Monongalia county health department is submitting a proposal for a BJA grant under subcategory 1B of cossup

The proposed project service area includes all of monongalia county. This encompasses urban and rural areas where community concerns include resident struggles with substance use disorder (SUD), access to treatment options, and stigma surrounding these issues. In 2019, monongalia county was found to have the fifth highest frequency of overdose deaths in the state, with 71% of these deaths involving opioids. The county was one of five awarded a grant in 2019 by the west virginia department of health and human resources to develop a quick response team (QRT). The goal of that funding was to reduce the numbers of unintentional opioid overdose deaths and increase the numbers of individuals participating in treatment and rehabilitation. QRT is comprised of emergency medical services, 911, law enforcement, peer recovery support specialists (PRSS), public health officials, social service providers, faith-based organizations, and local pharmacies. The main goals of this proposed project are consistent with cossups goals to reduce the impact of the use and misuse of opioids, stimulants, and other substances on individuals and communities, including a reduction in the number of overdose fatalities, as well as to mitigate the impacts on crime victims by supporting comprehensive, collaborative initiatives. This project will be split up into three parts over the course of the three-year grant period. Year 1: hire data analyst; data analyst will help to define goals and objectives then find data that supports those goals and objectives. Work with community partners to identify different data sources that exist. Complete literature review to look at other approaches and initiatives that exist. Focus on reaching out to other programs to better understand their work, how they measure success, and if they have been successful. If there are services and approaches that we do not offer, we will work to implement these into our QRT by year 2. Year 2: data analyst will create the process to get the data and start the process of analyzing data. We will implement a more robust data collection process as well as implement approaches identified in year 1. If approaches cannot be implemented right away, we will create a mechanism to implement them in later years or determine why they cannot be implemented. Year 3: evaluation of the process to determine if we are we making data driven decisions and if we are we making an impact.