Prevention and Education

Dr. Jay Unick presented to the State of Maryland Opioid Response Learning Collaborative on 6/17/2024 on integrating data into local behavioral health response to the opioid crisis. The presentation included a report on findings from our community scan of all 24 Maryland Local Behavioral Health Associations that occurred between April and June 2024.

Grantees will review training and practical information that provided best practices on responses to substance use disorders and overdose prevention that prioritize prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction.

The meeting will discuss the public health frameworks for case review, the critical role of different team members, and the ethics of case review, along with covering the nuts and bolts of an effective Overdose Fatality Review Program.

The meeting will discuss the public health frameworks for case review, the critical role of different team members, and the ethics of case review, along with covering the nuts and bolts of an effective Overdose Fatality Review Program.

The Community of Practice for Families and Youth meeting is held every other first Thursday of the month at 2:00pm EST. This is a broad category, and therefore, we are very excited to learn about what types of activities each of you are planning. This is an opportunity for grantees to discuss experiences and challenges, share successes, and shape training and technical assistance opportunities related to the role and responsibilities of project coordinators In May, Met for bi-monthly meeting. A guest presenter discussed harm reduction and parenting.

The Community of Practice for Families and Youth meeting is held every other first Thursday of the month at 2:00pm EST. This is a broad category, and therefore, we are very excited to learn about what types of activities each of you are planning. This is an opportunity for grantees to discuss experiences and challenges, share successes, and shape training and technical assistance opportunities related to the role and responsibilities of project coordinators. In July, Grantees shared successes, challenges, and resources with one another for the call.

• During this reporting period, IIR staff members provided complete logistical support to the following meeting:
o Reaching Rural Meeting: Advancing Collaborative Solutions—April 23–25, 2024

• Planning is underway for new subpages on community interventions; community corrections/supervision; evidence-based treatment; coroners, medical examiners, and forensics; and researcher-practitioner partnerships.

• From January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024, the COSSUP Resource Center website had:
o 27,722 unique users.
o 41,815 user sessions (the period a user was actively engaged with the COSSUP Resource Center website).
o 88,112 page views.

• IIR staff members continued to post content to the COSSUP Facebook and Twitter pages. Between January 1 and June 30, 2024, IIR issued 142 Facebook posts and 169 tweets/retweets. COSSUP social media posts were shared by BJA; the National Institute of Justice; the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence; the National Treatment Court Resource Center; the Council of State Governments Justice Center; and the ATTC Network, among others. Highlights included the following:

The following activities occurred during this reporting period:

• Supported access to the IIR OFR Data System on the REDCap server for four new OFR sites.

• Hosted next-of-kin interview training for 57 professionals (June 2024).

• Hosted an in-person one-day post-conference Facilitation Skills Training for 27 OFR facilitators in Atlanta, Georgia (March 2024).

• Hosted virtual half-day Facilitation Skills training for 15 OFR facilitators (May 2024).

• Hosted state infrastructure planning calls with eight states (January – July 2024).