaboration across state-lines is essential to the ORS program. ORS teams met in New York, NY; Weston, FL; Des Moines, IA; Missoula, MT; and Tempe, AZ to discuss topics pertinent to the overdose prevention landscape within their region. Some of the topics include the following:

• Tours of intelligence offices and harm reduction centers
• Building trust and effective collaboration between the PHA and DIO
• The ever-evolving analytical challenges of identifying new illicit drugs and the pressing need for new laboratory methodologies and information sharing
• Rural and Tribal Partnerships
• Relationship building between the ORS teams and state partners
• Data quality concerns; timeliness, sharing, measurement/collection procedures

Below are group photos from each region.

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Region 5

Thank you to the regional meeting hosts from the following states for your hard work planning, organizing, and hosting successful regional meetings!

• Region 1: New York DIO Jim Hawley and PHA Polly Faust
• Region 2: South Florida DIO Gary Grimm and PHA Jasmin Sibai
• Region 3: Iowa DIO Kevin Winker and PHA Virgil Jackson
• Region 4: Montana DIO Will Janisch and PHA Jordan Friend
• Region 5: Arizona DIO Randy Moffitt and former PHA Sydney Fox

National Guard Counterdrug Drug Demand Reduction and Outreach (DDRO) Overview and Applications

Developed, piloted, and refined over a three-year process, the PHAST toolkit was created to help local jurisdictions reduce drug overdose deaths by increasing collaboration and coordination among all sectors, with a particular focus on public health and public safety agencies. This webinar will provide an overview of the PHAST framework, hear from Public Health Analysts who have worked on implementing PHAST in a local community, and finally discuss the new PHAST toolkit, website, and other supplemental materials.

Friday, December 9th, 2022 @ 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST

Public Health and Safety Teams (PHAST) Toolkit

Developed, piloted, and refined over a three-year process, the PHAST toolkit was created to help local jurisdictions reduce drug overdose deaths by increasing collaboration and coordination among all sectors, with a particular focus on public health and public safety agencies. This webinar will provide an overview of the PHAST framework, hear from Public Health Analysts who have worked on implementing PHAST in a local community, and finally discuss the new PHAST toolkit, website, and other supplemental materials.

Speakers

• Sarisa Roe, CDC Foundation Research Evaluation Analyst
• Sonia Berdahl, CDC Public Health Advisor
• Anna Gazinski, Public Health Analyst, Connecticut
• Kiera Latham, Public Health Analyst, New Hampshire

Friday, December 2nd, 2022 @ 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST

Public Health and Safety Team (PHAST) Toolkit

This Public Health and Safety Team (PHAST) toolkit was developed by CDC's Division of Overdose Prevention, in collaboration with the CDC Foundation, with financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Developed, piloted, and refined over a three-year process, the toolkit was created to help local jurisdictions reduce drug overdose deaths by increasing collaboration and coordination among all sectors, with a particular focus on public health and public safety agencies.

The PHAST framework centers around three primary goals:

The PHAST is structured into four modules:

Module 1: Building or formalizing a PHAST

Module 2: Collaborative data sharing and use

Module 3: Collaborative problem solving and coordinated interventions

Module 4: Monitoring and maintaining progress

Evidence-based strategies, real-world examples, tools, and other resources are included, in addition to specific action steps to help a PHAST sustain productivity and forward momentum. 

This toolkit is designed to be a printable resource that describes key activities for achieving the goals of PHAST. Additional resources and tools to support key activities and offer guidance for more in-depth processes will be available on the PHAST website at www.PHAST.org.

Discretionary Funding Approved for District of Colombia ORS Drug Intelligence Officer

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the ORS program’s public safety funding arm, recently announced their discretionary funding awards to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. We are excited to announce that in this year’s round of discretionary funding Washington Baltimore HIDTA was awarded funding for an ORS Drug Intelligence Officer for the District of Columbia (DC). Historically, the District of Columbia has been covered by the Virginia ORS Team. According to the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, DC had one of the highest rates of opioid related overdose deaths in the country where in 2020 it had over 60 deaths per 100,000 residents. The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA indicated a need and willingness to have a dedicated DIO be assigned specifically to DC to have a positive impact on addressing the high rate of opioid related overdose deaths.  

Harm Reduction and Public Safety Pilot Projects

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), invites nonprofit organizations to apply for grant funding to support one-year pilot projects integrating harm reduction strategies and public safety initiatives.

Through a competitive Request for Funding Applications (RFA) process, up to eight sites will be selected to implement evidence-based or promising strategies through collaborative partnerships with public safety to reduce risk of overdose and other drug-related harms for people who use drugs (PWUD) and people with substance use disorders (PWSUD) who are or may become justice-involved. 

Awards will be made in amounts of up to $81,250 for a yearlong project beginning in January 2023. In addition to funding support, selected implementation sites will receive and participate in training and technical assistance (TTA) opportunities.

Eligible applicants will be nonprofit organizations in the U.S. that a) provide harm reduction services, including syringe services, naloxone or fentanyl test strips, peer-based overdose prevention or response, medications for opioid use disorder or linkages to substance use treatment to people who are at risk of drug overdose and b) can demonstrate current or past collaborations with public safety agencies.

