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Welcome to the e-Newsletter from Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council. This newsletter is designed to provide timely information on substance abuse and other related topics for people living and working in Barnstable County.
This publication will be sent out periodically to our mailing list. Please forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues who may be interested in this information. If you are not on our mailing list, you can join by clicking on the button to the left.
If you have information you would like included in future e-newsletters, please follow the submission instructions outlined at the bottom of this page.
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| NEWS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE | |  Obama Administration Takes More Actions to Address the Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic
Expanding Access to Treatment:
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is issuing a final rule to increase from 100 to 275 the number of patients that qualified physicians who prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorders can treat.
Providers, policymakers, advocates, and experts have pointed to the current 100 patient limit for buprenorphine prescribing as a barrier to opioid use disorder treatment. The rule aims to increase access to medication-assisted
 treatment and associated behavioral health supports for tens of thousands of people with opioid use disorders, while preventing diversion. Accelerating Research on Pain and Opioid Misuse and Overdose: HHS is launching more than a dozen new scientific studies on opioid abuse and pain treatment to help fill knowledge gaps and further improve the Administration's ability to fight this epidemic. As part of this announcement, the Department will release a report and inventory on the opioid abuse and pain treatment research being conducted or funded by its agencies in order to provide policy-makers, researchers, and other stakeholders with the full scope of HHS activities in this area.
Encouraging Safe Pain Management Approaches:
HHS continues to work to better educate providers and patients about safe pain management. Health care providers have expressed concern that scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey pain management questions are tied to Medicare payments to hospitals, even though those payments currently have a very limited connection to the survey's pain management questions.
However, to prevent any potential confusion on the part of providers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to remove the HCAHPS survey pain management questions from the hospital scoring calculation. This means that hospitals would continue to use the questions to survey patients about their in-patient pain management experience, but these questions would not affect the level of payment hospitals receive.
For more information, click here. |
| PARITY LAWS SEMINAR | | 
Seminar on Behavioral Health Parity Insurance Laws
Thursday, August 25, 2016 | 3:30-4:30 PM
Cape Cod Hospital, Martin's Conference Room
Are you interested in learning more about the behavioral health parity laws? Would you like guidance on how to appeal a denial of coverage by an insurance company? Would you like to know how to identify and report parity law violations?
Health Law Advocates (HLA) and the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council are conducting a FREE seminar to address these issues. This session is open to providers, clinicians, nurses, administrators, community health workers, and any others who would like to know more about behavioral health parity laws. There will be a Question & Answer session at the end of the seminar. To view the event flyer, please click here. |
| FROM MASS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH | |
Make the Right Call 
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office recently launched the Make the Right Call campaign statewide to raise awareness about the Good Samaritan law, and to encourage people to call 911 when they witness an overdose.
The campaign assures the public that if they call 911 to report an overdose, the Good Samaritan law protects them from prosecution.
Our Good Samaritan law removes a key barrier that may prevent people from seeking help in an overdose emergency. People should not be afraid to call 911 to save a friend, family member, or stranger in need of help.
Our first responders are focused on saving lives by administering naloxone to reverse an overdose. And, the Good Samaritan law protects victims and those who call 911 for help from charge or prosecution for possession of controlled substances when the call is made.
We need your help to encourage people to call 911 when they witness an overdose.
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| HEADLINES | | 
Mass. doctors are prescribing fewer opioids - The Boston Globe - Many doctors in Massachusetts sharply curtailed prescriptions for opioids over the past 18 months, according to new data that suggest the pipeline for drugs that fueled the state's deadly opioid-abuse crisis may be shrinking.
Pfizer agrees to note addiction risks in opioid marketing - US News - The agreement requires Pfizer to disclose that there is an addiction risk even when opioids are used as directed. It also must note that there are no adequate or well-controlled studies of the use of these drugs for longer than 12 weeks.
Medication-assisted treatment targets addiction - WickedLocal - An estimated 40 to 45 percent of participants in a Barnstable House of Corrections program that gives participants an injection of the opioid blocker Vivitrol before and after their release remained sober, according to a study by independent think-tank MassINC. Only 18 percent of those released have been re-incarcerated in the county.
