IOP work on opioid epidemic cited in JSGC report

On March 23, 2021, the PA House Human Services Committee hosted an informational hearing on the Joint State Government Commission's (JSGC's) recently issued report on warm hand-offs as a critical tool in the fight to curb the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania. The JSGC report cites (on page 28) the definition of warm hand-offs developed by the Institute of Politics Opioid Epidemic working group, which was convened by the Institute in partnership with the office of the U.S. Attorney of Western Pennsylvania (then David Hickton). The reports conclusion - that the expansion of this best practice should build upon existing work in the Commonwealth - echoes recommendations made in the Institute's 2016 report.

The JSGC report was commissioned by the legislature through the passage of HR 216 in the 2019-2020 session, and the resulting report was released at the end of December 2020. You can view the full text and a one-page summary of the JSGC report here. To review the IOP's work relating to the opioid epidemic, including the task force report and other subsequent activities, please visit the project page.