The day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for misuse of medications.

You can take your unused or expired medications to either the old Five Star Bank on East Fairmount Avenue in Lakewood or Alstar Ambulance at 738 Monroe Street in Dunkirk between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 29.

Residents also have the option to take prescription medications to one of the permanent drop box location sites in Chautauqua County.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Hope Chautauqua-Prevention Works says the event is taking place from 10:00am to 2:00 p.m.

Collection locations for unused or expired prescription medications this year are the old Five Star Bank at 284 East Fairmount Avenue in Lakewood, Westfield Family Physicians on East Main Street in Westfield, and Alstar Ambulance on Monroe Street in Dunkirk.

The drug take back is free and anonymous. Liquids and sharps (needles) will not be accepted.

For more information, call Prevention Works at 716-366-4623.

Jamestown City Council

Dolce said he’s personally seen a lot of needles along the Riverwalk. The medical waste disposal would be covered by New York State for one year.

Council approved hiring a School Resource Officer in the Jamestown Police Department. Jamestown Public Schools will reimburse the city for ten months of the officer’s salary, with the city being responsible for $22,059 for the remaining two months. Council Member-At-Large Jeff Russell commented that JPS had previously not funded any School Resource Officer positions in their budget due to not knowing how COVID-19 related hardships would affect that. The school district still needs to finalize the agreement with the City.

Council also approved a local law amending the City Charter to change the rebate rates for sidewalk repairs from $1 a square foot to $3 a square foot.

Council also will vote to accept funding for the Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE program. This state program includes funding of $72,221. That goes toward a Crime Analyst position and also funds overtime for officers working in conjunction with other GIVE partners, including the District Attorney’s office, Parole, Probation, and New York State Police.

Under old business, Council will vote on a local law amending the City Charter to change the rebate rates for sidewalk repairs from $1 a square foot to $3 a square foot.

Under new business, Council will review and act on a $10,000 grant agreement with the Preservation League of New York State to complete a Cultural Resources Survey of the Park West Neighborhood. The work will be completed by Clinton Brown Company Architecture, PC.

Council also will act on suspending the hiring freeze to hire a School Resource Officer in the Jamestown Police Department. The pre-file for the meeting noted that while the Jamestown Public School District had previously discontinued funding for the School Resource Officer positions, partial funding for one officer at Jamestown High School has now become available through the district. JPS will reimburse the City for $109,479, covering ten months of the cost for a police officer. The City will be responsible for $22,059 in costs during the two summer months when the SRO will work at the Jamestown Police Department.

The voting session takes place at 7:30pm tonight in City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall.

Council will hear details of an agreement with HOPE Chautauqua to obtain 10 sharps containers for syringe disposal. The medical waste disposal would be covered by New York State for one year. The pre-file report says the City has identified locations where syringes are found regularly and that some boxes will be kept in reserve to address new problem areas as they are identified by staff.

Council also will learn more about a resolution authorizing the Mayor and Police Chief to take part in the Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE program. This is a state program that includes funding of $72,221.

The award would fund a position of Crime Analyst and also fund overtime for officers working in conjunction with other GIVE partners, including the District Attorney’s office, Parole, Probation, and New York State Police.

A resolution to accept the Chadakoin River Strategic Business Plan will appear before council. That still faces review by the Planning Commission on July 20th. If approved, it can move forward to be voted on by City Council at its July 26th session.

Council also will review two consolidated funding applications. One is $1.4 million for improvements to the Chadakoin River area with the other being a $110,000 request for a comprehensive plan and zoning code update. There is a combined local match of $194,000 for the two requests.

Reports from staff will include a mid-year financial update, a discussion on the master plan for the American Rescue Plan funding, and an update on reopening of Housing Court.

The City Council Work session starts with committee meetings at 7pm with the full work session taking place at 7:30pm in the Third Floor conference room.