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| MOMS DO CARE GRANT | |
 The Moms Do Care Grant is actively enrolling women into our pilot program! The focus of this SAMHSA and BSAS funded program is on the support of pregnant women with substance use disorders through assistance in getting medication assisted treatment (MAT) and providing recovery supports throughout pregnancy and postpartum period.
Moms Do Care provides:
1. Assistance in getting MAT, obstetrical and other health care and substance use services 2. Recovery coaching and case management with staff who have lived experience with substance use, recovery, and motherhood 3. Specialized programming such as "Seeking Safety" and "Nurturing Families in Recovery" groups and peer support meetings for mothers in the community 4. Follow-up in postpartum period when women may be at risk for postpartum depression and relapse 5. Education for community providers in trauma-informed care and medication-assisted treatment 6. All services are free of cost to enrolled women Criteria for enrollment: 1. Pregnant women with opioid use disorder 2. Willing to start medication assisted treatment with either methadone or buprenorphine OR Already on medication assisted treatment 3. Living in Barnstable County Please call Deborah Heavilin, MDC Care Manager, at 508-280-6597 to inquire. Intakes with interested women can take place at your organization if more convenient.
View the program flyer here. |
| FROM THE REGIONAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNCIL | |  Substance Use Resource & Information Guide for Cape Cod
This easy-to-read guide includes emergency hotline numbers, treatment system information, definitions, and information about local treatment options that help individuals and their families dealing with substance use. Printed versions will be available soon. If you are interested in printed versions of this resource guide, please contact Barnstable County Human Services for more information at SAC@BarnstableCounty.org.
For a list of additional publications created by the Department of Human Services, please click here.
Addiction on Cape Cod
" Where We Stand - Addiction on Cape Cod" is an information and resource document about the work our community has been doing to address substance use issues on Cape Cod, basic facts about addiction, and links to local resources.
Please share this resource with others who may find it helpful and informative!
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| FROM BARNSTABLE COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES | | |
Third RSAC Issue Brief Published
The Barnstable County Department of Human Services is producing a series of issue briefs that will present factual information on an array of topics related to substance use.
For more information, read/download the Issue Briefs here: Issue Brief 3: MA Ballot Initiative: The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act 
The Words We Use Matter: Reducing Stigma through Langauge The stigma of addiction. People who struggle with addiction face a wide range of stigmas. A stigma is a mark of disgrace that sets a person or a group apart. When people are labeled primarily because of their addiction, they are being negatively stereotyped.
Biased, hurtful words, attitudes and behavior represent prejudices against people with substance use disorder, and often lead to their discrimination and exclusion. Stigmas can also create physical and mental barriers for people with addiction to seek treatment.
Why does language matter? Ending stigma benefits everyone. The stigma of drug misuse keeps people from seeking treatment. Words like "junkie," "addict" and "druggie" can hurt, damaging self-image and standing in the way of recovery. Addiction is not a choice. It's a chronic disease similar to diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis.
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BARNSTABLE COUNTY REGIONAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNCIL
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The next meeting of the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council is scheduled for:
Thursday, August 4, 2015 - 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Harborview Conference Room in the Barnstable County Complex, 3195 Main Street, Barnstable Village
These meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas are posted publicly on the Barnstable County website, in front of the Barnstable Superior Courthouse, and are available upon request.
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| E-NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE | | |
Did you know that a full archive of the previous editions of this e-Newsletter are available on the Barnstable County Human Services Department website?
View past editions of the Regional Substance Abuse Council e-Newsletter and the Human Services Department e-Newsletter at www.bchumanservices.net and click on "E-Newsletter". |
| MUTUAL SUPPORT GROUPS | |
For a downloadable PDF version of the information listed below, please click here.
 Learn to Cope
Learn to Cope is a support group for parents, family members, spouses, and caregivers who have a family member who is addicted to opiates, alcohol, or other drugs.
Learn to Cope offers experienced facilitators, resources, informational material, guest speakers (in long term recovery or professionals in the field), overdose education, and Narcan enrollment at all weekly meetings.
Weekly meetings are held on Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 PM at the Yarmouth Police Station, One Brad Erickson Way. For more information call (508) 738-5148 or visit their website.
