Public health - dayton & montgomery county (PHDMC) is one of 113 local governmental health departments in montgomery county, ohio and serves an estimated population of 537,309 residents

The Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County (PHDMC) was awarded a $1,600,000 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and other Substances Use Program (COSSUP). The grant, awarded on October 1, 2023, will fund the "Continued Linkage to Hope Project" to enhance data sharing, advance data collection and analysis, and expand certified peer recovery support services into the criminal justice and hospital systems. Key activities include: (1) integrating hospital and criminal justice data into a care coordination platform; (2) expanding overdose fatality review efforts through qualitative data collection; (3) prototyping a risk stratification system to prioritize overdose response; and (4) embedding peer recovery specialists in municipal courts to increase engagement in treatment and recovery services. The project will serve the 537,309 residents of Montgomery County, Ohio and is scheduled for completion by September 30, 2026.

PHDMC has provided drug epidemic surveillance since 2010 and CO-leads a community-wide effort to respond to the drug crisis, the community overdose action team (COAT). The COAT members are supportive and invested in the implementation of the continued linkage to hope project. The purpose of the continued linkage to hope project is to enhance data sharing among partners, advance data collection and analysis, and expand the current certified peer recovery support (CPRS) services into the criminal justice and hospital systems by filling a GAP in the continuum of care for those who are in active addiction. The continued linkage to hope project will address the allowable uses of funding by: (1) further enhancing and expanding a comprehensive real-time data system to include regional information, collection, analysis, and dissemination. PHDMC will continue to work with its data partners to integrate hospital and criminal justice data systems into a care coordination platform that will be available to the cprss to assist in response to those in active addiction. (2) enhancing and expanding the current overdose fatality review efforts by integrating qualitative data collection to contextualize overdose trends as well as barriers to care following fatal and nonfatal overdoses. The data has been and will continue to be used to develop program and policy recommendations and improve coordination and collaboration between agencies and community conditions to prevent future overdose deaths. (3) prototyping a risk stratification system to prioritize and respond to drug overdose survivors by utilizing a machine-learning algorithm to identify the largest risk factors of addicted individuals. PHDMC and other county behavioral health providers will use the scores to determine the level of risk of future overdose or death. (4) expanding law enforcement and court-based interventions to expedite treatment and recovery services for individuals who are at high risk of a drug overdose by utilizing CPRS services. The continued linkage to hope project will enhance and expand a system of care that increases engagement for those in active addiction by embedding cprss into the municipal courts. Cprss will provide the much-needed support and direct connection to additional resources that will decrease future criminal justice involvement and increase individuals likelihood of moving towards recovery.