2024 OFR National Forum: Deflection and Overdose Fatality Review Synergy: Panel Discussion and Open Forum

Deflection is a collaborative intervention connecting public safety and public health systems to create community-based pathways to treatment for people who have substance use disorders (SUDs), mental health disorders, and other service needs without their entry into the justice system. Deflection provides communities with an alternative set of tools and approaches that can be used in concert with an overdose fatality review (OFR) to address SUDs, especially where OFRs have revealed interaction with first responders or the criminal legal system as a commonality in aggregate and case-level data. This interactive, moderated discussion will delve into the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from Erie County, Ohio, and Hancock County, Ohio, in utilizing OFRs and deflection as complementary tools to address SUDs within their communities. Moderated by Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities’ (TASC) Center for Health and Justice, this discussion will provide audiences with a knowledge base of deflection and using it alongside OFR to improve community outcomes.