Explanation
BACKGROUND: The City of Columbus, Division of Public Safety received three years of Overdose Data to Action funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) via a sub award from Franklin County Public Health (FCPH). This sub award addresses the local opioid crisis by expanding capacity of Rapid Response Emergency Addiction Crisis Team (RREACT) and increasing linkage to RREACT outreach and education services. This ordinance accepts and appropriates year one project funds totaling $371,523. The full project award period is three years with a total award amount of $1,114,569. The 2019 award budget period is November 1, 2019 through August 31, 2020. The full award period is November 1, 2019 through August 31, 2022. This ordinance authorizes an appropriation of funds upon receipt of annual executed agreements.
Rapid Response Emergency Addiction Crisis Team (RREACT) is an innovative outreach effort addressing 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 bypassing 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 this 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.
CDC funding will expand mobile crisis response capacity with the addition of a second RREACT outreach squad. The additional squad will provide outreach in high-risk areas of Columbus, specifically townships within the County heavily impacted by opioid use but lacking infr...
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