Cook County, Illinois, is the second-most populous county in the United States. The Partnerships project was led by Cook County Health (CCH). During the planning phase, CCH quantified the extremely high risk of fatal overdoses among a part of Cook County’s community detention population. Based on its analyses, CCH implemented the following activities:

• Executed a one-time data linkage between the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Cook County Adult Probation Department. The de-identified data linkage was implemented to demonstrate its feasibility and build partner trust. Analyses examined the risk of fatal overdoses among adult probationers to inform intervention planning, including a recovery coach to provide service linkages.
• Supported a qualitative study by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and the Cook County Adult Probation Research Department on barriers to housing, treatment, and other community resources for probationers in recovery.
• Building on the de-identified data linkage with the probation department, CCH implemented and analyzed the risk of fatal overdose for individuals on electronic monitoring for the Cook County Department of Corrections to understand barriers to treatment access.
• Collaborated with the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office to receive forensic overdose data to (1) detect emerging drug overdose threats, (2) determine clusters by spatiotemporal mapping, and (3) identify vulnerable populations within Cook County. Information was also disseminated to community organizations and public health stakeholders in a time-sensitive manner.