OFR Peer Mentor Sites

Indiana Peer Mentor Site

Indiana’s OFR program is managed by the Indiana Department of Health and is a county-level OFR program established in 2018. It is currently funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Overdose Data to Action grant.

Experience

State coordination of local sites
OFR legislation
16 OFR teams throughout the state
Coroner-based system
Family interviews and psychological autopsies
Experience with suicide and overdose deaths
Collaborates across fatality review programs, including Maternal Mortality Review and Child Fatality Review, focused on youth suicides
Community of Practice monthly call for all local coordinators

Utah Peer Mentor Site

Utah’s OFR is managed by the Utah Department of Health and is a state-level OFR established in 2017. It is currently funded by the CDC Overdose Data to Action grant with Opioid Response Strategy (ORS) involvement.

Experience

State-level OFR initiative
OFR legislation
Centralized medical examiner office
Themed-case selection
Summary reports
Family interviews
Convening different types of death reviews (including suicide, homicide, and maternal mortality)

Philadelphia Peer Mentor Site

Philadelphia’s OFR is managed by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and is a city-level OFR established in 2019. It is currently funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance COAP grant.

Experience

City-level OFR initiative
No state OFR legislation
Centralized medical examiner office
Cases are selected using a statistical model
Next-of-kin interviews
Case notes organized based on social determinants of health

Winnebago Peer Mentor Site

Winnebago County's OFR is managed by the Winnebago County Health Department in Wisconsin and is a county-level OFR established in 2018. It is currently funded by the CDC Overdose Data to Action grant.

Experience

County-level OFR
No state OFR legislation
Summary annual reports
Facilitated by an outside contractor
Experience with suicide and overdose deaths
Health department-led with connection to a local prevention coalition
Separate recommendation and monitoring team and implementation task force
Experience providing technical assistance to local OFR sites

Ocean County Peer Mentor Site

The Ocean County Overdose Fatality Review Program (OC-OFRP) is managed through the Ocean County Health Department in New Jersey and is a county-level program established in 2017. Starting in fall 2020, it became a funded program through the New Jersey Department of Health to continue the fatality review and to serve as a technical advisor to other fatality reviews in New Jersey.

Experience

County-level OFR
No state OFR legislation
Quarterly and annual reporting
Follows RxStat Model (NY/NJ HIDTA) with strong executive and subcommittee models for action
Health department-led with strong partnerships with prosecutor, behavioral health, and the medical examiner
Family interviews and psychological autopsies
Experience providing technical assistance to local sites