Day 5: 2021 Virtual National Forum on Overdose Fatality Review
Wednesday, February 24 — OFR Data and Recommendations
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Session 1
Recommendations: From Identification to Development
Session RecordingCommunity & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC
Moderator: Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D.
Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC
Dr. Jennifer Skolaski is the owner of Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC, which provides services including: nonprofit program management, fund development, nonprofit event planning, and nonprofit management transitions, as well as board development training, professional teaching, and facilitation. She has vast experience working with various nonprofits throughout the state of Wisconsin on multiple projects. Specific to this conference, Dr. Skolaski has served as the facilitator of the Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) project since March 2018, and the Tri-County OFR project in June 2020. She has experience building the review process from the beginning; tailoring it to the needs of the community; identifying, training, and building relationships with partners; participating in the required grant expectations on behalf of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security; representing the OFR process at statewide conferences and at the national level; and serving as a consultant for the Institute for Intergovernmental Research.
Additional Biography Information: www.canpl.com; www.linkedin.com/in/canpl-skolaski-542b069
Sam Robertson
Community Overdose Prevention Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Health
Sam Robertson is the Community Overdose Prevention Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health’s Injury and Violence Prevention Section.
Sara Jesse
Community Health Strategist
Sauk County, Wisconsin, Public Health
Ms. Sara Jesse, as a community health strategist for Sauk County, Wisconsin, Public Health, has facilitated the Sauk County Overdose Death Review Team since its inception three years ago. In addition to this role, Ms. Jesse manages several drug-related programs for the county, including Narcan training, a community-based prevention coalition, and soon-to-be-launched overdose Rapid Response Teams. Ms. Jesse also works on community health assessments and plans for other health focus areas, with a special interest in health equity, the social determinants of health, and adverse childhood experiences. Having lost her sister to opioid overdose in 2006, she is a passionate advocate for harm reduction and primary prevention services.
Sharon M. Burden
Executive Director
Alcohol & Addictions Resource Center
Ms. Sharon Burden has been with the Alcohol & Addictions Resource Center in South Bend, Indiana, since 1984. She is a Certified Employee Assistance Professional, a Substance Abuse Professional, and an Indiana Licensed Clinical Addictions Counselor. In addition, she holds a National Certified Addiction Counselor II credential. She has been the co-chair of the Overdose Fatality Review team in St. Joseph County, Indiana, since its inception in the spring of 2019.
Division Chief, Local Addictions Authority
Baltimore County Department of Health
Amy Park, L.C.S.W.-C.
Division Chief, Local Addictions Authority
Baltimore County Department of Health
Ms. Amy Park is the Division Chief for the Local Addictions Authority at the Baltimore County Department of Health. In this role, she assists with the planning, managing, and monitoring of publicly funded behavioral health services in Baltimore County, Maryland.
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Session 2
Recommendations: From Implementation to Reporting
This session will highlight successful recommendations implemented and strategies to ensure implementation, accountability, and reporting.
Moderator: Desiree Whyte, M.A., C.P.M.
Director
Monmouth County Division of Behavioral Health
With more than a dozen years of experience in the field of behavioral health, Ms. Desiree Whyte is a professional who serves with passion and commitment to individuals with mental health and substance use disorders. Ms. Whyte holds a master of arts degree in counseling psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and currently serves as the Director of the Monmouth County Division of Behavioral Health located within the Monmouth County Department of Human Services. Additionally, Ms. Whyte co-facilitates the Monmouth County Overdose Fatality Review Team and is dedicated to overdose prevention.
Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC
Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D.
Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC
Dr. Jennifer Skolaski is the owner of Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC, which provides services including: nonprofit program management, fund development, nonprofit event planning, and nonprofit management transitions, as well as board development training, professional teaching, and facilitation. She has vast experience working with various nonprofits throughout the state of Wisconsin on multiple projects. Specific to this conference, Dr. Skolaski has served as the facilitator of the Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) project since March 2018, and the Tri-County OFR project in June 2020. She has experience building the review process from the beginning; tailoring it to the needs of the community; identifying, training, and building relationships with partners; participating in the required grant expectations on behalf of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security; representing the OFR process at statewide conferences and at the national level; and serving as a consultant for the Institute for Intergovernmental Research.
Additional Biography Information: www.canpl.com; www.linkedin.com/in/canpl-skolaski-542b069
Overdose Data to Action Program Planning and Partnership Coordinator
Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Lisa Bullard-Cawthorne, M.P.H.
Overdose Data to Action Program Planning and Partnership Coordinator
Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Ms. Lisa Bullard-Cawthorne has more than 35 years’ experience in health promotion and disease and injury prevention, with a focus on program planning, implementation and evaluation, community health assessment, and data analysis. Previously, she worked in England for ten years in a disease prevention capacity. In addition, she served for 20 years at Public Health Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin, where she spent much of her time focused on injury prevention, including drug harm prevention and several types of fatality reviews. Currently, Ms. Bullard-Cawthorne is the Program Planning and Partnership Coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drug overdose grants (Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States and Overdose Data to Action) at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She earned a master’s of public health in community health/epidemiology.
