A Matter of Life and Death: A Look at 2021 Opioid-Related Fatalities and Trends with Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan
2022-02-17 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Join us as we examine the sobering data showing record-breaking opioid-related fatalities in 2021 compared to 2020 in Franklin County and Athol with Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan on Thursday, February 17, from 2 PM – 3 PM. You can register for this free event, here.
DA Sullivan, one of the founding co-chairs of the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, will present the data his office collects every year on opioid-related deaths. This presentation will also reveal where these deaths have occurred, as well as what ages and genders are most affected.
There will also be a brief overview of the CONNECT Program, launched in July 2021. CONNECT is the Franklin County and the North Quabbin’s post-opioid overdose follow-up and community outreach program, designed to provide support and services within 72 hours of an opioid overdose.

Harm Reduction Workgroup Meeting
2022-03-02 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-06 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-04 11:00 - 12:00
This meeting is open to the public. Please email info@opioidtaskforce.org for the details on how to participate.

Toxic Intersections: Substance Use, Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
2022-03-03 14:00 - 15:00
Join us Thursday, March 3, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM, as we continue to learn about the complex topic of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and its impact, featuring Dr. Abigail Judge. You can register for this free event, here.
Participants will learn how:
· Addiction makes individuals vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation
· Substances are used as a tool of coercion
· Recovery and addiction services are an opportunity to help
· Stigma, discrimination, and trauma affect help-seeking and must also be addressed
· Communities can offer support to overcome these challenges, learn ways to help in your role
Abigail Judge Ph.D. is a clinical and forensic psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in private practice, and she is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Judge’s hospital-based clinical work, scholarship, and teaching focus on improving the clinical response to women impacted by the continuum of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. Dr. Judge has worked with this population as a therapist, educator, court-appointed evaluator, and expert witness since 2009.
At MGH, Dr. Judge leads MGH Connect: A Project for Outreach and Recovery, that provides low threshold – that is more easily accessible and acceptable – psychological and peer support for women at the intersection of substance use and commercial sexual exploitation/sex trafficking, and is based at the MGH Bridge Clinic. In 2021, this project received a grant from the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General to expand access for BIPOC women through survivor mentoring and engaging women detained at the Suffolk County House of Correction.
This is part of the HTSE Workgroup Education Series, which started with Dr. Judge on November 4, 2021.

Treatment & Recovery Committee Meeting
2022-03-04 10:00 - 11:30

Education & Prevention Committee Meeting
2022-03-08 09:30 - 11:00

Methadone Workgroup Meeting
2022-03-10 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-04-14 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-05-12 15:00 - 16:00

Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation Workgroup Meeting
2022-03-14 13:00 - 14:30, 2022-04-11 13:00 - 14:30

"A Lifeline: Mobile Outreach Services for Unhoused and other Vulnerable Populations in Franklin County and the North Quabbin
2022-03-17 14:00 - 15:00
As part of the follow-up to the December 10, 2021, Franklin County/North Quabbin 4th Annual Sober Housing Summit, which examined the safety net that exists for unhoused individuals with a history of substance use disorders, we learned that a number of entities offer some type of mobile outreach services in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
The North Quabbin Community Coalition and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region are organizing this session where members of the community can learn more about existing efforts to better support and refer unhoused individuals and other vulnerable populations to available resources and services.
Featuring:

Rachel Berggren, Executive Director, Franklin County Community Meals Program
Kara Cavanaugh, Recovery Coach Supervisor, The RECOVER Project
Amy Davis, Assistant Director for Rural Harm Reduction Operations, Tapestry
Ed Hayes, Assistant Superintendent, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
Kirstin Levitt, Executive Chef and Executive Director, Stone Soup Cafe
Jay Levy, Regional Manager, Eliot CHS Homeless Services
Sharon Lincoln, Operations Coordinator, CONNECT, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County & the North Quabbin Region
Cheryl Pascucci, Program Director, Population Health & Integration, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Bridge Team
Cheo Ramos, Pantry Coordinator, The Center for Self-Reliance, Community Action Pioneer Valley
Kristin Smith, Greenfield Director of Crisis Services, Clinical & Support Options
Lance Smith, Facilitator, Mindfulness Group, & Member, Guiding Council, Wildflower Alliance

We hope you can join us for this free event, scheduled for Thursday, March 17, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM. Register, here.

