First Responders Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Program - The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS), proposes the MassBridge project, a first responder supported overdose prevention, crisis intervention, and post-overdose follow-up service that bridges the gap to treatment. MassBridge will expand and enhance post-overdose support through strengthened first responder facilitated linkage to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and other treatment and recovery support services in partnership with two demonstration sites. Protocols and policies developed through enhanced services at the demonstration sites will be used to inform statewide capacity building services, including first responder training on initiating low-threshold MOUD post-overdose, administering FDA-approved opioid overdose reversal medications, facilitating warm handoffs to treatment and recovery services, understanding Good Samaritan laws, and safety measures regarding emerging drug trends. The project will also expand overdose prevention education, opioid overdose reversal medication distribution, and referrals through trusted community anchors. The selected demonstration partner sites include (1) Seven Hills Behavioral Health, serving the New Bedford and Fall River region, and (2) the Lowell Community Opioid Outreach (CO-OP) Program, serving the Lowell region. The partner demonstration communities have a combined population of approximately 317,000 residents. Project services will focus on individuals in these regions who have recently experienced an overdose, as well as the first responders, public safety personnel, community anchors, behavioral health, recovery, and community sector providers that encounter these individuals. Statewide training and technical assistance will be available to first responders and public safety personnel across all 14 Massachusetts counties. Over the four-year grant period, these selected partners will serve 2,500 individuals with recent incidence of overdose, opioid use disorder (OUD), and co-occurring mental health conditions. Approximately 300 participants will be served in Year 1, 600 in Year 2, and 800 in each of Years 3 and 4. Individuals receiving direct post-overdose services will primarily be adults aged 18 and older, with the greatest concentration expected among people ages 30-60. The project will also train approximately 2,000 first responders and public safety personnel (400 in Year 1, 500 in Year 2, and 550 in each of Years 3 and 4) for a combined total of approximately 4,500 first responders and community participants served over the project period. The selected MassBridge sites partners and community anchor sites will implement an evidence-based post-overdose service, including naloxone distribution, post-overdose engagement, peer recovery support, case management, field-initiated buprenorphine where clinically appropriate, rapid low-threshold referral pathways, and facilitated linkage to MOUD and other treatment and recovery support services. The goal of MassBridge is to strengthen first responder capacity, expand community-based overdose prevention through trusted community anchors, and increase the percentage of individuals with OUD receiving buprenorphine or methadone by an estimated 10% relative to the baseline through increased linkages to treatment and recovery support. The project will evaluate implementation, participant outcomes, and financing strategies to support sustainability and potential statewide replication.
