Opioid Task Force

Franklin County/North Quabbin HEALing Communities Study Committee Meeting
2022-07-22 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
As a member of the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region (Opioid Task Force), you were invited earlier this year to attend the January 28th Franklin County and North Quabbin HEALing Communities Study Kickoff to learn more about the HEALing Communities Study (HCS), which is a national research study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). This groundbreaking effort is working to mitigate the deadly impact of opioid misuse, which has sadly claimed the lives of 222 individuals in our rural communities between 2013 and 2021.
Our participation in the study as a “Wave 2 Community Cluster” officially began on July 1, 2022. To that end, we are holding our first official Franklin County and North Quabbin HEALing Communities meeting as part of the Opioid Task Force’s Healthcare Solutions Committee work, on Friday, July 22, 2022, from 10 AM – to 12 Noon, via Zoom. You can access the Zoom link here.

Overdose Prevention and Narcan Training
2022-07-25 17:30 - 19:00
Please join Tapestry and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region for this online overdose prevention training.
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?
The event is free and open to the public.
Register here.

Public Safety and Justice Committee Meeting
2022-08-01 13:00 - 14:30, 2022-10-03 13:00 - 14:30
This meeting is open to the public. Please email info@opioidtaskforce.org for the details on how to participate.

Harm Reduction Workgroup Meeting
2022-08-03 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-09-07 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-05 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-11-02 11:00 - 12:00

Treatment and Recovery Committee Meeting
2022-08-05 10:00 - 11:30, 2022-09-09 10:00 - 11:30, 2022-10-07 10:00 - 11:30, 2022-11-04 10:00 - 11:30

Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation Workgroup Meeting
2022-08-08 13:00 - 14:30, 2022-10-17 13:00 - 14:30

CAM Workgroup Meeting
2022-08-09 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-11 11:00 - 12:00

Methadone Workgroup Meeting
2022-08-11 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-09-08 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-10-13 15:00 - 16:00

Housing and Workforce Development Committee Meeting
2022-08-12 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-14 10:00 - 12:00

Overdose Prevention and Narcan Training
2022-08-26 14:00 - 15:30
Learn how to save a life! Please join Tapestry and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region for this online overdose prevention training, scheduled for Friday, August 26, 2022, from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM, via Zoom. You can register for this free event, here.
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?We hope you can join us to learn how to save a life! Attached is a flyer – help us spread the word!

Building a Resilient Community Workgroup Meeting
2022-09-06 11:00 - 12:00

How Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Becomes Normalized in Families and Communities
2022-09-08 14:00 - 15:00
Join us as Dr. Abigail Judge returns to help us better understand “How Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Becomes Normalized in Families and Communities”, scheduled for Thursday, September 8, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM. One can register for this free event here.

Session participants will learn more about this complex topic to increase awareness as well as identify gaps and resources.
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, which 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 session is sponsored by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region’s Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation Workgroup.

Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation Workgroup Meeting.
2022-09-12 13:00 - 14:30
This meeting is open to the public. Please email info@opioidtaskforce.org for details on how to join!

Education and Prevention Committee Meeting
2022-09-13 09:30 - 11:00

Virtual: Narcan Training with Tapestry and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region
2022-09-15 14:00 - 15:30
Please join Tapestry and the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region for this online overdose prevention training.
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?
The event is free and open to the public.
Register here!

CONNECT - One Year Later: Lessons Learned and Emerging Opportunities
2022-09-22 14:00 - 15:00
Join us on Thursday, September 22, 2022, from 2 PM – 3 PM as we learn more about CONNECT – our region’s post-opioid overdose community outreach and follow-up program as it celebrated its first anniversary on July 1, 2022. One can register for this free event here.
This will be an opportunity to meet….

CONNECT’s new staff: Rob Goetting, Project Manager; and Randy Herk, Operations Coordinator;
CONNECT’s Outreach Team: Sarah Collins, Program Director of the North Quabbin Recovery Center, and Heather Bialecki-Canning, Executive Director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition, with more members to be announced; and
CONNECT’s evaluator: Dr. Liz Evans

This panel will discuss how CONNECT has served the community in the past year, what has been learned and how it is evolving to meet the current needs of those impacted by opioid use disorder.
Moderated by Debra McLaughlin, Coordinator of the Opioid Task Force and Project Director of CONNECT.
This event is part of National Recovery Month.

HEALing Communities Study/Opioid Task Force's Healthcare Solutions Committee Meeting
2022-09-23 10:00 - 12:00
Join us as we implement HEALing Communities Study strategies to reduce opioid-related deaths that have claimed the lives of 222 Franklin County and North Quabbin residents in the last eight years.
The HEALing Communities Study is an opportunity to elevate existing efforts and support more novel interventions with community members (YOU!) at the center of decision-making and providing feedback. It was an honor to have you participate in the first of many interactive sessions that will center on developing interventions that target the following goals during the 18-month study period, which runs from July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023. They are:
1) increasing naloxone distribution and overdose prevention education
2) increasing access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD)
3) improving opioid prescribing safety
We hope to continue this momentum and look forward to your continued support, feedback, and engagement with this ultimate life-saving work!
Register for this free meeting, here.

Finding Joy in Difficult Times: Fourth Building a Resilient Community Event
2022-09-30 10:00 - 12:00
This year, the 4th Building a Resilient Community Event, Finding Joy in Difficult Times, will be on September 30, 2022, from 10-12 and we invite you to not only join us but to share your joy! As part of creating a resilient community, our intention for this event is to celebrate joy, learn how to find joy, as well as invite participants to brainstorm ways we can weave joy into our community. One can register for this free event, here!
This event will also feature a keynote address by Dr. John Kelly, Founder, and Director of The Recovery Research Institute, with interactive small group sessions.
Since 2017, the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, through its Education and Prevention Committee, has been convening a workgroup, Building a Resilient Community. This workgroup has been offering an annual event, with the exception of 2020 when Covid was declared a pandemic, to bring the community of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region together to better understand the lifelong impact of traumatic childhood experiences.
For more information, please contact Karen Carmona, Program Associate, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region at karen@opioidtaskforce.org.
