Vulnerable Populations (VPs): Individuals who are experiencing crises related to substance use, mental health and homelessness.
Quick Response Team (QRT): “An interdisciplinary collaborative and systemic community response to prevent opioids and respond to subsequent opioids by connecting individuals with critical substance use disorder services following an overdose,” as defined by the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) program.
Wrap-Around Services: Collaborations between QRT members and other Traverse City area community agencies and organizations that provide support related to substance use, mental health, homelessness, basic needs and/or healthcare, to effectively coordinate individuals & their connections to community resources.
Police Social Worker Coordinator (PSW): The Police Social Worker is a Licensed Social Worker employed by and embedded into the Traverse City Police Department who functions as a coordinator to connect individuals to services, with the goal of reducing emergency calls concerning vulnerable populations for the department’s law enforcement officers.
Gaps in Service Provision (Potholes): Systemic issues identified during QRT meetings that the QRT hopes to fill with policy changes and more community resources.
Program Participant: An individual deemed “accepted into the QRT” who meets the criteria for the QRT and elects to participate in the QRT program.
Overdose Response Team (ORT): 4-member team consisting of the PSW, (1) Member from the Traverse City Police Department Crime Prevention Unit, agency representative from Addiction Treatment Services, and a Peer Recovery Coach, who responds in person to overdoses within 24-72 hours.
Naloxone (brand names Narcan ®, Kloxxado ®): a life-saving medication used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses by attaching to opioid receptors in the brain. Examples of opioids include heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, and morphine. Naloxone “has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system” (NIH).
Harm Reduction: A set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use (CMHPSM).
Peer Recovery Coach: A person in long-term recovery with a lived experience in active addiction who provides support to others struggling with substance use and/or mental health disorders (Genesee County Substance Abuse Prevention Project).