Explanation
BACKGROUND: The City of Columbus received a four year award from the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support Rapid Response Emergency Addiction and Crisis Team (RREACT) outreach activities. This ordinance accepts and appropriates year one SAMHSA grant project funds totaling $416,116.00. The project award period is four years with a total grant amount of $1,916,116.00. It is SAMHSA’s practice to release project funding in annual disbursements. The 2019 grant budget period is September 30, 2019 through September 29, 2020. The full project period is September 30, 2019 through September 29, 2023. This ordinance authorizes an appropriation of funds upon receipt of the annual agreement.
Rapid Response Emergency Addiction Crisis Team (RREACT) is an innovative outreach effort to address the opioid crisis ravaging Columbus, Ohio. RREACT team members go out into the community and do face to face follow up visits with substance users revived from opioid overdose by police or fire first responders but then refuse immediate transport to clinical facilities thereby bi-passing treatment and recovery resources available through emergency rooms across the city. RREACT connects with survivors in their neighborhoods within 48 hours of overdose. The team includes a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained peace officer, a paramedic, a social worker and a trauma specialist. The goal of the multi-disciplinary outreach team is to help stabilize the household in an effort to reduce barriers to accessing drug and/or behavioral treatment for the substance user. RREACT also provides much needed training on naloxone administration and safety practices for handling opioids and other drugs. Naloxone and safe handling training is done for other first responder teams and other organizations operating in high-need zip codes and/or serving high-risk populations.
SAMHSA funding will enhance and expand c...
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