Highlights from OIT Promising Practices Swap and Share

Every seat in the James N. Robey Public Safety Training Center conference room was filled for the Opioid Operational Command Center’s Opioid Intervention Team (OIT) Promising Practices Swap & Share held on Thursday, December 14, 2017.

Attendees from OIT teams from across the state were eager to learn from their peers and to share their own promising practices for tackling the opioid epidemic. Here are some highlights:

Opening Remarks

Counterclockwise from top: Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis Schrader, Maryland Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Russell Strickland, MACo Associate Director Natasha Mehu.
Counterclockwise from top: Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis Schrader, Maryland Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Russell Strickland, MACo Associate Director Natasha Mehu.

Baltimore City’s LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) Program

This pilot program is a partnership between law enforcement and behavioral health providers  to divert low-level drug offenders into treatment and support services instead of prosecution and jail. Officers bring low-level offenders  a LEAD case manager to connect them with services instead of arresting them and taking them to jail.

Clay Stamp, Executive Director of the Opioid Operational Command Center delivering remarks. (photo courtesy Before It's Too Late)
Clay Stamp, Executive Director of the Opioid Operational Command Center delivering remarks. (photo courtesy Before It’s Too Late)

Wicomico County’s COAT (Community Outreach Addiction Team) Program

The COAT program uses peer support specialists to identify individuals in need of education and outreach and to serve as a bridge to treatment services. Designated as a Promising Practice from NACCHO (National Association of City and County Health Officers) COAT has a $1:$6.66 return on investment.

Anne Arundel County’s Safe Stations and Mobile Crisis Teams

This initiative provides individuals suffering from addiction a means to get 24/7 walk-in assistance at police and fire stations across the county. Since the inception of the Safe Station program on April 20, 2017, through November 30, 2017, there have been 373 assessments and a 62% success rate of individuals completing treatment.

St. Mary’s County and Cumberland City’s Emergency Petitions

These two jurisdictions have programs in which law enforcement officers can file a petition for emergency
evaluation for possible involuntary hospitalization after reviving an individual from an overdose. They have worked closely with their attorneys to overcome legal concerns, and continue to work to address challenges with hospital data and protocols.

Tyrone Roper from Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore discusses the City's LEAD pilot program.
Tyrone Roper from Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore discusses the City’s LEAD pilot program.

Bon Secours’ Hospital Emergency Department Overdose Services

Their services include a process for screening and scoring individuals admitted to the emergency room for withdrawal symptoms. These individuals can be referred to peer coaches and recommended to doctors as a good candidate for suboxone. The initial dose can be prescribed in the emergency room to help the patient until they can be connected with treatment services the next day.

Howard County’s Correctional Facility Treatment and Transition from Incarceration 

To meet the challenges of addressing opioid addiction Howard County is using SBIRT in their jails. The process and services have been tailored to meet the needs of a population of individuals who are difficult to treat because of the short time periods they spend in jail  — 30% leave within one day and 70% within thirty days.

Jillian Beach, a family member impacted by the opioid crisis with Lieutenant Governor Rutherford and County Executive Kittleman. (photo courtesy Before It's Too Late)
Jillian Beach, a family member impacted by the opioid crisis with Lieutenant Governor Rutherford and County Executive Kittleman. (photo courtesy Before It’s Too Late)

Washington County’s Day Reporting Center

The first of its kind in Maryland, the center was five years in the making and came to fruition with the help of the Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force and funding through GOCCP.  There are currently looking to expand the program to include in house mental health services and the pre-trial population.

Baltimore City’s Needle Exchange Program and Overdose and Rapid Detection Efforts

The City’s needle exchange program was the first in the state. The program seeks to reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C by providing clean syringes. Individuals are also linked to treatment services and provided with overdose response training. Through the City’s overdose and rapid detection effort people can receive email and text alerts about regions where responders are seeing particularly lethal batches of drugs to help them avoid those bad batches. The regions are broad so that it can’t be used as a tool for finding dealers.

Baltimore/Washington HIDTA’s Overdose Detection (OD) Map

OD map was launched a year ago with Anne Arundel County being one of the first in the nation to get on board. The map is now live in 23 states and is a vital tool for cross jurisdictional sharing of overdose and nonfatal overdose information (including location, drug types, and victim demographics).

Eric Robey from the Harford County Sheriff's Office presents on H.O.P.E House.
Eric Robey from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office presents on H.O.P.E House.

Kent County’s LDAAC and Whitsitt Center Crisis Stabilization, Detox, and Case Management

The county’s Local Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council (LDAAC) has focused its efforts on the gaps of services to the family of those suffering from addiction. Peer specialists take a unique proactive approach of going out to the individual and their family rather than waiting for them to reach out for help.

Carroll County’s Integrated Behavioral Health, Substance Use Treatment, Resource Support, and Case Management Program

This unique partnership of public and private health services was first established in 2005. They now offer fully integrated care (primary care, behavioral health, dental) all under one roof and follow a strong no wrong door policy.

Talbot County’s Project Purple Campaign

In September Talbot went purple to take a stand against drug abuse. During that month there were 122 speaking engagements, 7,000 people spoken to, and 27 news paper articles written covering prevention, recovery and everything in between.

Harford County’s H.O.P.E. House

This mobile trailer of a mock bed and bathroom contains 50 hidden items of drugs and paraphernalia. Small groups of parents walk through trying to find the items and learning about signs to look for in the process. The trailer has been to 26 events since the ribbon was cut in September, including the 2017 the MACo Winter Conference.