I. Welcome- District Attorney Tim Cruz- Atlanta Conference-Childhood Trauma Initiative Presentation
- DA Tim Cruz and Ed Jacoubs co-presented at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, GA on “Drug Endangered Children: How Law Enforcement, Child Protection Agencies and School Can Help.” This included information on the Handle with Care program and how schools can become trauma sensitive.
- The DA noted that he and the Sheriff are continuing to focus on the prosecuting side and ensuring that dealers are held accountable. There was recently one successful prosecution in Plymouth that found a man guilty after a fatal overdose and was charged with manslaughter and 5 counts of distribution of a controlled substance.
II. Sheriff Joe McDonald- Atlanta Conference take-away
- The Sheriff also attended the conference in Atlanta and noted that there were over 200 people in attendance at the DA & Ed’s presentation which was very well received.
- He also shared that there were specific tracks for each sector that attended including law enforcement, treatment, recovery, etc.
- The group noted that there was not a higher education track and that this could be something that is focused on in a presentation for next year.
- Hillary Dubois shared with Mary Waldron that the conference discussed one DEA Higher Education program which can be found here: https://www.campusdrugprevention.gov/
- The Sheriff’s Department is hosting a CORI Friendly Career Fair. The City of Brockton Mayor is supporting the fair as well and it will be hosted at the War Memorial Building on April 9th.
- On May 16th the Taskforce is hosting a Conference at BSU from 9-2PM, please save the date.
- In September, there will be a Drug Free Workplace Forum hosted in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce – more information to come.
- In October, the medical subcommittee will be hosting a conference – more information to come as well.
III. Legislative Update- Monica Mullen for Sen. Vinny deMacedo and Rep. Randy Hunt
- Monica Mullen provided an update on the legislature that passed on the criminal justice reform bill and recommendations were reviewed by the group.
VI. Subcommittee Presentations and Reports
A. Public Safety – Chief Mike Botieri and Chief Scott Allen
- Dr. Sarah Wakeman, Medical Director of Mass General Hospital’s Substance Use Disorder Initiative, recently provided a training for Plymouth County Outreach on Medication Assisted Treatment options. There were about 70 people in attendance and the full training can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SyF2fcKcjk&feature=share
- Dr. Tracey, Dr. Muse and Dr. Mendoza have been added to the Plymouth County Outreach Advisory Board.
- Representatives from PCO recently met with the CEO of Good Samaritan Medical Center. The CEO noted that “it’s not if, it’s when” that they will be on board.
- Recently, the Chiefs presented to the Newburyport Police Department regarding PCO.
- PCO is looking into expanding outside of the county. Quincy, for example, often shares information with the police departments if an individual from the county overdoses in their town.
- Governor Baker earmarked $100,000 to go towards PCO as a pilot program. The Chiefs are looking for support at the state level and have sent a letter to reiterate the need for this funding.
- HIDTA has allocated $36,000 to PCO to support Kelly Research Associate’s database for one more year.
- Chief Botieri noted that the PCO Advisory Board is looking into the possibility of the program becoming its own non-profit.
- PCO officially has a new logo and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/plymouthcountyoutreach/
B. Data / PCO Overdose Report- Pam Kelley and Sean Verano
- KRA recently put together an annual report for PCO. The findings of this report were presented at the February 12th event at BSU and a copy of the report has been provided to each department. A video of the presentation can be found on PCO’s Facebook page.
- In 2017, there were 1,756 overdoses which included 1,354 individuals. There were 242 repeat individuals which made up 37% of the overdoses. As a result of this finding, PCO will be looking into implementing a level 2 intervention for these individuals.
- From 1/1/18 – 3/31/18 there were 398 overdoses throughout the county – 37 (9%) of these were fatal, 333 (84%) were non-fatal and 28 (7%) were reported as at-risk.
- On average there have been 12.3 fatal overdoses per month which is consistent.
- There has been a 5% decrease in non-fatal overdoses per month. In 2017, there was an average of 117/month and so far there has been an average of 111/month.
- There have been several “at-risk” individuals who have self-initiated into the program which shows that people have confidence in the program.
- 79% of the overdose incidents in 2018 took place in the same town that the resident resided in and 21% took place in a different town.
- Mary Waldron asked “how many incidents are happening outside of the county?”- PCO is not currently tracking that, but many of the police departments are utilizing the “at-risk” category to report calls that are coming from outside of the county.
- The taskforce will be setting up a multi-county meetings hosted by the Sheriff and DA to share what the county is doing in regards to outreach and follow-up visits.
- In 2018, there have been 252 attempted home visits, 60% of which were successful. PCO is working on defining what a “successful” outcome entails (contact with user, accepted treatment, etc.).
- Patrick Nevins asked what PCO’s needs are going forward. Chief Botieri noted that it’s funding for day-to-day operations as well as a full-time employee. Grants are looking for proof of sustainability, but PCO is currently all volunteer-based. Sarah Cloud said that it could be a 3 person job to coordinate the day-to-day tasks of PCO.
