MOREHEAD, KY — Operation 2 Save Lives (O2SL) & QRT National and Cordata delivered a two-day Situation Training session in Morehead, Rowan County, Kentucky. On Wednesday, Nov. 6, the county will launch the Morehead, Rowan County, KY Situation Table — a model that facilitates multi-agency interventions for those at risk of experiencing a crisis.
The training, funded by the Kentucky Opiate Abatement Commission, took place Oct. 16-17 in the Morehead Police Department’s Community Room. Nan Franks, Mike Botieri, and Daniel Meloy of O2SL & QRT National and Cordata delivered the training.
Twenty-five participants attended the training from numerous partner agencies, including the Morehead Police Department, the Fletcher Group, Kentucky State Police, DOVES of Gateway, Gateway Advocacy Center, Gateway Homeless Coalition, Kentucky Department of Public Health, Pathways Inc., Kentucky Rural Health Information Organization, Ramey-Estep Homes, Recovery Rowan County, Brown County Schools, the Rowan County Attorney, the Specialty Courts of Rowan, Bath County, Menifee County, Montgomery County, the Jake Bowman New Start Foundation and UK, St. Claire.
The training focused on equipping the attending agencies with the skills and lessons necessary to mobilize and launch their Situation Table. A Situation Table is a unique, risk-based rapid triage model that brings together multiple human service providers to address situations where individuals and families face a specific Acutely Elevated Risk (AER) threshold. Situation tables comprise representatives from public safety agencies, public health agencies, service providers, and other community partners.
“The community was well represented and offered excellent perspective and insight into their outreach and engagement efforts,” Director of Operations Meloy said.
O2SL and QRT National and Cordata thank the local community organizers, Kristin Teideman of the Fletcher Group and Morehead Police Chief Derek Blevins, for their hospitality during the training and assistance with scheduling and preparation.
Through the model, an individual or family at AER can refer to the Situation Table to consider possible outreach and engagement before a crisis occurs. The table participants will collaborate and discuss the identified risk factors and potential services. When a consensus is reached, the table will identify a team of agencies to help locate the individual or family and connect them to services.
The Morehead, Rowan County attendees described their training experience as — awesome, engaging, powerful, invigorating, creative, valuable, excellent and collaborative.
“We had a great time in Morehead! The participants were very engaged in the training,” Senior Community Engagement Specialist Botieri said. “We hope the training helps the community implement strategies for their upcoming Morehead, Rowan County Situation Table launch beginning in November.”
The Situation Table model was developed in Canada by Global Network for Community Safety (Global Network), a Canadian-based firm that focuses on innovations to improve community safety and wellbeing across Canada and in the U.S. Through the O2SL & QRT National and Cordata — Global Network partnership, the organizations work cross-border to collectively provide multi-agency community responses to address issues of marginalization, for pre-crisis identification and crisis interventions, while creating pathways to care and support. Their combined expertise and suite of services — based on internationally recognized best past practices — help provide communities with tailored responses to meet their current needs and the ability to rapidly adjust to an evolving landscape of risk factors, including those around substance use disorders, mental health disorders, and related social health issues.
Nine Situation Table communities work across Kentucky, including: McCracken County (Paducah), Perry County, Jefferson County (Louisville), Powell County, Boyd County, the City of Frankfort, and Clay County. In October, Pulaski County and Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, trained and launched their Situation Table. The Morehead/Rowan County, Kentucky Situation Table is scheduled to launch on Nov. 6.
More than 150 Situation Tables have been launched throughout Canada and the United States.
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