The Opioid Policy Fellows program is designed to support legislators who are experienced or emerging leaders on opioid addiction and overdose issues. This meeting will introduce Fellows to the year-long program and will build learning in a peer setting. The meeting goals include:
- Build knowledge about new research, policy and innovations.
- Exchange ideas and solutions with other legislative leaders related to opioid misuse and overdose, and related issues.
- Connect with leading researchers and policy experts.
- Identify practical information to use in your state and develop action steps.
Contact the Health Program to request speaker presentations from the Opioid Policy Fellows meetings.
Meeting the Fellows
- Joanne Osborne, State Representative, Arizona
- Lee Johnson, State Representative, Arkansas
- Meg Froelich, State Representative, Colorado
- Kevin Priola, State Senator, Colorado
- Stephanie Hansen, State Senator, Delaware
- Sarah McBride, State Senator, Delaware
- Keith Perry, State Senator, Florida
- Ryan Yamane, State Representative, Hawaii
- Ed Clere, State Representative, Indiana
- Ralph Alvarado, State Senator, Kentucky
- Chris Turner, State Representative, Louisiana
- Anne Perry, State Representative, Maine
- Sam Zager, State Representative, Maine
- John Velis, State Senator, Massachusetts
- Joseph Bellino Jr., State Representative, Michigan
- Erin Koegel, State Representative, Minnesota
- Carol Murphy, State Assemblymember, New Jersey
- Anthony Verrelli, State Assemblymember, New Jersey
- Valerie Lawson, State Senator, Rhode Island
- Bridget Valverde, State Senator, Rhode Island
- Russell Fry, State Representative, South Carolina
- Shane Reeves, State Senator, Tennessee
- T’wina Nobles, State Senator, Washington
- Jesse James, State Representative, Wisconsin
- Gae Magnafici, State Representative, Wisconsin
Kickoff Meeting
Virtual Meeting: Opioid Policy Fellows Kickoff
March 26 - 27, 2021
Friday, March 26, 2021 (All Time MT)
| Time |
Description |
| 12-12:15 p.m. |
Welcome and Overview
Speakers:
Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Tammy Jo Musgraves, NCSL
Kate Blackman, NCSL
Elizabeth Zurick, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
| 12:15-1 p.m. |
Introductions
Fellows will have an opportunity to introduce themselves to their colleagues and share policy developments and interests in their states. |
| 1-1:45 p.m. |
Where We Are: COVID-19 and the Opioid Epidemic
This session will provide an overview of the current state of the opioid epidemic and the impacts of COVID-19 on prevention, treatment, recovery and overdose prevention.
Moderator: Tammy Jo Hill, policy specialist, NCSL
Speaker: Dr. Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management, Harvard School of Public Health
|
| 1:45-2 p.m. |
Break |
| 2-2:40 p.m. |
Action Planning & Networking – “Give and Get”
Fellows will join smaller break out rooms with NCSL facilitators. Fellows will begin reviewing their action plans and participate in a “Give and Get” networking exercise. |
| 2:40-3 p.m. |
Wrap Up
Fellows will report back from their break out rooms, NCSL staff will preview the agenda for Saturday. |
Saturday, March 27, 2021 (All Time MT)
| Time |
Description |
| 11-11:15 a.m. |
Welcome and Overview |
| 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m. |
Converging Crises: Opioid Use, Suicide and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Substance use disorders and suicide have both claimed the lives of roughly 700,000 Americans since 1999. These crises share many overlapping risk and protective factors and many strategies can prevent deaths by both causes. This session will explore this overlap with a particular focus on the role of adverse childhood experience on later health outcomes.
Moderator: Charlie Severance-Medaris, policy specialist, NCSL
Speaker: Dr. Sarah Bacon, senior advisor on adverse childhood experiences, Office of Strategy and Innovation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
| 12-12:45 p.m. |
Opioids and Medicaid
This session will cover strategies to address the opioid crisis through your state’s Medicaid program. This will include a discussion of the various waivers available and innovative treatment programs.
