HAMPTON, VA — From Feb. 15 to Mar. 6, roughly 170 professionals from the law enforcement, criminal justice, social work, peer recovery, and behavioral health fields in Powell, Letcher, and Clay Counties, Kentucky, received two days of valuable training each to improve their handling of situations that have a behavioral health component.
Operation 2 Save Lives (O2SL) and Quick Response Team (QRT) National’s experienced team of instructors delivered these trainings across the three counties. An additional one-day condensed training in Jeffersontown held on Mar. 6, was joined by Police Assisted and Addiction Recovery Initiative’s (PAARI) Brittney Garrett. This one-day training highlighted the Jeffersontown Police Department’s Respond, Evaluate, Advocate, Connect, and Heal, or REACH, initiative, along with various Metro Louisville community partner organizations.
O2SL and QRT National’s vision is to effectively share their years of law enforcement leadership, community-based efforts, and subject matter experience engaging with public health experts to provide localized solutions for behavioral health problems across the United States.
O2SL and QRT National have been working with the State of Kentucky to support their efforts since the initial QRT training classes with the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) in 2019.
Chief Operating Officer Scott Allen pointed out Kentucky’s leadership position in the overall endeavor, saying, “The State of Kentucky, together with its community partners, is a national leader in the deflection, community safety, and wellbeing space. The engagement from the Deflection Academy attendees from Powell, Letcher, and Clay Counties inspired our team. These counties, located throughout the Appalachian Region, have been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis. They are effectively deploying community-shared responses through their combined grassroots coalition efforts.”
The impact of QRTs can be maximized when they are complimented with what O2SL and QRT National call “Situation Tables.” A Situation Table is a unique, risk-based, rapid-triage model structured as a disciplined conversation among multiple resource providers guided by a best practice approach. Made possible through Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (KYOAAC) funds, O2SL and QRT National are helping to train and mentor these collaboratively staffed QRTs while also helping launch Situation Tables across the state.
Partner Cordata Healthcare Innovations, Inc. provides technology support for O2SL and QRT National’s initiatives across Kentucky and other states to enhance the effort further. The joint approach bolsters community health initiatives previously launched through state agencies and led by KORE and various local grassroots efforts.
The training includes the concept and practices for Deflection, the various pathways and intercept points for engaging vulnerable persons and families, and deflecting at-risk populations away from the criminal justice system and emergency departments while connecting people to treatment, resources, and support.
During the training, role-playing scenarios focus on engaging and supporting persons who have experienced overdoses or are at risk of overdoses and other behavioral health issues. The interactive training, with cross-sector audiences of public safety, public health, and community-based professionals, provides education and understanding to engage vulnerable persons suffering from behavioral health disorders.
Other areas encompassed in the training include addressing the needs of those suffering from mental health disorders, drug-exposed children, the impacts of trauma and trauma-informed responses, family support initiatives, as well as situational awareness and de-escalation strategies. The training familiarizes and brings together public safety, public health, and community partners to address their community social health needs.
O2SL and QRT Director of Operations Dan Meloy said, “Jeffersontown Police and their R.E.A.C.H. initiative are leading the way in Kentucky and nationwide in addressing their community’s social health needs. He added, “We are excited to see the creation and evolution of new QRTs and Situation Tables throughout Powell, Letcher, and Clay Counties.”
O2SL and QRT National anticipate training and mentoring at least a dozen additional QRTs across the U.S. in 2024, along with technology partner Cordata. The partners continue to support, advocate, and champion to assist states, counties, and local municipalities nationwide in addressing their community safety and well-being needs. They are currently covering 27 states across the country.
