Convened in 2016 in response to rapidly rising opioid-related overdoses, the West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force is a Prevention Partnership initiative bringing together multiple stakeholders to address treatment, harm reduction, and recovery needs of those with opioid use disorder (OUD) in Chicago. Task Force members include OUD treatment providers, city agencies, housing and employment programs, peer counselors, harm reduction workers, and persons who use drugs. Activities include monthly coalition meetings, street outreach in overdose hot spots to link users to treatment, providing medications for OUD via mobile vans, testing drugs for fentanyl, training on the use of naloxone, and distribution of naloxone and harm reduction materials.

An update on the Task Force at the end of its third year describes recent accomplishments, including the recruitment of over 600 stakeholders across the continuum of care, training 5,000 residents in the administration of naloxone, and the distribution of over 10,000 naloxone kits.

News stories on the program are here and here, and its contact information is available on its social media page.