The Workgroup on Drug Treatment Access and Neighborhood Relations: Community Listening and Public Testimony Sessions

The Workgroup on Drug Treatment Access and Neighborhood Relations: Community Listening and Public Testimony Sessions

Wednesday, December 14, 2016 - 9:00am to 12:00pm

We are in the midst of a public health emergency: in 2015, 393 people in Baltimore died from overdose – more than died from homicide. While Baltimore has become a national leader in expanding access to the life-saving overdose antidote, naloxone, only 11% of Americans with addiction are able to get the long-term treatment that they need.

At the same time, some community leaders have expressed concerns about the effects of drug treatment centers on their communities. Solutions to the problem of unmet need must take into account these neighborhood concerns, but they must also take into account the protections afforded to treatment centers and their clients by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, and Rehabilitation Act.

The solutions, in other words, must be comprehensive. That’s why, as a follow-up to the Mayor’s Heroin Taskforce Report, the Baltimore City Health Department has convened a Workgroup on Drug Treatment Access and Neighborhood Relations. Co-Chaired by Don Fry, President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee; Bill McCarthy, Executive Director of Catholic Charities; and Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, the workgroup was formed with the following three goals:

1.         Engage partners in conducting a comprehensive, strategic planning process from a city-level perspective, including questions around siting, certifications, and transportation;

2.         Propose community-wide financial and regulatory incentive mechanisms to ensure the construction of neighborhood-friendly drug treatment centers;

3.         Pursue legislative and regulatory efforts to support the first two goals, with the intention of creating a best practice model to address this issue on the state and national levels.

In order to engage community stakeholders and make full use of the local knowledge that must inform any solution to these issues, the workgroup is hosting three community listening and public testimony sessions from 5 – 8 p.m. on December 14, 16, and 20. The sessions will feature invited testimony from experts across the drug treatment landscape. Testimony is also open to the public.

We ask that those interested in speaking sign up here and limit their remarks to two minutes. Those who would like to contribute to the discussion but cannot attend in person are invited to send written remarks to Evan.Behrle@baltimorecity.gov

The Workgroup on Drug Treatment Access and Neighborhood Relations

Co-chairs:

Don Fry, President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee

Bill McCarthy, Executive Director of Catholic Charities

Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner

Members:

Tony Brown, Director of Safety Services, Charles Village Benefits District

John Bullock, Assistant Professor, Towson University

Kevin Davis, Police Commissioner, Baltimore City

Pamela Davis, Director of Police Development and Training Academy, BPD

Andy Frank, Special Advisor to the President on Economic Development, The Johns Hopkins University

Matt Gallagher, President & CEO, Goldseker Foundation

Nancy Jordan-Howard, COO, Baltimore Development Corporation

Jon Laria, Managing Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Alyssa Domzal, Association, Ballard Spahr LLP

J.R. Lee, Public Safety Committee Chair, Southwest Partnership

Alan Mlinarchik, Central Baltimore Partnership; Charm City Group, LLC

Dr. Sam Ross, CEO, Bon Secours Health System

Vickie Walters, Executive Director, IBR/REACH Health Services

Kathy Westcoat, President and CEO, Behavioral Health System Baltimore

Adrienne Breidenstine, Vice President of Policy and Communications, BHSB

Location: 
Lovely Lane United Methodist Church
2200 St. Paul St.
Baltimore, MD 21218