Day 4: 2021 Virtual National Forum on Overdose Fatality Review

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Tuesday, February 23 — OFR Experience in 2021

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Session 1

OFR Facilitation in 2021

This session will tackle emerging issues such as virtual meetings, as well as incorporating health equity, social determinants of health, and lived experience/voices in recovery into OFRs.

Moderator: Mallory O’Brien, M.S., Ph.D.
Senior Research Advisor, IPA
Centers for Disease Control
National Institute of Justice

Senior Research Advisor, IPA
Centers for Disease Control
National Institute of Justice

Dr. Mallory O’Brien is trained as an epidemiologist and is currently serving as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the overdose fatality review subject-matter expert.  She has extensive experience developing, leading, and training on incident reviews.  Dr. O’Brien developed and piloted the Wisconsin overdose fatality review process and data collection tool.  During her time with the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program/Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program, she led the overdose fatality review efforts.

Additional Biography Information:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallory-o-brien-26701a10/

Lauren Savitskas, M.P.H.
Indiana Department of Health

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.

Kimberly Reilly, M.A., L.P.C.
Ocean County Health Department

Ocean County Health Department

Ms. Kimberly Reilly has a masters in counseling psychology and is a licensed professional counselor in New Jersey.  She is the coordinator for the Department of Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Opioid Dependency at the Ocean County Health Department and has been the lead in the Ocean County Overdose Fatality Review since December 2016.

Additional Biography Information  www.OCHD.org

Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D.
Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC

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

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Session 2

Stump the Panel: Continuation of Session 1

Moderator: Mallory O’Brien, M.S., Ph.D.
Senior Research Advisor, IPA
Centers for Disease Control
National Institute of Justice

Senior Research Advisor, IPA
Centers for Disease Control
National Institute of Justice

Dr. Mallory O’Brien is trained as an epidemiologist and is currently serving as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the overdose fatality review subject-matter expert.  She has extensive experience developing, leading, and training on incident reviews.  Dr. O’Brien developed and piloted the Wisconsin overdose fatality review process and data collection tool.  During her time with the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program/Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program, she led the overdose fatality review efforts.

Additional Biography Information:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallory-o-brien-26701a10/

Lauren Savitskas, M.P.H.
Indiana Department of Health

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.

Kimberly Reilly, M.A., L.P.C.
Ocean County Health Department

Ocean County Health Department

Ms. Kimberly Reilly has a masters in counseling psychology and is a licensed professional counselor in New Jersey.  She is the coordinator for the Department of Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Opioid Dependency at the Ocean County Health Department and has been the lead in the Ocean County Overdose Fatality Review since December 2016.

Additional Biography Information  www.OCHD.org

Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D.
Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC

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

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Break

3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Café Sessions–Interactive Sessions

Café Session 4A: What Challenges Are Facing Your OFR?

This informal session will foster networking and peer sharing about challenges implementing OFR to identify possible solutions.
Moderator: Kathy Rowings, J.D.
Senior Research Associate
Institute for Intergovernmental Research

Senior Research Associate
Institute for Intergovernmental Research

Ms. Kathy Rowings is a senior research associate at the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, where she manages several projects that help communities across the county address the opioid and substance use epidemic.


Café Session 4B: Coffee with CDC Peer-to-Peer and BJA OFR Peer Mentor Sites

Moderator: April Wisdom, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. April Wisdom is a health scientist in the Division of Overdose Prevention and a member of the Applied Prevention Science team since 2018.  Dr. Wisdom supports the funding recipients of the Division’s Overdose Data to Action cooperative agreement as the strategy lead for peer-to-peer technical assistance and a prevention science officer.

Zoe Soslow, M.S.
Philadelphia Department of Public Health

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.

Kacy Robinson, M.S.
Utah Department of Health/Bureau of Health Promotion/Violence and Injury Prevention Program

Utah Department of Health/Bureau of Health Promotion/Violence and Injury Prevention Program

Ms. Kacy Robinson coordinates the state fatality review committees.  She coordinates the Opioid Fatality Review Committee, the Child Fatality Review Committee, the Sudden Death in the Young Advanced Clinical Review Team, and the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.  As coordinator, Ms. Robinson is responsible for identifying cases for review; performing all research and record collection for review; meeting facilitation and collection of recommendations, which identify service gaps and populations vulnerable to violence/injury; and promote health and well-being for all Utahns.

Additional Biography Information:  http://health.utah.gov/vipp/

Meghan McCormick, M.P.H.
Health Program Administrator
Rhode Island Department of Health

Health Program Administrator
Rhode Island Department of Health

Ms. Meghan McCormick is a health program administrator in the Rhode Island Department of Health Drug Overdose Prevention Program.  She co-facilitates Rhode Island’s overdose fatality review and is an overdose data to action peer-to-peer learning coordinator.