Virtual Narcan Training
2022-03-17 18:00 - 19:30
Please join us at an upcoming community overdose prevention training to learn how to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose. Participants will also learn how to administer Narcan, a lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug.
Participants will learn the answers to these questions:
 What is an opioid overdose?
 How do you recognize and
respond to an opioid overdose?
 How do you administer Narcan to reverse an opioid overdose?
*This event is not open to the press/media.
Register HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcuCtrTovEtf-s_VfJVkT_evlAnoiYCkL?fbclid=IwAR3zbjdSoPVcTPsaNkrT_Uts6YPKuguuH987Y7MpAfoDnHWw3E0AaZiO62Y

Healthcare Solutions Committee Meeting
2022-03-25 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-20 10:00 - 12:00

Treatment and Recovery Committee Meeting
2022-04-01 10:00 - 11:30

Public Safety and Justice Committee Meeting
2022-04-04 13:00 - 14:30

"Chiropractic Care and Pain Management: A Primer" with Howard Ewert, DC
2022-04-07 14:00 - 15:00
Join Dr. Howard Ewert, a retired chiropractor, on Thursday, April 7, 2022, 2 PM – 3 PM, as he walks us through how effective chiropractic care may reduce pain and increase function, which can prevent the use of opioids for pain management. One can register for this free event here.

Recent research has buttressed this fact. This session will outline how this pathway to treat patients with pain can be successfully administered to improve the quality of one’s life without the use of medications.

Part of the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and North Quabbin Region’s CAM Education Series.

Housing and Workforce Development Committee Meeting
2022-04-08 10:00 - 12:00

CAM Workgroup Meeting
2022-04-12 11:00 - 12:00

Forest Bathing in Our Times
2022-04-22 14:00 - 15:00
Join Todd Lynch, certified Association of Nature and Forest Therapy guide for “Forest Bathing in Our Times”, on Thursday, April 21, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM. You can register for this free event, here.
One of the ways to access the benefits of the outdoors is through Forest and Nature Therapy. As a practice, it began in the 1980s in Japan – called there Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing. By that time, the Japanese government realized that as the country’s population became less agrarian and more concentrated in cities, public health began to reflect this move through rises in cancers and stress-induced illness. The Japanese government initiated a series of studies and programs to understand this diminishment in human health and found that exposure to nature, and in particular, forests, held potent mental and physical health benefits for people. There have been many health studies correlating exposure to green spaces and improved health outcomes. One published in Frontiers in Psychology by Dr. MaryCarol Hunter showed that after 20 minutes in nature, test subjects’ stress hormone levels reduced significantly.
Todd Lynch is a certified Forest and Nature Therapy guide through the Association of Forest and Nature Therapy training program. It is a 6-month intensive course that includes pre-requisites in Wilderness First Aid/CPR as well as native plant identification. As an artist and landscape designer, Todd has collaborated on healing gardens, native, medicinal plantings, and art installations across the US. He has received multiple Massachusetts Cultural Council grants for environmental art installation and education. Todd has also lectured at universities, garden organizations, and apothecaries about medicinal plants in the landscape and has served as a design critic at the Conway School of Landscape Design, Smith College, and UMass Amherst. He blogs about the intersections of landscape, wellness, and art on Instagram @ecotropy.
Part of the 2022 Opioid Task Force’s CAM Education Series.

Overdose Prevention & Narcan Training
2022-04-28 14:00 - 15:30, 2022-05-17 17:30 - 19:00
Please join us at this virtual community overdose prevention training to learn how to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose. Participants will also learn how to administer Narcan, a lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug. This training is free and open to all interested community members.
Register here!

