Local stakeholders attend PTACC Summit

     On Aug. 2-5, Jones County Attorney Kristofer Lyons and Jones County COAP (Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program) Site Engagement Coordinator Lisa Bogran attended the 2022 Deflection & Pre-Arrest Diversion Training Summit, presented by the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative or PTACC.

   PTACC is an alliance of practitioners in law enforcement, behavioral health, community, advocacy, research, and public policy, whose mission is to strategically widen community behavioral health and social service options available through law enforcement diversion. The purpose of the Collaborative is to provide vision, leadership, advocacy, and education to facilitate the practice of pre-arrest diversion across the United States.

   The Summit was designed to provide an opportunity for individuals, teams, organizations, and community leaders to come together through cross-sector collaboration to learn about, develop, and enhance deflection initiatives that best address the needs of their communities. The Summit was especially important this year, given the record number of drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2021.

   Lyons and Bogran were joined by attendees from Black Hawk and Story counties in Iowa, and over 500 people from across the country.

   Attendance at the Summit was made possible by a grant from the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Abuse Program, a division of the United States Department of Justice.