Designing a Coordinated K–12 Substance-Use Response

A three-year design for a coordinated K–12 substance-use response across six Michigan counties, combining shared response protocols, diversion and referral pathways, workforce training, and real-time regional data.

At a Glance

Client: Federal grant proposal

Sector: Public Health

Format: Systems and collective-work design

Audience: Six Michigan counties

What we noticed

Across Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties and the Eastern Upper Peninsula counties of Chippewa, Luce, and Mackinac, schools, law enforcement agencies, and first responders were each responding to youth substance use independently.

There were no shared protocols to make responses consistent across institutions and locations. There was also no real-time regional data system providing a common view of emerging needs, available resources, or where intervention was most urgent.

The result was significant activity without a coordinated regional response.

The intervention

We designed a three-year project advancing two connected priorities.

The first was a multidisciplinary diversion and response system linking law enforcement, first responders, schools, and service providers across prevention, response, referral, and recovery.

The second was a regional system for real-time data collection and information-sharing.

The design included shared K–12 substance-use response protocols, a continuously maintained referral pipeline, training for school and law-enforcement personnel, and resources for subcontracted partners providing direct services.

Why we designed it this way

We designed the human system and the data system together because coordination fails when either is missing.

Relationships and training without shared information can produce inconsistent responses. Data without trusted relationships and clear protocols often goes unused.

We also built one design across both an urban tri-county region and a rural area of the Upper Peninsula. The communities differ significantly in geography, population density, and available resources, but youth substance use crosses jurisdictional boundaries and requires coordination across them.

Questions for Consideration
  • What must be true for organizations that share a problem but not a chain of command to function as a coordinated system?
  • How do the requirements of coordination change across communities with significantly different resources and population densities?
  • When several institutions respond to the same young person, what determines whether that response is experienced as support or surveillance?

SELECTED ARTIFACTS