Saturday, September 7, 2024
9/7/2024
Detroit Community Opioid Response Initiative (DCORI) seeks to reduce the rate of opioid overdose fatalities in Detroit by 10% by September of 2021. This initiative empowers community members closest to a potential overdose episode with saving opioid reversal and treatment resources. It relies on the strength of community leaders to intervene in the most hard to reach cases, and provides them the knowledge to bring loved ones and neighbors into care. This initiative focuses on populations of highest risk, including re-entering citizens, IV drug users, and people experiencing homelessness. Between 2011 and 2015, the number of opioid-related fatalities in Detroit tripled, from 40 in 2011 to 127 in 2015. Detroit’s current population of 672,795 residents is spread thinly across a city that has a carrying capacity of 1.8 million people. The sheer size of the city and varying levels of population density pose unique challenges for municipal service provision, including emergency response. Over 40% of residents live below the poverty line. Educational attainment in the city is low--only 12.7% of residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher – and unemployment is high, ranging from 10-15%. DCORI strives to: 1. Increase the number of community access points for naloxone, including community pharmacies participating in a statewide standing order for naloxone distribution. 2. Train members of block clubs, neighborhood patrols, and family members of known or suspected opioid misusers on the use of narcan. 3. Establish referral pathways for first responders to connect opioid misusers to treatment. DCORI expects to train 4,000 community members over the course of the project, and will distribute up to 1,500 doses of naloxone per year through trained community first responders. Success will be measured by a reduction in rate of fatal opioid overdoses. The team will track outcome metrics, including total number of overdose responses and number of overdoses successfully reversed through the use of naloxone. It will monitor the number of community members trained as first responders and assess retained knowledge. Partners in this collaboration include the Detroit Health Department and Emergency Medical Services, Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies, University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center, and the Detroit Police Department, and the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