Maryland Traumatic Brain Injury Partner Grant Project Coordinator
Maryland Behavioral Health Administration
Anastasia Edmonston, M.S., CRC
Maryland Traumatic Brain Injury Partner Grant Project Coordinator
Maryland Behavioral Health Administration
Ms. Anastasia Edmonston currently works for the Maryland Behavioral Health Administration. Her work focuses on training behavioral health professionals and others on the topics of traumatic brain injury and person-centered thinking and planning and their intersection with brain injury, substance use, and mental health. She has worked in the field of rehabilitation services for individuals with traumatic and acquired brain injuries for more than 30 years, in both inpatient and outpatient services, as a case manager, program coordinator, advocate, and vocational rehabilitation counselor. She obtained her master of science degree in rehabilitation counseling from Boston University, is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, and earned a postgraduate certificate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in instructional systems development. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Person-Centered Thinking Trainer.
Additional Biography Information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-edmonston-8848095/
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Break
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Café Sessions–Interactive Sessions
Café Session 5A: Social Autopsy: Enhance and Enrich Your Data Collection and Understanding
Social autopsies capture rich and meaningful information. Learn about the latest recommendations on how to do social/psychological autopsies, what data to capture, and how to summarize and present it.
Data and Grants Specialist
Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County
Moderator: LuAnn Beck-Day, R.N., B.S.N., M.Ed.
Data and Grants Specialist
Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County
Ms. LuAnn Beck-Day accepted a position with the Carroll County, Maryland, Health Department in 2017 as the first dedicated Overdose Fatality Review Team coordinator, where she developed policies, procedures, and programs for both fatality reviews and outreach to families and the community. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing with 20 years of experience working in all aspects of addiction.
Indiana Department of Health
Lauren Savitskas, M.P.H.
Indiana Department of Health
Ms. Lauren Savitskas has served as the Suicide/Overdose Fatality Review Program Manager for the state of Indiana since 2018. This program was selected as a peer-to-peer technical assistance site by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a mentor site for the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and is a BJA pilot site for data entry. Ms. Savitskas also chairs the Suicide Learning Collaborative and the Pediatric Suicide Child Fatality Review Team. She received her master’s of public health with a concentration in social and behavioral sciences from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. Her bachelor’s degree is in journalism from Indiana University.
Drug Overdose Prevention Research Coordinator
Utah Department of Health, Office of the Medical Examiner
Megan Broekemeier, M.P.H.
Drug Overdose Prevention Research Coordinator
Utah Department of Health, Office of the Medical Examiner
Ms. Megan Broekemeier is an epidemiologist in the Office of the Medical Examiner at the Utah Department of Health. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business in 2009 and a master’s degree in public health in 2015. She is passionate about improving our understanding of the circumstances that contribute to a fatal overdose and uses psychological autopsy as a tool to do so. When not in the office, Ms. Broekemeier loves to be outside with her family.
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Zoe Soslow, M.S.
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Ms. Zoe Soslow is the Central Administrator for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Overdose Fatality Review, OD Stat. She has been with the department since August 2019. Prior to her work with the Department of Public Health, she worked and studied in behavioral health and forensic medicine.
Clinical Social Worker and Researcher
New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Melissa Weisel, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., M.S.M. P.H./P.P.
Clinical Social Worker and Researcher
New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Ms. Melissa Weisel is a licensed clinical social worker with over a decade of experience in social work in various roles from case management to private practice. Currently a psychotherapist and researcher, Ms. Weisel provides support for the Overdose Fatality Review Teams by conducting clinical interviews with next of kin following overdose deaths. The information gathered is then used to inform policies, procedures, and processes on local and state levels in an effort to reduce overdose deaths.
Additional Biography Information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-weisel-05350948/
Café Session 5B: OFR Data System: What You Need to Know to Be Successful
The OFR Data System technical developer and guidance author are available to answer questions from the field on how to access and use the system.
R.N., M.P.H.
Subject Expert
Institute for Intergovernmental Research
Moderator: Melissa Heinen, B.S.N., M.P.H.
R.N., M.P.H.
Subject Expert
Institute for Intergovernmental Research
Ms. Melissa Heinen is a senior research associate for the Institute for Intergovernmental Research. She is responsible for providing overdose fatality review training and technical assistance. She has more than 20 years of experience working in injury and violence epidemiology and prevention at the local, state, regional, and national levels.
Additional Biography Information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-heinen-94660929/
Medical College of Wisconsin
Tom Chelius, M.S.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Mr. Tom Chelius has worked at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) for more than 25 years. He coordinates the MCW’s Epidemiology Data Resource Center and administers its REDCap server. Mr. Chelius is part of the development team for the Overdose Fatality Review Data System REDCap tools.
Additional Biography Information: https://www.mcw.edu/departments/epidemiology/people/thomas-chelius-ms