Moderator: Jackie L. Steele, Jr., JD, Commonwealth Attorney, Kentucky 27th Judicial Circuit, and and Member, Operation UNITE Board of Directors

CE Certified By: AMA,AAFP,ACPE,ADA,ANCC,APA,MCHES,GA Bar,NAADAC,NASW,NBCC

Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled, according to the Centers for Disease and Control. Given the magnitude of the crisis, entities find they are overwhelmed when they fight back alone. As a result, diverse stakeholders have joined forces to present a united front in some states. This session's presentations will feature Georgia’s “firewall” — a comprehensive plan to hold back the epidemic — and Colorado’s collective impact model.

From Georgia, the presentation will lay out the statewide strategic plan for dealing with the opioid epidemic. They will explain the plan’s creation and implementation. In 2016, the Georgia Prevention Project created the Substance Abuse Research Alliance (SARA) — a consortium of more than 100 researchers at universities, schools of public health, medical schools, state agencies, nonprofits and the CDC. SARA’s “Prescription Opioids and Heroin Epidemic in Georgia: A White Paper,” defined the scope of the problem and proposed a legislative agenda. Two key recommendations became law in 2017: making naloxone available over the counter and strengthening the PDMP. From there, SARA updated its white paper and assisted the Georgia Department of Public Health to create a statewide strategic plan. The plan takes advantage of other states’ experiences to set up budgets, legal mechanisms, programs and goals to be implemented by many players — governmental, nonprofit and corporate.

Presenters will share a case study of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, and its use of the Collective Impact model to develop, coordinate and implement state level policies and programs to address the opioid crisis. Launched in 2013, the consortium has evolved into a prototypical Collective Impact system, involving nine work groups, more than 450 participating members statewide, and a number of affiliated local and regional coalitions. Examples of policy and programmatic successes will be presented, including: public awareness, provider education, naloxone access, safe disposal, heroin response, PDMP enhancements, treatment access, improved data systems, and advocacy for affected families and friends. Advice and lessons learned will be shared with other state, regional or local coalitions that may be interested in using the Collective Impact model for opioid misuse prevention.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Describe a process for achieving an effective statewide plan for reducing deaths from opioid addictions.
- Identify methods for evaluating progress against goals and for crafting and implementing changes to a statewide strategic plan.
- Compare key components of various state plans in order to find the right plan for another individual state.
- Identify the five conditions for Collective Impact.
- Explain how Collective Impact can be used to address the opioid crisis.
- Select measures for objectively evaluating the success of state-level responses.