Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement Receives Over $1.93M in Federal Discretionary Funds
August 18, 2020
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement's (CDPE) Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program has received more than $1.93 million in federal discretionary funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to support national and regional public safety and public health programs. These programs include: A Division for Advancing Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT), the Berkeley County, W. Va. Day Report Center, the Overdose Mapping and Analysis Program (ODMAP), and the National HIDTA Managing Analysis and Performance (MAP) Program.
A Division for Advancing Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT)
ADAPT began in 2019 with discretionary funds to the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA to serve as the mechanism for operationalizing the National HIDTA Prevention Strategy and assist HIDTA prevention efforts in developing a common prevention language and achieving the greatest impact possible with HIDTA prevention funds. Its mission is to:
1) Support integration of evidence-based or evidence-informed prevention programming into HIDTA communities;
2) Advance knowledge, skills, and quality outcomes related to prevention best practices for substance use; and
3) Describe the utility of ADAPT products in the context of public safety systems as an essential part of the translation process.
Funds will be used to support personnel, as well as an annual ADAPT training, an annual HIDTA prevention conference, quarterly spotlight trainings on prevention evidence-based practices, specialized training and consultation for technical assistance requests, technical assistance program manager services, prevention assessment mapping services, and annual maintenance of the Prevention Intervention Resource Center.
Berkeley County, W. Va. Day Report Center
The Berkeley County Day Report Center (BDRC) began in August 2016 to provide Berkeley County substance abuse offenders with alternatives to incarceration and transitional/therapeutic services post release. Participants are referred from home confinement, adult drug court, parole, probation, or from the county courts. The program was created as a cost-saving alternative to sending drug-related offenders to the regional jail by providing them treatment alternatives to ultimately reduce recidivism rates and facilitate recovery. The cost to incarcerate one offender at the regional jail averages $1,500/month while the cost to place them with the BDRC averages $475/month.
The BDRC began with three staff members and six clients. As of February 2020, the BDRC averages 180 clients at any given time and hosts a staff of 22, including its director. However, of the current staff, there are only eight case managers which are the primary treatment supervisors for the clients. The BDRC is currently operating close to client capacity. The BDRC cannot continue to accept referrals without expanding staff and space.
It is imperative to maintain an appropriate client-to-staff ratio to ensure the clients are receiving thorough and individualized care, and that the staff are not overwhelmed. project will allow for case management, community engagement and peer recovery coach services to be properly implemented. The needs of the target population cannot be adequately met at current staffing levels. The federal discretionary funds will support masters-level clinicians to provide intensive outpatient therapies, individual therapies, and outpatient group therapies for uninsured clients.
Overdose Mapping and Analysis Program (ODMAP)
ODMAP provides real-time overdose surveillance data across jurisdictions to support public safety and health efforts in mobilizing an immediate response to an overdose spike. It links first responders on scene to a mapping tool that tracks overdoses, stimulates real-time responses, and provides for strategic analysis across jurisdictions. It facilitates a coordinated approach among public health and safety entities to address the overdose epidemic, better track the movement of drugs, provide real-time surveillance to refer individuals for treatment, and establish science-based prevention strategies in participating communities.
ODMAP has grown remarkably since its 2017 pilot, with more than 20,000 users, representing 3,000 agencies across 48 states who have entered more than 220,000 suspected overdoses incidents. Approximately 15 states have either implemented, or plan to implement statewide implementation of ODMAP. The federal discretionary funding will provide continued funding for staff, equipment, materials, and IT support that will maintain ODMAP. They will ensure that the system stays free of charge to all 50 states, serving to reduce overdose deaths and further support law enforcement efforts to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. The discretionary funds will also support the continued expansion of ODMAP to jurisdictions across the country that are in need of an overdose surveillance system.
National HIDTA Managing Analysis and Performance (HIDTA MAP) Program
National HIDTA MAP is a system designed to provide spatial and temporal awareness and analysis of drug trends nationally. Discretionary funds will support the first phase of development, combining three existing and thriving HIDTA-developed mapping applications: the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP), the Interdiction Network, and the Parcel Interdiction Program (PIP). ODMAP, as described above, provides real-time overdose surveillance data across jurisdictions to support public safety and health efforts in mobilizing an immediate response to an overdose spike. It links first responders on scene to a mapping tool that tracks overdoses, stimulates real-time responses, and provides for strategic analysis across jurisdictions.
The Interdiction Network is a 100 percent Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) compliant website that is dedicated to supporting criminal interdiction, information sharing, operational awareness, and intelligence support of criminal interdiction cases and operations. It is available to law enforcement officers engaged in criminal interdiction, investigators, and criminal intelligence analysts supporting interdiction and is currently being used by over 200 agencies. In 2019, interactive maps were added to the Interdiction Network. The information in the maps will provide situational awareness and better intelligence on regional and national levels to disrupt the flow of drugs.
The Parcel Interdiction Portal (PIP) is a web-based law enforcement investigative tool focused on information sharing among different law enforcement agencies pertaining to parcel interdiction. Agents, officers, and analysts can use PIP for informational purposes and lead development. The content contained in the website consists of parcel interdiction and seizures of drugs, paraphernalia, and currency by law enforcement agencies. PIP overlays seizure data on a map to provide users a more complete and easy to process view of the locations where interdicted parcels originated and where they were meant to be received.
The National HIDTA MAP will bring these three HIDTA-developed tools together on a single map, allowing analysts to consider multiple analytics to follow the flow of narcotics and isolate sources of supply. Analysts will have the ability to overlap seizure, interdiction, and overdose data across multiple jurisdictions to show patterns and trends. HIDTA MAP will serve as a strong data gathering and collaboration tool, fostering spatial and temporal analysis to support active cases and direct resources. It will more effectively track the movement of drugs and provide real-time surveillance data related to trafficking and use patterns. Each HIDTA will have the ability to access the system to support initiatives, develop analytical and intelligence products, and provide case support to law enforcement partners, further demonstrating the ongoing value of the HIDTA program from a national perspective.
CDPE Executive Director Tom Carr stated, "We are thankful for the support of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and for our collaboration with public safety and public health partners across the country. Working together, we will continue to save lives and strengthen communities and families in the Washington/Baltimore region and beyond."
About the University of Baltimore Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement
The University of Baltimore Center for Drug Policy and Enforcement (CDPE) brings together policy experts, advocates and scholars dedicated to scientific research and best practices for stopping the proliferation of drugs and violence in our communities. The Center focuses on applied research initiatives to reduce drug trafficking, money laundering, firearms trafficking, drugrelated violence, and gang activity, and pursues strategies to advance a public-health approach to resolving the core problem of addiction. Funded entirely through external grants, the CDPE focuses its efforts on Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia, and includes the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA)
program.
About the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA Program
The federally-funded Washington/Baltimore HIDTA Program (W/B HIDTA) provides resources to federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to coordinate activities to address drug trafficking in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and parts of West Virginia. Its mission is to reduce drug trafficking and misuse by improving interagency collaboration, promoting accurate and timely information and intelligence sharing, and providing specialized training and other resources to its law enforcement, intelligence, treatment, and prevention initiatives. To accomplish this mission, the W/B HIDTA strategically applies its resources to initiatives designed to save lives, prevent initiation of drug use, and apprehend drug traffickers and money
launderers. ONDCP designated the W/B HIDTA in 1994.