The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), is hosting a virtual learning community focused on expanding emergency community response efforts to include substance use and overdose responses.

The learning community will be led by CSG Justice Center, a nationally recognized technical assistance provider, and CPE, a leader in public safety redesign. It will include opportunities for mutual learning through peer-to-peer support and guidance from leading experts in the field. Throughout the learning community, participants will have a chance to engage in process-oriented planning to significantly enhance their community’s substance use and overdose emergency response system, divert community members from jails and emergency rooms, and build out connections to harm reduction services and recovery care. Teams will work through and complete a logic model, and sessions will cover key topics such as goal setting, community engagement, resource mapping, stakeholder buy-in, program development, sustainability, and more.

For the purposes of this application, substance use and overdose emergency response programs include: teams staffed by social workers, peer support specialists, mediators, emergency medical technicians, or paramedics providing a range of services including immediate assistance to people experiencing behavioral health crises, wellness checks, assistance with housing needs, and additional harm reduction and recovery supports (such as street outreach and post-overdose follow-up care).

Session dates will occur on:
● November 14, 2024 kickoff
● January 23, 2025
● February 20, 2025
● March 20, 2025
● April 17, 2025
● May 15, 2025

Participating teams will also be required to join a related Data Connections program with three additional session dates and office hours. See the next page for more information.

All sessions will take place 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET via Zoom.

Teams who are interested in participating should complete and submit this application by 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, October 25, 2024. A CSG Justice Center staff member will follow up with applicants by Monday, November 4, 2024.

If you have any questions, contact Anne Larsen at alarsen@csg.org. This application should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

T