Safe Havens: A Supportive Housing Model for Chronically Homeless Individuals with Substance Use and/or Behavioral Health Concerns
2022-05-05 14:00 - 15:00
Learn about the recently opened Safe Havens program in Greenfield serving residents of both Franklin and Hampshire counties, featuring:
*Dan Sontag, Greenfield Site Director, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health
*Jennifer LaRoche, Vice-President, Acute & Day Programs, Clinic & Support Options (CSO)
*Kristin Smith, Greenfield Director of Crisis Services, Clinical & Support Options (CSO)
*Toni Diaz, Program Director, Safe Havens, Franklin County
Register for this free event, here.
According to the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, “Safe Havens are a “Housing First,” supportive housing model that provides an alternative to shelter placement. The program is designed to serve hard-to-reach individuals who are chronically unhoused and often have disabling mental health and substance use conditions. Safe Havens serve a population that is chronically homeless, often with significant behavioral health conditions. They’re among the highest users of emergency departments, hospital beds, and emergency medical services, and have high rates of involvement with police and the justice system. Many have not been well served by the shelter system, due to past histories of trauma and safety concerns.”
This session is co-hosted by the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region and the North Quabbin Community Coalition.

Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Workgroup Meeting
2022-05-09 13:00 - 14:30

Education and Prevention Committee Meeting
2022-05-10 09:30 - 11:00

West County: Weaving a Safety Net: Creating a Vision for Emergency Shelter Services
2022-05-11 15:30 - 16:30
The North Quabbin Community Coalition and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region (Opioid Task Force) are convening a series of Visioning Sessions to occur in May to examine the year-round needs of unhoused individuals in the only federally-designated rural county in the Commonwealth. This is especially important as research reveals that a disproportionate number of unhoused individuals also suffer from substance use and/or mental health disorders.
These gatherings, “Weaving a Safety Net: Creating a Vision for Emergency Shelter Services for Unhoused Individuals in Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region”, will allow a broad range of community members to share their hopes, dreams, and aspirations to create a trauma-informed and responsive system to support those who are unhoused across the 30-communities we serve all year-round. Your input will be used to inform the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development Individual Homelessness Service System Request for Responses, due July 1, 2022, which is working to ensure that “homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.” (For more information about this procurement, refer to this link https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo….)
The information gleaned from these Visioning Sessions will also be used to help determine potential, future next steps of the North Quabbin Community Coalition’s Housing Task Force and the Opioid Task Force’s Housing & Workforce Development Committee. They are charged with implementing a set of strategic activities to support those who are unhoused with a history of substance use disorders and/or incarceration.
The Visioning Sessions will occur in May as follows, focusing on the unique needs of the different regions within the 30-town region we serve:
*West County Visioning Session – Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe, and Shelburne.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZEsd…
*North/Central County Visioning Session – Monday, May 16, 2022, 11:00 AM – 12 Noon, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Bernardston, Gill, Greenfield, Leyden, Montague, and Northfield. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZAkdeCrqz4oHNTwZuSagtmofkPPk…
*South County Visioning Session – Monday, May 23, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Conway, Deerfield, Leverett, Shutesbury, Sunderland, and Whately. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZUsfu2gqjIuHtdEcyilJlo6…
*North Quabbin/East County Visioning Session – Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM, Hybrid Meeting at the Athol Town Hall, 584 Main Street, Athol, MA, focusing on the communities of Athol, Erving, Orange, New Salem, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, and Wendell. If you cannot attend in person, you can attend via Zoom. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZYkd…
Can’t make any of these sessions? Don’t fret! You can share your thoughts via this survey, which you can find here: https://forms.gle/Pig7iEXfmjTfjqDK6.
Please submit your responses no later than Wednesday, May 25, 2022, by 5 PM.

Questions? Please email info@opioidtaskforce.org or info@nqcc.org.