The planning committee of the Hope and Healing Conference of Western New York (WNY) made the decision to continue with a virtual conference instead of cancelling the event. The virtual conference will be held on Thursday, June 4, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The online event will include keynote speakers and educational webinars on mental health, chemical dependency, and other wellness topics that are available in Chautauqua County and our region as well as community resources.

Hope & Healing of WNY will feature keynote speakers Anne Hazlett, Senior Advisor for Rural Affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Also speaking will be Chautauqua County native, Melissa Pietrkiewicz, a clinical social worker, trauma informed care specialist, and founder of Partners in Kind, a local organization that promotes charitable efforts “to make Chautauqua County whole again.”

Other sessions on topics such as social/emotional learning, trauma-informed care, prevention, and harm reduction, are planned for the virtual event in addition to “FRED” Talks, brief and engaging presentations highlighting efforts to bring hope and healing in Chautauqua County.

Hope and Healing Conference of WNY 2020 Planning Committee Members include Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services, Prevention Works, State University of New York at Fredonia, Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County, HOPE Chautauqua, the Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Chautauqua Tapestry, Tobacco Free CCA, Chautauqua Substance Abuse Response Partnership, and other local organizations.

Organizers say the conference will include valuable information for the entire community addressing complex needs in mental health, chemical dependency, and wellness while celebrating successes in our region. This event is free and open to the public, and registration is required. To register, find the event on Facebook by searching for Hope and Healing Conference of WNY 2020: Virtual for the registration link or call the Prevention Works office at (716) 664-3608.

Prevention Works. Treatment is Available. Recovery is Possible.

Pictured: Steven Cobb, Executive Director, and Sean Jones, Recovery Coach for the Mental Health Association preparing recovery bags to be distributed to community members who have experienced an overdose.

SUBMITTED MEDIA RELEASE

MAYVILLE – There’s a new effort underway in Chautauqua County to respond to non-fatal overdose events with support and resources for recovery.

A true collaborative effort has led to the development of a program which will connect people who have experienced an overdose with a peer from the Mental Health Association within 48 hours. The project began in Jamestown this week. If the program is successful, County officials hope to expand efforts to all of Chautauqua County.

Over the past year, the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services (CCDHHS) has been working to engage law enforcement and emergency responders in a program that provides real-time surveillance and mapping of known and suspected overdose events.

The Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) was developed and is operated by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program. The program is available nationwide, free of charge to public officials who aim to gather better data on fatal and non-fatal overdoses in their communities, and to design meaningful response plans for citizens in need.

ODMAP’s creators intended for it to result in better collaboration between public health agencies responding to the opioid crisis, and law enforcement agencies who frequently encounter and respond to overdose events in their communities.

“Getting ODMAP up and running in Chautauqua County has been a goal of our department since the summer of 2017,” stated Christine Schuyler, Chautauqua County Director of Health and Human Services. “We are eager and excited to see how this program can help us respond to the needs of our residents in a meaningful way, while collecting important data that will help us monitor the opioid epidemic.”

“This pilot offers us the opportunity to offer hope to those battling opioid addiction when they are vulnerable and potentially most receptive to the powerful message that treatment works and recovery is possible,” said Patricia Brinkman, Director of the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene.  “The peer recovery coach offers assistance in navigating the service system as well as one on one support throughout the process. The hope is this new approach will increase the number of individuals who choose to enter treatment following overdose,” continued Brinkman.

For this pilot project in Chautauqua County, the process begins when an officer of the Jamestown Police Department enters basic information about the overdose (fatal/non-fatal status, doses of Narcan given, and suspected drug) into the mobile-friendly ODMAP website. CCDHHS staff monitor the map daily for overdoses that occur in Jamestown, and request information about the overdose from the police department. When contacted by CCDHHS, the Mental Health Association (MHA) deploys a peer recovery coach to connect with the person and offer services as well as a care package.

The true value of the interaction is the connection between the peer and the person who recently experienced an overdose. The peer offers connection to services at MHA and other agencies throughout the community, including providers of Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT). Care packages being distributed are a token of support for those who are interested in getting involved with MHA, and for those who are not quite ready to make a change.  The packages and their contents serve as a reminder that help is available and how they can access help. The package includes information about local recovery resources, education about recovery, chap stick, and a healthy snack.

