January 12, 2017
NOT APPROVED
Committee Members Present: J. Hopkins (Chairman), L.
Ballengee, M. Biddle, A. Bucholz, M. Chamberlain, V. Grant, L. Haggstrom, K.
LaForge, K. Monroe, W. Penman, T. O’Grady, B. Riehle (Absent:
R. Ballengee, M. Carbone, J. Chaffee, K. Monroe, G. Muscato, R. Root, C.
Zenoski)
Others Present: T.
Boyde, J. Cole (Youth Pastor, Houghton Wesleyan Church), S. Decker, H, Evans
(Ardent Solutions) C. Ivers, T. Rodgers, B. Starks, J. Tomasi, M. Washer,
(Reporters: B. Clark & B. Quinn)
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m.
by Committee Chairman Judy Hopkins.
Welcome/Introduction:
Chairman
Hopkins welcomed committee members and guests.
Julie Tomasi, Deputy Social Services Commissioner talked about a movie
that is on loan to the Social Services Department. The name of the movie is Hungry Heart. It is a documentary that takes place in
Vermont. It follows several different
patients of a doctor. These patients
have been involved in drug addiction.
Ms. Tomasi said it’s something to watch and think about how it fits in
Allegany County. It helps you to see who
the people it would be important to include in combating the problem. Chairman Hopkins remarked that she thought it
might be a good call to bring people out to be part of the coalition. She asked for the committee’s thoughts. The idea that a lot of the time a stigma is
attached to being an addict was offered.
Not every addict is a criminal.
It’s good to have the perspective of the addict. Ms. Tomasi stated that you really get that
perspective from watching this movie.
The solution is not one size fits all.
Melissa Biddle asked if a special meeting should be scheduled to watch
the video. Once the committee has viewed
it, they can decide if they want to schedule a time to show it to the public. Wellsville Police Chief Tim O’Grady suggested
possibly showing it at the David A. Howe Library auditorium in Wellsville. It might be a better venue than the Board
room. It could be scheduled outside of
our normal meeting time. Lori Ballengee
agreed saying that it sounds like it’s a valuable video and we’ll want to schedule
a time to show it while we still have possession of the video. Chairman Hopkins suggested they should
consider showing it twice, maybe once in Wellsville, and once in the northern
part of the County. Leslie Haggstrom
expressed her concern that the committee needs to be able to present a plan to
the public at that time. Ms. Hopkins
said she could foresee having a discussion with the public after the showing of
the movie. It might be a good
opportunity for people to get involved.
Ms. Haggstrom suggested that it might be helpful to compile a list of
people on the coalition who are willing to take questions and comments. Ashley Bucholz said depending on the content
of the movie, she thinks it would be a great way to start and give a sort of
“grand opening” for the plan. Chairman
Hopkins stated that she had recently attended a Farm Bureau meeting and was
shocked by the number of questions people had about what’s going on with this. Ms. Tomasi said that she thinks what’s being
said about having a discussion with the public would fit very well with the
movie. When you experience the movie,
you are left wondering what you can do to help.
It also leaves you thinking about people you know who need help and how
to get help. Ms. Biddle stated that the
group really needs to be prepared to respond.
Everyone is impacted in some way.
Vision/Mission Statements:
Chairman
Hopkins asked Helen Evans (Associate Director, Ardent Solutions) to lead the
committee in the process of developing vision/mission statements. Ms. Evans began by asking several questions
to get the group thinking about how they wanted to proceed.
• Is it a
mission or a purpose statement?
• What are
the goals and objectives of the group?
• Do we have
political backing? (Broome County just identified the heroin problem as a
Public Health Crisis.)
• What about
the timing? Are we looking to develop a
one-year plan or a five-year plan?
• Do we want
to focus on short-term goals or long-term goals?
Ashley Bucholz suggested the first step should be to have
the committee agree on what they are.
Ms. Evans added that they need to decide on the purpose of the
group. Ms. Biddle said it sounds like we
need to determine who we are and develop a mission statement. They also need to see where this fits in
conjunction with everything else that’s happening in Allegany County. Kevin LaForge suggested the group could serve
as an advisory council. They could be
the hub for several different areas… faith, law enforcement, treatment,
etc. We don’t want to just be an advisor
to the legislature. There are many
efforts underway already. Police Chief
O’Grady stated that currently the group is a government entity. The committee is a government appointed
committee. He wondered if it was time to
get away from the government part of it and be more of a coalition member. Ms. Ballengee said that she thinks the group
needs legislative representation. That
will carry a lot of weight when we go for funding. Mr. O’Grady suggested that it’s a mission
statement the group is looking to develop then.
Mr. Penman stated that he was thinking they should stay under the
government because there are a lot of coalitions already. It doesn’t mean we can’t work with them, but
we don’t want to recreate something that already exists. There are a lot of coalitions that already
exist. It would be nice to see the faith
based coalition grow. Maybe we could focus
on the areas that need to grow. Having
political support is important. That is
a weak point for existing coalitions.
Ms. Evans suggested that it does sound like a mission statement is
needed. A statement of why the committee
exists at the most meaningful level. Why
the committee does the work it does, but it doesn’t define how it gets
done. Ms. Haggstrom suggested that,
“We’re here to evaluate the impact it has on Allegany County to determine what
resources are already available to address those impacts and to determine what
additional steps need to be taken.” Mr.