Moderator: Tahra Johnson, program director, NCSL
Speaker: Emily Blanford, program principal, NCSL
|
| 12:45-1 p.m. |
Break |
| 1-1:45 p.m. |
Health Disparities and the Opioid Crisis
This session will highlight health disparities in the opioid crisis and the interplay of both health disparities and the opioid crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderator: Kate Blackman, group director, NCSL
Speaker: Dr. Debra Furr-Holden, director, Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions
|
| 1:45 -2:15 p.m. |
Action Planning and Sharing
Fellows will join smaller break out rooms with NCSL facilitators. Fellows will begin reviewing their action plans and participate in a networking exercise. |
| 2:15 -2:50 p.m. |
Treatment and Recovery
This session will focus on state policies and programs designed to facilitate treatment, recovery and long term supports.
Moderator: Karmen Hanson, program director, NCSL
Speakers: Aaron J. Walker, policy manager, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
|
| 2:50-3 p.m. |
Wrap Up and Next Steps |
Second Meeting
Virtual Meeting: Policy Solutions and Innovations
September 9 - 10, 2021
Thursday, September 9, 2021
| Time |
Description |
| Time |
Welcome
Speakers:
Tammy Jo Musgraves, NCSL
Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Elizabeth Zurick, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
| 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m. |
Fellows Report Out
This session will provide an opportunity for Fellows to share their challenges and successes since the last meeting. Fellows will provide updates on their action plans and share new developments in their states.
Moderators:
Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Tammy Jo Musgraves, NCSL
|
| 12-1 p.m. |
Non-Traditional Partners: Criminal Justice System
This session will focus on collaboration between health and justice system actors at various levels of government to improve outcomes for individuals. Faculty will introduce the Sequential Intercept Model to highlight points across the criminal justice system where strategies and policies can be implemented to increase access to treatment and reduce justice-involvement for individuals with substance use disorders.
Moderator: Amber Widgery, NCSL
Speakers:
Travis Parker, PRA Inc.
Michael Hartman, NCSL
|
| 1-1:15 p.m. |
Break |
| 1:15-2 p.m. |
Public Health and Criminal Justice: Continued
Fellows will continue to explore topics related to criminal justice and public health.
Moderator: Amber Widgery, NCSL
Speakers:
Representative Mike Weissman, Colorado
Senator Whitney Westerfield, Kentucky
|
| 2-2:45 p.m. |
COVID-19 and Overdose
This session will focus on the rapid growth of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic and what policy leaders need to know moving forward. In 2020, the US saw a record 93,000 deaths due to drug overdose. Synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, drove these trends. Speakers will discuss policy levers to address this specific trend.
Moderator: Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Speakers:
Sara Wolicki, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Parul Parikh, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| 2:45-3 p.m. |
Wrap Up |
Friday, September 10, 2021
| Time |
Description |
| 11-11:20 a.m. |
Welcome, Action Planning and Networking
Structured breakout rooms for Fellows to network and begin action planning for 2022.
Moderators: Tammy Jo Hill and Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
|
| 11:20 a.m.-12 p.m. |
Infectious Disease Consequences of the Opioid Crisis
This session will provide an overview of the infectious disease consequences of the opioid crisis. Speakers will share state strategies to reduce transmission rates and prevent outbreaks.
Moderator: Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Speaker: Sara Zeigler, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
| 12-12:45 p.m. |
Opioid Misuse Prevention and Youth
This session will focus on preventing opioid and drug misuse among youth. Speakers will focus on an overview of data, how the landscape has shifted and considerations for policymakers.
Moderator: Tammy Jo Hill, NCSL
Speaker: Deb Werner, California Opioid Response
|
| 12:45-1 p.m. |
Break |
| 1-1:45 p.m. |
Funding Recovery: Settlements and Federal Resources
As states grapple with rising overdose deaths, some states have used resources from the federal government deployed during COVID-19 to fund behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment and prevention. Legislatures have also allocated money from ongoing lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors for treatment and prevention. This session will explore how legislatures are using or preparing to use these funding sources.
Moderator: Charlie Severance-Medaris, NCSL
Speaker: Paul Singer, Office of the Texas Attorney General
|
| 1:45 -2:20 p.m. |
Final Action Planning and Networking
Moderators: Charlie Severance-Medaris and Tammy Jo Hill, NCSL
|
| 2:20-2:30 p.m. |
Wrap Up |
Webinars
As part of the Opioid Policy Fellows program, Fellows are required to participate in two webinars. Topics and speakers will be announced when available.
- May 14th – Recovery Housing, Speaker Dave Sheridan, National Alliance for Recovery Residences
- June 25th – Substance Abuse Treatment and Alternative Treatment Options, Speaker Dr. Robert Valuck, Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention