Implementation and Outcomes of 9 Deflection Teams in Ohio

CONTEXT: Ohio has been severely affected by the opioid epidemic for more than a decade, leading to the development of diversion and deflection programs that seek to intervene with individuals experiencing substance use disorder in the community. PROGRAM: The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program provided funding to develop or enhance 9 first responder-led diversion/deflection efforts across the state of Ohio and examine their operations and impact on client outcomes from 2021 to 2024. IMPLEMENTATION: Although heterogeneously implemented, each of the 9 funded deflection teams engaged in overdose response or proactive outreach, targeting people with substance use disorder to connect them to community-based treatment resources, overdose prevention materials, and other supports based on the needs of the individual. EVALUATION: Demographics for referrals across the sites, number of referrals/unique individuals recorded per team, deflection team activities (ie, contact attempts, successful contact rates, overdose prevention material distribution), and clients' proximal outcomes of connection to treatment are reported. In addition, successful rates of contact and connection to treatment were examined across demographic groups. Less than 25% of all teams had any significant differences in rates of contact or connections to treatment between demographic groups. Nearly 80% of the teams showed significant differences in mean number of contact attempts between successful and nonsuccessful contacts. DISCUSSION: This multisite evaluation contributes to a small but growing body of research on deflection programs. It emphasizes 2 proximal outcomes that are directly tied to team activities. It also builds on past research by examining how client demographics and team activities (ie, contact attempts) may influence client outcomes.