Penman said, not to disagree, but he would like to see the mission be a little
broader. He would like it to include the
impact of all addictions on the County…alcohol, cigarettes, heroin, meth,
etc. It all impacts us. It doesn’t matter what they’re taking, it
still impacts families and society. His
concern is not to make it so narrow that we don’t include strategies that may
work for any addiction. Police Chief
O’Grady stated that part of their purpose is to influence or propose
legislation. The other piece is to
possibly secure funding to enable different programs. Ms. Evans agreed that that was very
important. She stated that it sounded to
her like there are already coalitions and committees. This group wants to influence, support, and
provide resources. It was suggested that
including addicts and those in recovery would be helpful. There may be underlying issues such as mental
illness. Those in recovery or who are
addicts may be able to help and give ideas.
They should be included in the process.
Police Chief O’Grady said he sees the committee as a “cog” above
that. That would be more of a service
provider's mission. Ms. Evans said that
maybe we are already looking at the assets in place, and we need to look at
what we’re lacking. Is this group’s
purpose going to be to put things in place, or get funding to put things in
place? Chairman Hopkins suggested
looking at and reviewing the major charges of the ad hoc committee. She said, “…to work cooperatively with other
groups and not be in competition with them…to work through the legislative
process, look for grants and bring funding to Allegany County.” Ms. Haggstrom suggested that one important
thing is to have this group make sure that each of the other groups has some
awareness of what the other groups are doing.
We want to make sure that we continue to have representation from these
groups. Also, someone has got to have
the authority to handle any money that is received. Mr. Penman stated that that depends on the
source of the grant. Some grants will
only go to a certified program. So it
would depend on the eligibility of the organization. Ms. Evans stated that even letters of support
from this group are going to be helpful.
Having a cohesive collaborative approach is huge. Having County approval is also
important. Pastor Chamberlain suggested
that if a group such as PPAC has a mission and a purpose, we don’t want to
duplicate that. The group discussed
looking at the assets that exist and determining if those assets are working
together. There seems to be a lack of
knowledge of groups that exist. Ms.
Evans questioned if the committee wants to give suggestions to these groups, or
maybe just offer support and then legislation when needed. Ms. Ballengee stated that the committee
needed to be careful not to saturate and put too much on any one group’s
plate. Chairman Hopkins asked Bob Starks
(Probation Director and Chairman of the Combat Heroin Task Force) how he sees
that group fitting in. He feels that
some groups are waiting to see what happens with this committee. They are waiting for direction from the
committee. Police Chief O’Grady agreed
that many are waiting to see what this committee is all about. Ms. Evans questioned if the committee would
be making recommendations and/or developing work plans for these groups. Police Chief O’Grady said he sees the
committee possibly identifying a need and then pushing it to the right
place. Chairman Hopkins suggested that
this group could develop a blueprint for the groups and then the groups could
fill in the blanks. Everyone would end
up with goals and strategies. Perhaps
the groups need to identify what needs to happen. Police Chief O’Grady said that even a visual
flow chart might be helpful. We don’t
even know who’s out there. This would
help everyone know where they fit. Ms.
Hopkins said it would also help to determine what’s missing. It was agreed upon that some sort of
organization of groups needed to be done.
Ms. Evans pointed out that on page 98 of the report is one example of a
structure the group may want to look at.
She asked if they were going to take an assertive role or are they going
to see where they fit? Are you making
the puzzle, or are you going to be a puzzle piece? Mr. LaForge suggested that this group would
act as a clearing house identifying problems and opportunities. They would then advise and disseminate the
information. Pastor Chamberlain stated
that he believes the groups are waiting for the committee to create the puzzle. The committee decided they wanted to
establish work groups. Ms. Bucholz
stated that everyone has their area of expertise. The following groups were suggested:
• Prevention
• Treatment
• Recovery
Support
• Advocacy
& Legislation
• Enforcement
Police Chief O’Grady suggested that Enforcement could be
placed with Prevention. Chairman Hopkins
asked Chris Ivers (County Jail Administrator) for his comments. Mr. Ivers said that they could certainly
partner with anyone. The issue we have
is not what’s available, but how we’re going to manage it. If it’s being treated as a disease, jail is
not appropriate. Is the problem being
treated as a crime or a disease? There
isn’t a universal plan for addressing the issue.
Chairman Hopkins stated that if they could come up with the
work groups at this meeting, then everyone could take the lists and fill in
what they know under each group. They
could identify where some of these groups belong. Ms. Evans said that a lot of that information
is already in the report. She suggested
everyone use the report rather than recreate the wheel. Mr. LaForge recommended that the committee
adopt the outline. There’s nothing that
can’t be changed later on. It might be
possible to even assign people to groups and get it going as soon as
possible. The committee discussed the
need for people to chair the groups.
They would be responsible for setting meeting times, preparing agendas,
etc. It would help to focus the group
and keep them on track. Mr. LaForge made
a motion, which was seconded by Ashely Bucholz, and carried by the members of
the committee, to adopt the groups as previously outlined.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Mr. Penman, seconded by Ms. Haggstrom,
and carried to approve the Allegany County Heroin & Opioid Abuse Ad Hoc
Committee minutes of December 8, 2016.
Next Meeting:
Allegany
County Heroin & Opioid Abuse Ad Hoc Committee Meeting – Thursday, February
9, 2017.
Adjournment
There being
no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at
2:39 p.m. following a motion by Mr. LaForge, seconded by Mr. O’Grady, and
carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah M. Decker, Journal Clerk/Deputy Clerk of the Board
Allegany County Board of Legislators
