Minutes- September 2016

I.  Welcome- District Attorney Tim Cruz

II.  Kevin Avitable – Presentation re: The MAP Academy

• Supporting high-risk students in Plymouth, Wareham and Carver, but also any student that chooses to apply and fits into the category of high risk youth
• Plymouth Public Schools are in support of the charter school
• The opioid crisis is trickling down to high school aged students – a lot of students are leaving high school early
• MAP Academy is a student centered program
  • This type of program is hard to do in such a large school like Plymouth

• There has been an alternative program for many years in Plymouth
  • The school runs at night as a credit recovery program
  • They’ve gone from 25 to 90 full time students and they cannot keep up
• Finding a long term solution through the charter school
  • There will be all the same common core frameworks, however there will be an intense focus on support: coping skills, social/emotional, competency based model
• They are experiencing struggles with 18/19 year old students who have aged out of services
• Hoping to be chartered in February – they are one of four charter schools to be invited to submit a final application
• They are currently funded through a private foundation for startup costs
• Long term goals:
  • Eventually have a residential component of the Academy
  • School’s ability to section students – meeting with juvenile courts to discuss the possibility – trying to streamline the approach

III.  Sheriff Joe McDonald

•  The Governor’s working group has reconvened
• There were two main takeaways from the meeting
  • Administration was pleased to announce that Walgreens is the 1^st to offer disposal of meds
    • They are hoping for CVS to get on board
  • Launch of new PMP
    • Access and information has been improved

IV.  Legislative Updates

•  Ballot Question Initiative –looks to be running even
• Senator’s sense is that the pro-marijuana side is not being truthful
  • They are not acknowledging that this is an industry driven ballot question
  • Not genuine, not providing factual information
• Legalization and commercialization of marijuana is about the money
• PAC TV did a show with the DA & Sheriff
• Is it possible to have a presentation at the Learn 2 Cope groups?
  • – Karen will look at the schedule of groups across the state to see if the Sheriff or DA can host one
• There are stricter limits in Colorado than what our legislation would be if passed
• The medicinal marijuana sold in Brockton already has gummies, candy bars, etc.

V.  Subcommittee Reports

A.  Public Safety Subcommittee Report

• Outreach Program: 10 months into it, continuing to track #s
  • Plymouth, Carver, Middleboro, Duxbury
  • 83% of the time, people who’ve received a follow-up due to an overdose are taking services within a week
• Working with EB Hope to expand
  • On the off weeks of their drop-in center, Plymouth is hosting a similar drop-in center at two different locations
  • Average of 30 people drop in each time
• Expanding past reaching those who’ve overdosed, it’s also about those who need the support – parents, grandparents, concerned community members

• Kingston Propane’s initiative “From Here For Here” will be donating 1% of their proceeds to both EB Hope and Plymouth – $10,000 to each
• The goal is to expand throughout all of the county, however by November there will be 12 towns that are a part of the outreach program
• Could improve on social media outreach – they do a reverse 911 call the day before and the Sheriff prints signs with each months meetings for the program
• Champion Plan
  • Walk in to police department – CORI’d for warrants, etc.
  • If they have a CORI, they need to clear it up at the courthouse which they have been helpful in doing so
  • A peer from stairway to recovery then brings them to stairway to recovery for intake to try and get a bed
• Joanne Peterson warned the group about certain Florida treatment centers who have been fraudulent – some are very good, but there are some that are bad
  • She recommends to check each treatment center’s certifications
• Daniel, CEO of High Point announced that they will be piloting the ARCH program which will place recovery coaches to do follow ups at hospitals for those who present at the hospital for substance use disorder

B.  Medical Subcommittee Report

• There has been a great response to SportSmart – especially when it is mandatory for students and parents
• Muse let the group know that they will be coming out with recommendations – they will have a draft in the beginning of November which will include information on prescribing recommendations, newborns, data collection, public awareness, hospital/medical group outreach

