The North Carolina Technical Assistance Center is a statewide initiative to provide technical assistance to programs that support individuals at risk of incarceration and overdose. We provide tailored, evidence-based, technical assistance with a harm reduction approach.
Supported by the DHHS Division of Mental Health (DMH), NC-TAC is a collaboration between us, the NC FIT Program, and the Duke Harm Reduction Research Collaboratory. Our team has decades of experience and includes harm reductionists, community health workers, physicians, researchers, and former law enforcement officers. Most importantly, our team includes people with lived experience with incarceration and substance use.
Each of our three organizations has expertise in key areas to help programs successfully implement and evaluate their projects. The NC FIT Program has worked extensively to connect people to essential health services after release from incarceration and to implement jail-based MAT programs. We work on connecting people who use drugs to services and are content and implementation experts in Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, naloxone distribution, and syringe services programs. The Duke Harm Reduction Collaboratory adds expertise in program planning, management, evaluation, and quality improvement.
We have specific expertise in the following areas:
- Harm Reduction (Drug user health, engaging key populations)
- Supporting release from incarceration (Reentry)
- Diversion/Deflection, including Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD)
- Naloxone access and distribution
- Program evaluation
- Data management
Examples of our tailored services include:
- Harm Reduction training for program staff
- Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for law enforcement officers
- Data management system development support
- Helping identify and connect with community partners
- Individualized consultation on program planning and implementation challenges
- Supporting conversations with key community partners (Law enforcement, harm reduction, local government)
- Access to our statewide network of collaborators
Our services are available to any North Carolina non-profit, private, or government entity that provides services to people impacted by the legal system.