Title
Creating a Project Position to Provide Project Management for the "Pathways to Recovery Madison & Dane County" Initiative to Combat Opioid Abuse
Body
2020 RES-149
The opioid crisis is a public health emergency threatening the wellbeing and lives of individuals who use drugs and impacts communities, first responders, the criminal justice system, child welfare and foster care, and behavioral health systems. In 2018, Dane County experienced 85 opioid-involved deaths, 478 opioid-related hospital visits, and 501 ambulance runs for suspected opioid overdoses.
The U.S Department of Justice established a Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program (COAP) to reduce opioid abuse and the number of overdose fatalities by supporting a comprehensive, collaborative approach. The Madison Police Department (MPD), in partnership with Public Health Madison Dane County (PHMDC), Dane County Department of Human Services, Madison Fire Department (MFD), and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute applied for and were awarded a COAP grant for $1,200,000 to create a new “Pathways to Recovery Madison & Dane County” initiative.
Pathways to Recovery will support data-driven solutions to promote treatment and recovery, and support individuals, families, and communities throughout Dane County by developing and implementing protocols to deflect individuals struggling with a substance use disorder away from the criminal justice system into social supports and/or treatment services.
The initiative will create an Addiction Resource Team (MPD addiction resource officer, MFD community paramedic, and certified peer specialist) and support a project coordinator and a project evaluator. The Addiction Resource Team will facilitate the delivery of harm reduction messaging and distribution of naloxone/Narcan as well as provide a direct link to an assessment and treatment referrals to individuals struggling with a substance use disorder through a combination of pre-arrest diversion programming, outreach efforts, and a coordinated overdose response. Law enforcement agencies will be able to request active outreach and prevention visits by the Addiction Resource Team to people within their community known to be struggling with a substance use disorder.
The Pathways to Recovery initiative will expand the existing MPD MARI pre-arrest diversion to become the Madison Area Addiction Recovery Initiative (MAARI) which allows law enforcement to hold low-level, addiction-driven offenses in abeyance for six months of engagement with a treatment program. In addition, Pathways to Recovery will create Safe Stations, at fire stations and other public service facilities, to provide a safe, accessible location for individuals to approach when seeking help for substance use disorder.
PHMDC will provide their expertise as a community convener and in systems change through the project coordination of Pathways to Recovery. A newly created 1.0 FTE Public Health Specialist - Project Management position will coordinate grant activities, ensure communication with all partner agencies, and work with stakeholders to develop a sustainability plan.
Pathways to Recovery aims to reduce opioid fatalities in Dane County by 25%, as well as reduce opioid-involved EMS calls and hospital encounters by 25%.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that PHMDC is a local health department statutorily required to protect and promote the health of the community; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PHMDC has determined the COAP Grant objectives are aligned with health department and county goals of reducing burden of opioids and that the objectives are aligned with health department and county goals of protecting the health of the community; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the COAP Grant funding will support the hiring of a 1.0 staff member within PHMDC to coordinate and collaborate with program staff and community partners. Via this additional capacity, the Public Health Specialist in PHMDC will: support data-driven solutions to promote recovery and support individuals, families, and communities throughout Dane County by developing and implementing protocols to deflect individuals struggling with a substance use disorder away from the criminal justice system into social supports and/or treatment services through the Pathways to Recovery initiative; track program participant engagement; and track program impact to reduce the burden of substance misuse in Dane County. The work of this proposed position aligns with the health department, city and county’s goals of improving the health of the community; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PHMDC has received a total of $57,965 in new grant funding in 2020 designated to a Project Coordinator position beginning August 2020;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that per the Intergovernmental Agreement Between the City of Madison and Dane County, Public Health employees are employees of Dane County;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED Public Health anticipates that the position will be hired in the first quarter of 2020 and there will be continued and increased funding for 2021 ($82,775) and the first 9 months of 2022 ($65,625).
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that upon adoption of this resolution and approval from the Dane County Board, a 1.0 FTE Public Health Specialist position will be created in the Public Health Madison and Dane County 2020 Operating Budget and the position be noted in the 2020 Operating Budget to reflect that the continuation of the position is contingent upon continued COAP Grant Funding.