- Chief Botieri shared that PCO is looking into replicating MGH’s mobile van which is essentially a drop-in center on wheels. The group acknowledged that all 5 hospitals in the area could take the lead on this initiative. Pam noted that Brockton, for example, has 6-7 public places where there have been a lot of overdoses occurring and that they are taking a deeper look into this data.
- The group discussed DPH’s involvement in PCO and noted that the public health piece is needed at the table.
- April 28th at New Hope Chapel, PCO will be hosting a Prescription Drug Take Back Event from 10-2PM which will include live presentations from many of its partners.
C. Medical- Dr. Dan Muse
- Sarah Cloud provided a brief update on the recent medical subcommittee meeting that took place. She noted that the group is strategically looking at how Plymouth County can systemically provide treatment including Medication Assisted Treatment.
D. Grants- Update from Patrick Nevins – Assistant Director of Grants & Sponsored Projects, District Attorney’s Office
- The Attorney General’s Office recently awarded funding to Plymouth County as a result of a lawsuit from CVS. This funding is supporting the county’s work around helping traumatized and drug endangered children learn.
- Through this funding, the taskforce recently hosted a workshop in March at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton with about 100 people in attendance.
- At this workshop, schools were offered the opportunity to apply as a pilot site to receive professional development for all staff in order for the school to become trauma sensitive. Seven schools will be chosen to participate and the 8th will be Bridgewater State University.
E. Education-Mary Waldron and Mary Burke- Overview of the upcoming May Conference
- Mary Waldron reported that the BSU Opioid Working Group continues to meet on a regular basis. BSU will be hosting an upcoming Resource Fair in partnership with the Brockton Area Prevention Collaborative.
- She also noted that a grad student is currently working with the University’s Police Department on providing Narcan training on campus.
- Jocelyn Cabral, a student at BSU, was recently nominated and recognized for her work related to substance use.
F. Community Coalitions-Joanne Peterson and Hillary DuBois
- Koren provided an update on the Champion Plan – she noted that the program has been in existence for over 2 years now and it has supported 551 individuals and made 857 placements. They recently hired a new staff member who was a former participant. The program also started a monthly support group and will be incorporating some creative activities to engage participants: PhotoVoice, cooking for recovery, etc.
- Koren also updated the group on the RIZE grant – the last planning meeting included some great dialogue and she feels that they have a solid chance in receiving the additional funding.
- In Brockton, the Haven is a day resource center for homeless individuals and they have been successful in linking people with treatment and have been encouraging the use of the Champion Plan.
- Hillary updated the group on the Brockton Area Prevention Collaborative’s progress utilizing social media to spread information and raise awareness within the community. Just last month, the Collaborative reached over 11,000 people on Facebook.
- There have been many pre-prom related initiatives currently taking place throughout the county including outreach to local liquor stores via law enforcement, mandatory pre-prom events to share information about the Social Host Law and making good decisions during this time of the year, as well as outreach to local businesses that many parents and students visit during prom season including florists, tux shops, nail salons, etc.
- Another initiative that the Collaborative has been working on is targeting tradesmen throughout the region with a specific focus on Rockland. The Collaborative has found that 60% of the individuals who died as a result of an overdose between 2011-2016 worked in some form of the trades at the time of their death. As a result, the Collaborative recently hosted a training for trades workers in Rockland and applied for additional funding to support this initiative going forward. This initiative would also target students at vocational schools throughout the county.
- On June 5th, Prevention Services of High Point is hosting a youth led substance use prevention conference at BSU and is bringing together youth from across the county. Students will have the opportunity to learn from one another and leave with valuable information as to how to make effective change within their communities. The conference is free, but the cost of transportation is not covered.
- In addition, Prevention Services has been working to increase health literacy around substance use prevention amongst pediatric offices throughout the county. Bridgewater and Plymouth Pediatrics were specifically involved in this initiative which will reach over 23,000 youth as a result. One specific need that pediatric offices addressed was college-aged stimulant abuse as well as prescription drug education for parents.
- The Brockton Area Prevention Collaborative recently trained 165 social workers at the Brockton Area DCF.
- The Collaborative in partnership with Dr. Dan Muse hosted two lunch and learns to present the Medical Subcommittee’s paper to staff and doctors at Signature Healthcare.
- Karen Barry wondered if the Collaborative could present to other coalitions to share these kinds of initiatives with smaller coalitions that do not received funding. Hillary said that she would be willing to do so.
G. Faith Based Coalitions- Dr. Jehle and Sean Merrill
- Dr. Jehle provided an update on the Bethesda House. Thirty-five churches are supporting this house which services homeless moms and pregnant women. www.bethesdahousema.org
- Teen Challenge continues to expand including their short term program.
- The Run to End Addiction is taking place on May 19th at BSU and on June 18th there will be a Golf Tournament as well.