C.  Education Subcommittee Report

•  BSU hosted summer workshops as a follow up to the May conference
  • Drug recognition training and SBIRT
• The new Dean of Students wants to get more engaged on campus and off campus
• There is also a new VP of student affairs and a new student organization
  • There is a lot of engagement from students, even across the region
• Amanda held a talk with faculty recently and now BSU is starting to talk about curriculum as part of their education program
  • Future teachers need to be educated
• Social work program – partnership with DCF, educated on the # of infants being born with drugs in their system
• Community outreach – community residents to be trained in narcan
• Mary recently has been meeting with several different mayors and it is clear that nobody is going what we are doing
• Mary was informed that UMass Boston is reaching out to wellness offices of colleges regarding this topic
• The Dean at BSU has a strong relationship with superintendents in catchment area, so they are working to set up meetings with each of them
• Quincy College has been active in prevention
  • They reported that all of their staff and faculty have been trained in narcan and the narcan is being stored in their AEDs so that they have access to it
    • BSU has shown resistance of staff being trained, but is working on it
  • It was noted that the Health Science majors at Quincy College were having difficulty completing their degree due to the conflict of having a medical marijuana card and the requirement of being drug tested for their clinical placement
  • Quincy College will be hosting a debate on Oct. 18^th and an invitation is going out to a local opposing view

• UMass Dartmouth shared about their group on campus called Young People in Recovery
  • The group is hosting an event with a screening on Generation Found which is a documentary from a community in Houston
  • They are also hosting a Recovery Walk open to the public

D.  Faith-Based Subcommittee Report

•  The group is trying to be involved in all areas
• They have had resources at the drop-in center
• They are doing a lot of outreach, meeting with drug court judges for alternative programs
• Teen Challenge updated the group that their 42 additional beds will be finished by December
• Local parishioners are getting more involved in this work as well

E.  Community Coalitions Subcommittee Report

•  A document of highlights from the Drug Free Communities student survey was distributed at the meeting
  • The survey was conducted last February in the towns of Rockland, East Bridgewater, Whitman-Hanson and Brockton to 8^th, 9^th, 11^th and 12^th graders
  • The highlights show aggregate data from the towns
• As a result of the survey, members of the collaborative and DA’s office are now meeting with each of the schools to discuss next steps with the superintendents and school administrators – we are still working out a plan with each district
  • Some of the takeaways have included
    • Meeting with each department including nurses, health/wellness, guidance to present the data and hear their feedback as to what they see is going on and their opinion on next steps
    • Providing a menu of activities that can be provided by the collaborative/the DA’s Office to support the school in addressing this topic
• Brockton, Rockland and East Bridgewater have all held vigils in their communities to commemorate those who’ve lost their lives to an overdose
  • Brockton had about 220 attendees, Rockland almost 600, and EB around 50
  • A video of over 200 people who passed away was created by the collaborative
• The PSAs that were created by youth in the towns of the Brockton Area Collaborative is currently being played as a trailer in the East Bridgewater Cinemas
• A PhotoVoice documentary was created over the summer as an educational tool for the community and schools to utilize
  • A screening will be held on November 14^th at BSU at 6pm in the Moakley Auditorium
  • We are working on a date for a screening in Brockton as well
• Champion Plan
  • They have served 198 unique individuals thus far and have placed 265 people into treatment
• EB Drop-In
  • From Nov-Sept 1 they have served 429 people, 69 of which were active users
• The Brockton Area Collaborative and the DA’s Office is planning a Coffee with a Cause event at Independence Academy on November 17^th – more information will be shared

F.  Data Collection Update

•  Previously there were 18 out of the 27 towns in Plymouth County that had a community coalition and now there are 25 out of the 27 towns that have one
• Ed is looking to present the A.C.E.S. study to the taskforce in the next upcoming meeting
• The number of unattended overdose deaths are continuing to rise – a report was distributed to the taskforce for review
• Pat Nevins requested that each subcommittee submit bullet points of goals and accomplishments from the year to create an annual report for the taskforce