North/Central County: Weaving a Safety Net: Creating a Vision for Emergency Shelter Services
2022-05-16 11:00 - 12:00
The North Quabbin Community Coalition and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region (Opioid Task Force) are convening a series of Visioning Sessions to occur in May to examine the year-round needs of unhoused individuals in the only federally-designated rural county in the Commonwealth. This is especially important as research reveals that a disproportionate number of unhoused individuals also suffer from substance use and/or mental health disorders.
These gatherings, “Weaving a Safety Net: Creating a Vision for Emergency Shelter Services for Unhoused Individuals in Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region”, will allow a broad range of community members to share their hopes, dreams, and aspirations to create a trauma-informed and responsive system to support those who are unhoused across the 30-communities we serve all year-round. Your input will be used to inform the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development Individual Homelessness Service System Request for Responses, due July 1, 2022, which is working to ensure that “homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.” (For more information about this procurement, refer to this link https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo….)
The information gleaned from these Visioning Sessions will also be used to help determine potential, future next steps of the North Quabbin Community Coalition’s Housing Task Force and the Opioid Task Force’s Housing & Workforce Development Committee. They are charged with implementing a set of strategic activities to support those who are unhoused with a history of substance use disorders and/or incarceration.
The Visioning Sessions will occur in May as follows, focusing on the unique needs of the different regions within the 30-town region we serve:
*West County Visioning Session – Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe, and Shelburne.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZEsd…
*North/Central County Visioning Session – Monday, May 16, 2022, 11:00 AM – 12 Noon, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Bernardston, Gill, Greenfield, Leyden, Montague, and Northfield. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZAkdeCrqz4oHNTwZuSagtmofkPPk…
*South County Visioning Session – Monday, May 23, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM, via Zoom, focusing on the communities of Conway, Deerfield, Leverett, Shutesbury, Sunderland, and Whately. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZUsfu2gqjIuHtdEcyilJlo6…
*North Quabbin/East County Visioning Session – Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM, Hybrid Meeting at the Athol Town Hall, 584 Main Street, Athol, MA, focusing on the communities of Athol, Erving, Orange, New Salem, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, and Wendell. If you cannot attend in person, you can attend via Zoom. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZYkd…
Can’t make any of these sessions? Don’t fret! You can share your thoughts via this survey, which you can find here: https://forms.gle/Pig7iEXfmjTfjqDK6.
Please submit your responses no later than Wednesday, May 25, 2022, by 5 PM.

Invisible Ties That Bind: Understanding Trauma Bonding in Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking
2022-05-19 14:00 - 15:00
Join us Thursday, May 19, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM, as we continue to learn about the complex topic of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and its impact, featuring Dr. Abigail Judge. You can register for this free event, here.
Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) frequently occurs in relationships of coercion, trauma bonding, and fierce emotional attachment. Understanding these relationships is critical to healing but can be a source of confusion, frustration and burn-out among service providers. This presentation will focus on the complex psychological relationship between individual and exploiter, and describe how professionals can build relationships of trust and mutuality when CSE is ongoing or historical. Since victims and survivors are unlikely to initially self-identify as exploited, or use these clinical terms, a specialized approach to creating shared language and engaging individuals at different phases of CSE will also be described.
After attending this presentation, participants will be able to:
~Apply theories of grooming, seasoning and trauma bonding to CSE to help improve clinical practice and reduce provider fatigue
~Name two strategies for creating shared language and supporting individuals who do not identify their situation as exploitative
~Anticipate two unique safety concerns in forming therapeutic relationships with individuals involved in the sex trade and ways to manage these relationships
Abigail Judge Ph.D. is a clinical and forensic psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in private practice, and she is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Judge’s hospital-based clinical work, scholarship, and teaching focus on improving the clinical response to women impacted by the continuum of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. Dr. Judge has worked with this population as a therapist, educator, court-appointed evaluator, and expert witness since 2009.
This is part of the Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation Workgroup Education Series.
