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Event Title Description Event Date
8th Annual BSAS Statewide Virtual Substance Use Prevention Conference

Addressing health inequities in our substance misuse prevention work, and centering populations that have been historically oppressed, continues to be integral to the work of Massachusetts’ Bureau of Substance Addiction Services. During this year’s virtual conference, prevention practitioners from across the Commonwealth explored the impact that power, privilege, and politics can have on our ability to address health inequities, and how the pursuit of Restorative Prevention practices can overcome these barriers and build healthy communities.

We were thrilled to have Dr. Debra Furr-Holden, who first introduced this framework, as our keynote speaker. Dr. Furr-Holden is a Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health and an Associate Dean for Public Health Integration at Michigan State University.

Please click the links below to access materials.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

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Race and Health Equity Peer-Sharing Call: Including the Youth Voice

This session of the Race and Health Equity Peer Sharing call series was led by Nic Charest, Debra Morris, and Ben Spooner. The focus of this call was on how we can include youth voice in our prevention work.

We heard from two communities on how they’ve involved youth in their prevention work:

  • Kara Showers, Youth Coordinator for Wakefield Youth Coalition (Melrose SAPC Cluster); Logan, Wake-Up Youth Action Team
  • Jaime Lederer, Director, Community Health Youth Initiatives, Cambridge Health Alliance (Somerville SAPC - Everett Coordinator); Ileissa Ovalle, Everett Youth Coalition

Resources:
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BSAS Virtual Statewide Substance Use Prevention Conference

During the first eight months of 2020, police in the U.S killed 164 Black people. This unbridled violence by law enforcement, combined with the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, lay bare the deadly effects of institutional racism on the health of our communities and force us to examine how racist policies contribute to inequitable health outcomes.

This year’s virtual conference, convened by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) with support from the Center for Strategic Prevention Support (CSPS), offered prevention practitioners from across the Commonwealth an opportunity to examine our role in perpetuating these inequities and explore potential solutions.

Specifically, participants explored:

  • How racism and racist drug policies affect health outcomes
  • How the power dynamics present in our communities affect our prevention work, and how we can influence these dynamics
  • Ways to restore or develop relationships with community partners, and reimagine what community-led engagement might look like
  • Ways to apply a social justice and racial equity lens to our substance misuse prevention work.

The 3-day virtual event included a combination of plenaries, breakout workshops, and panel discussion. Participants were also invited to join optional networking and debrief sessions at the start and end of each conference day.

Attendance from all BSAS funded prevention grantees/programs was mandatory as a condition of funding. Funded programs were represented by the coordinator(s) from the lead cluster community (MOAPC and SAPC) or a designated representative were they not be able to attend.

Plenary Session Recordings

Workshop Session Recordings

PowerDynamics WkShop slides can be viewed here: https://prezi.com/view/jCpPYmhz8GBbktZ53x2e/

Closing Session Recording

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