“The MHA is excited to be able to use Certified Peer Specialists to connect with our neighbors who have experienced an overdose. We meet people where they are at to develop a path of wellness and recovery. Recent studies have shown that people who connect with peer coaches have reduced rates of relapse and reduced substance use,” commented Steven Cobb, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association. “Everyone needs chances to recover.  Our peers will be able to help navigate our treatment system to make recovery easier.  This is a big step forward for recovery in our community.”

Several law enforcement and emergency response agencies are on board with the ODMAP effort, and work is ongoing to obtain full participation across the county. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department, the Jamestown Police Department, the Lakewood-Busti Police Department, and Alstar Ambulance Services were a few of the early adopters in the County.

The ODMAP Peer Response project mirrors similar work being done in Erie County by the Cheektowaga Police Department and the Erie County Department of Health.In December of 2018, Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello’s Countywide Alliance for Enforcement and Rehabilitation (CAER) issued a report recommending a number of measures be implemented to better address the county’s drug crisis. One of those recommendations called for the creation of a peer response program in Chautauqua County which has now come to fruition.

Several partners have assisted in the design and implementation of this project, including Alstar EMS, Chautauqua Alcohol and Substance Abuse Council, the Chautauqua County Departments of Emergency Services, Health and Human Services, Mental Hygiene, the County Executive’s, District Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Offices, Chautauqua Opportunities Incorporated, Evergreen Health Services, Erie County Department of Health, HOPE Chautauqua, Jamestown Police Department, Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County, New York State Department of Health, UPMC Chautauqua, and Southern Tier Emergency Medical System, as well as various police and fire agencies throughout the county.

The ODMAP Peer Response project is supported by 1 NU90TP921994 (Public Health Opioid Crisis), funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.

In recognition of local groups’ educational efforts on drug addiction, Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan will be proclaiming May 2017 as Drug Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in Chautauqua County.

One of the main events happening in May will be the Hope and Healing for Chautauqua event, taking place from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Chautauqua Suites in Mayville. This free, day-long event will feature guest speakers, presentations, and addiction resources for the community.

Dr. Rodney Wambeam

The featured keynote speaker for Hope and Healing for Chautauqua is Dr. Rodney Wambeam, Senior Research Scientist at the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center of the University of Wyoming. Wambeam will present on “Boomers, Xera and Millennials: How New Research on Generations Can Inform the Future of Prevention.”

In addition, Level Up Talks will be given in the form of micro presentations to provide further information about prevention, treatment and recovery concepts with the potential to “level up” hope and healing in Chautauqua County.

Breakout sessions will complete the day with HOPE Youth Empowerment Program for Youth Advocacy lead by Laurie Reynolds and Tracy Jespersen of CASAC; Planning and Evaluating Environmental Prevention Efforts lead by Wambeam; Success in Treatment and Recovery with Lifestyle Changes lead by Dr. Davina Moss-King; and Peer Specialists and Peer Recovery Supports lead by Kia Briggs, MHA and Pastor Leecroft Clarke of Addiction Response Ministry.

Information and resource tables will be available throughout the day. Additionally, New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Credential Hours for CPP/CPS and CASAC will be available. Attendee registration to the event is open until May 1 and those who register after this date may not be guaranteed a lunch.

The Hope and Healing events are put on by the Healthy Opportunities for Prevention Education (HOPE) Chautauqua Coalition. This diverse group of community partners has been working together to plan local events that promote hope, highlight resources, and strengthen substance abuse efforts in Chautauqua County. The planning committee includes representatives of  CASAC, Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, Chautauqua Tapestry, Evergreen Health, HOPE Chautauqua Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, MHA, UPMC Chautauqua WCA, local faith leaders, and other dedicated community members.

For more information about the Hope and Healing for Chautauqua events, registration information and additional details, visit the HOPE Chautauqua Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/HopeChautauqua/.