Parents Supporting Parents  Parents Supporting Parents is a group of people who have come together as parents and family members coping and dealing with children/loved one's addiction.
Their mission is to support, strengthen, and educate one another as they share their lives. Their goal is to help their loved ones find and live in recovery, and for all members to live a healthy lifestyle.
Weekly meetings are held on Monday 6:30-8:30 PM at
Mashpee Chamber of Commerce,
02649 (5 North Market Street on GPS - between Woodruff's Art Supply and Debbie's Pet Store) To learn more, view the Parents Supporting Parents Facebook page. Mothers Helping Mothers
Mothers Helping Mothers is a support group for women struggling with the emotional difficulties associated with addiction and recovery during the pregnant and postpartum phases of life.
Free childcare is provided during the meetings by The Children's Study Home. Anyone planning on attending the meeting and needing childcare is asked to call ahead. All ages are welcome.
Weekly meetings are held every Tuesday 7:30-9:00 PM at the John Wesley Methodist Church in Falmouth at 270 Gifford Street and every Monday 5:30-7:00 PM at the 83 Pearl Street in Hyannis.
For more information, contact Deborah at (774) 392-0446 or Danielle at (508) 209-7533.
|  Alateen
Alateen is a fellowship of young Al-Anon members, usually teenagers, whose lives have been affected by someone else's drinking.
Nar-Anon - NEW MEETING!
Nar-Anon Family Groups is a twelve step fellowship that offers a recovery program for those affected by someone's addiction. The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of addiction in a relative or friend.
Nar-Anon is adapted from Narcotics Anonymous and uses Nar-Anon's Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts.
St. David's Episcopal Church
205 Old Main St | South Yarmouth, MA
Fridays, 6:00-7:00 PM
Eastham United Methodist Church Study
3200 State Highway 6 | Eastham, MA
Thursdays, 6:15-7:30 PM
For more information, visit the New England Nar-Anon website.
Gosnold Family Support Groups
 The Gosnold Reaching Out program is a resource for family members and loved ones affected by addiction. It assists the family at all stages of addiction through education, intervention, and support. Information and Education Forums help family members gain a basic understanding of the signs and symptoms of addiction, treatment options, and stages of recovery. An educated and supportive family has a positive impact on treatment outcomes.
Tuesday 6:00-7:30 PM
Gosnold Counseling Center
1185 Falmouth Road
Centerville, MA 02632 | Wednesday 6:00-7:30 PM
Gus Canty Community Center
790 Main Street
Falmouth, MA 02540
| Sunday 11:00-12:30 PM
Scituate Senior Center
27 Brook Street
Scituate, MA 02066 | Monday 6:00-7:30 PM
Harwich Police Department
183 Sisson Road
Harwich, MA 02645
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For more information contact Lori McCarthy, 617-893-0816, ljmmccarthy@gosnold.org.
Other Resources
Al-Anon - The primary purpose of Al-Anon is to help families and friends of alcoholics. Members of Al-Anon learn to live happily whether the alcoholic continues to drink or not. We learn that alcoholism is a disease and that we are not alone.
Alcoholics Anonymous - Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.
Narcotics Anonymous - NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using.
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| MASSACHUSETTS SUBSTANCE ABUSE HELPLINE | | |
For tens of thousands of Massachusetts resident struggling with alcohol and other drug related issues, (800) 327-5050 is an important number.
The Massachusetts Substance Abuse Information and Education Helpline provides free and confidential information and referrals for alcohol and other drug abuse problems and related concerns. The Helpline is committed to linking consumers with comprehensive, accurate, and current information about treatment and prevention services throughout Massachusetts.
Services are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Language interpreters are always available.
For online service and more information, click here.
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E-NEWSLETTER ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS
| | To submit materials, please contact Samantha Kossow at SAC@barnstablecounty.org and include the following information:
- Descriptive Title
- Brief Description of the Content
- Relevant attachments, submitted in PDF or text format
- Website link if available
- Contact information of the person submitting the information the contact person for the event
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Posting of articles submitted for publication in the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council E-Newsletter is at the discretion of the Department. All articles must be submitted in text format to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request this newsletter in alternate formats, please call Kathie Callahan at (508) 375-6628 or TDD at (508) 362-5885.
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