North Carolina Local Governments and the Opioid Crisis: 
A Collective Impact Approach to Making Policy and Changing Lives.

 
The Durham Joins Together (DJT) to Save Lives Task Force was organized as a result of a County Leadership Forum on the issue of opioid overdose, which took place on February 27, 2018. The forum brought together 250 officials and community leaders, including representatives from the Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH), Together for Resilient Youth (TRY), Alliance Health, the Durham Recovery Response Center, Duke University and Health System, Durham County Criminal Justice Resource Center (CJRC), Durham County Emergency Medical Services Community Paramedics, Lincoln Community Health Center, Office of the Sheriff, RTI International, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) and many other partners. Their early organizing work contributed to their team involvement with the UNC-School of Government’s Opioid Response Project dedicated to mitigating the opioid crisis in Durham County.

Led by Durham County Commissioner Wendy Jacobs and Dr. Wanda Boone, CEO of Together for Resilient Youth, DJT works to eliminate and prevent substance misuse through education, peer support, and treatment. DJT leverages different knowledge, skills, and experiences from across the county, working together in committees focused on mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and education, data, and policy. Collaboration helps the team make a targeted impact and avoid duplicating efforts.

In support of these partnerships, DCoDPH was awarded funding to combat the opioid crisis by supporting a post-overdose response team (PORT), connecting justice-involved persons to evidence-based care for opioid use disorder, and focusing on expanding peer support and housing resources for people with substance use disorder in Durham. Click to learn more about the Community Linkages to Care (CLC) Peer Support Program.

 Durham Joins Together (DJT) to Save Lives  

 Co-Chair Wendy Jacobs,
 Durham Board of County Commissioners
Co-Chair Dr. Wanda Boone,
CEO of Together for Resilient Youth

Vision: #Living Well, Drug Free, Bull City

Mission: Eliminate and prevent substance misuse through education, peer support and treatment

Goal: Eliminate substance misuse and overdose

Committees:

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment – Tremaine Sawyer and Lacie Scofield, Co-Chairs
Meets monthly to discuss available opioid and other substance use disorder treatment options and support services in the community to include medication assisted treatment, peer support services, recovery housing, and post-overdose follow-ups. 

Prevention/Education – Dr. Wanda Boone, Chair
Use the culturally competent Seven Strategies for Community Change to prevent all forms of substance use, initiate community peer support and support parents that have lost family members due to substance use; Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience.

Data – Dr. Ryan Bell, Chair
Provide updates on Injury Prevention Branch county level data; Provide data on the impact of opioids (overdose) on the African American Community.  

Policy – Dr. Philip Graham, Chair
Help DJT partners focus on areas for policy change at the local, state and national level to address identified racial and economic disparities and inequities linked to substance and medication misuse; Also focusing on identifying sustainability opportunities.  

Click to view the Minutes from Past Meetings of the DJT Task Force and Committees.

Click to view the Fact Sheet on Housing and Medication for People with Opioid Use Disorder. This fact sheet was created by the Housing Subcommittee of the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Committee.

Together for Resilient Youth is the prevention arm of DJT.

For more information on the DJT Task Force, call (919) 560-7765 or email drosser@dconc.gov.