Applications are due: Friday, December 23rd, 2022

Free Technical Assistance for Fire and EMS Agency Post-Overdose Outreach Programs

NACCHO Funds Free Technical Assistance for Fire and EMS Agency Post-Overdose Outreach Programs. First responders have unique assets that make them well-suited for post-overdose outreach including 911 data, a community service mindset, and the public’s trust and approval. They often conduct non-emergent outreach to address needs of the community, and post-overdose outreach can be included among these services. Fire and EMS agencies interested in joining a community of individuals facilitating connections to life-saving services for people who use drugs should speak with harm reduction coalitions, treatment organizations, and others directly serving people who use drugs in their community to determine how they can support the effort. In addition, the experienced Milwaukee Fire Department’s post-overdose outreach team is available to help first responders and their partners develop a post-overdose outreach program.

A Holistic Trauma-Informed Approach for Every Treatment Court Role: Maximizing Team Members' Effectiveness in Interpersonal Interactions

The SAMHSA GAINS Center is hosting a webinar that will provide information about the actions that each treatment court team member can take to provide a trauma-informed treatment court experience. The presentation will cover a range of questions: What is the separate role of each member of the team? When many members of the team interact with participants in the field, how can those interactions be made trauma-informed? What do you do when talking with an agitated participant, or one who has difficulty listening to you? This webinar will help attendees begin to consider the deep goal of each interaction, with an emphasis on understanding the impacts of actions as well as the words used with treatment court participants.

Monday, December 12th, 2022, 3:30-5:00pm EST

Sarah Gillani - Emergency Response Specialist

Sarah Gillani joined the CDC Foundation Team as an Emergency Response Specialist for the ORS team in November 2022. Sarah is located in Washington, DC, but was born and raised in New Jersey. Sarah attended MCPHS University for her Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Science in Medical and Molecular Biology. Prior to joining the ORS team, Sarah worked as an epidemiologist and in public health operations. Sarah has experience aiding on emergency public health responses across many states/territories, including DC, NY, MA, NH, TX, and CA. Sarah served in many outbreak responses, testing programs, and vaccination efforts to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, MPOX, and Ebola. Sarah is excited to meet and learn from her colleagues in the CDCF team! 

Mitchell Jaskela - Emergency Response Specialist

Mitchell Jaskela joined the ORS team in November 2022 as an Emergency Response Specialist with the CDC Foundation. He recently finished a contract on the CDCF COVID-19 response where he worked as Vaccine Demand Strategist for the Washington State Department of Health in the Office of Public Affairs and Equity. Before joining the CDCF, Mitchell was a COVID-19 Epidemiologist with the Palm Beach County Health Department in Florida. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Florida, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Food Sustainability and Security. His passion for public health is far reaching and has led him to work on projects in many different disciplines and topics from epidemiology and health education to maternal and child health and sustainable food systems. Mitchell looks forward to meeting and collaborating with the entire ORS team!

Tom Fisher - Arkansas DIO

In late September, Tom joined the Gulf Coast HIDTA as the ORS DIO for the state of Arkansas. He recently retired after 30 years in law enforcement. Tom began his career as a deputy sheriff in Arkansas and was later hired as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assigned to the St. Louis Field Division Office in 1998, he conducted operations in aviation interdiction, deployed with the field division's Mobile Enforcement Team for two years, and worked on the St. Louis PD Violent Crimes Unit. In 2005, Tom transferred to the Little Rock District Office where he later promoted to Group Supervisor and served in such capacity for Task Force Groups 1, 2, and the Tactical Diversion Squad. In January 2022, Tom retired after a little more than 24 years with DEA. He is excited to bring his lessons learned from his enforcement career to the ORS and help bridge the gap between public health and public safety.

Jay Tinkler - Utah DIO

Jay Tinkler joined Rocky Mountain HIDTA as the Utah DIO in October 2022 following a career of over 26 years in state and federal law enforcement. Jay served in both domestic and foreign assignments with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), most recently as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of DEA for the state of Utah. A Texas native, Jay is a graduate of Texas A&M University and a veteran currently in his 19th year with the U.S. Army Reserve.    

Theresa Pham - Louisiana PHA

Theresa Pham joined the ORS as the Public Health Analyst in Louisiana in September 2022. Prior to joining the ORS, she worked as an Opioid Surveillance Epidemiologist for the Louisiana Department of Health and worked closely with former Louisiana PHAs. She is excited to continue the work of overdose prevention in Louisiana and connect with her former team to further the public health and public safety collaborations in Louisiana. Theresa holds an MPH in Epidemiology and is currently working on her PhD in Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences at Tulane University. Her research focuses on improving drug policy through a health equity lens to find alternatives to incarceration and addressing disparities in drug-related arrests and overdoses.

Tony Janutolo - Kentucky DIO

Tony Janutolo joined Appalachia HIDTA in early October 2022 following a 27 year career in law enforcement. During his law enforcement career he served as a Kentucky State Trooper and the Drug Branch supervisor for the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General. Tony was assigned to numerous HIDTA drug task forces during his career and was a task force officer for both the FBI and DEA. Tony enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters and is happy doing anything outdoors.