Category Archives: MCAP – Medfeild Cares About Prevention

MCAP newsletter #1

Posted on November 7, 2016 | Comments Off on MCAP newsletter #1

The first Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) newsletter is attached –

Welcome to the first edition of MCAP’s electronic newsletter. This newsletter is intended to provide you with information about teen substance abuse, trends, educational resources and stories and examples of community prevention efforts that work. We hope you will join us for upcoming focus groups in January. Your feedback will help craft our coalition’s strategic plan for keeping Medfield youth safe! See more details regarding dates/times of focus groups in this issue. Let us know what you think of our first edition! Expect our next quarterly edition in February 2017! Warmly, MCAP Coalition Members Inaugural MCAP Newsletter: Welcome About MCAP Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) Stay in touch! Website: https://www.medfieldcares.org Email: info@medfieldcares.org Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) Working together to promote mental health and prevent alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use amongst our youth November 2016 Volume 1, Issue 1 “…Bringing people together to ensure community programs work!” MCAP is comprised of people who care about youth in Medfield. Whether they live or work here in town, their commitment is to grow a culture of safety and health for the community’s youth. Members represent parents, youth, the public schools, law enforcement, mental health organi-zations, local businesses, parks & recreation, town government, substance abuse research, local media healthcare and faith communities. MCAP invites parents, youth and professionals to get involved with the coalition. We need parents whose children represent all grade levels and interested youth to join us. Contact us to learn more! Inside This Issue: Marijuana and Your Teen 2 Legalized Marijuana in Massachusetts: What You Should Know 2 Medfield Day Recap: Hidden in Plain Sight 3 MCAP: Community in Action 4 Upcoming Parent Focus Groups 5 Teen Corner 6 Member Spotlight: Cathleen Farrell 7 Page 2 Medfield Cares About Prevention Marijuana and Your Teen: What You Should Know By Sue Navalta, Ph.D. — MCAP Leadership Team Member* Talk to your kids! They are listening! The adolescent brain is still actively developing, especially in regions that are in-volved in abstract reasoning, decision-making, and even social interactions. The plasticity of ongoing development allows teens to develop their own individual identities, however, the same plasticity can leave them vulnerable to the effects of drugs of abuse. Research has shown that marijuana use during the teenage years is associated with increased impulsivity, lower IQ scores, and changes in social processing. Why? First, we need to appreciate that the marijuana that is available today is – at a minimum – 4-6 times more potent for THC (the active component that provides the “high”) than potency 20 years ago. That means that what we thought we knew about what marijuana’s effects cannot be based on past history. Second, this is not medical marijuana where the medicinal cannabidiol component is sig-nificantly represented. If it was, teens would not be using it. Marijuana effects short-term memory that is needed for learning. Marijuana use impairs motor skills, perception, and reaction times that are needed for driving and playing sports. Taken together, being high decreases our teens’ ability to do well in school and on the field. Finally, research has shown that college entrance and income in adulthood are lower for individuals that regularly used marijuana as a teenager. As teen per-ception that marijuana use is harmless increases, research tell us that use will certainly increase as well. With these facts in mind, don’t our teens deserve something better? Are you informed and ready to make a decision in November about Ballot Question #4 which would legalize adult recreational use and the sale of marijuana? Massachusetts Prevention Alliance (MAPA) has compiled fact sheets that may be of interest to parents and teens regarding the proposed legalization of marijuana in the Commonwealth. Visit http://www.mapreventionalliance.org/ or these links for the following key facts (please note that these links will take you away from our newsletter and will not open in a new window): 1) Be informed on MA Ballot Question 4 2) Marijuana Policy Fact Sheet 3) Details of changes in local controls proposed in Ballot Question 4 4) BQ4: Marijuana versus Alcohol 5) Report of the Special Senate Committee on Marijuana March 2016 Legalized Marijuana in Massachusetts: What You Should Know www.mapreventionalliance.org *Sue is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McLean’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School and researches marijuana and its effect on the teenage brain Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3 By Dawn Alcott, LICSW — Director, Medfield Youth Outreach & MCAP Leadership Team Member Hidden in Plain Sight: A Program the Community is Talking About! MCAP desires to provide opportunities that support parents and increase their knowledge about protective and risk factors to reduce substance mis-use in Medfield youth. MCAP participated in a display of Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) at the Natick Mall last May as part of a regional effort. Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) is an ages 21+ exhibit that seeks to build communication between parents and youth. As MCAP gathered the feedback from families who attended that exhibit, it was apparent that parents feel under-resourced when it comes to identifying and preventing teen substance misuse. MCAP created a Hid-den in Plain Sight display of its own and launched it at Beginning Years on Medfield Day. The HIPS exhibit features information about the impact of substance mis-use in teen’s lives alongside a staged room where various items may indi-cate teen substance misuse. Items in the room range from devices used to conceal drugs and alcohol, to subtle suggestions that indicate changes in a teen’s preference in friends, media, and apparel that may indicate substance use. Participants are encouraged to explore each item for themselves. The display is not meant to be scary. It is not meant to have the participant assume that they would find all of the items in a teen’s room, but rather open conversations that lead to deeper dialogues with teens. The exhibit has helped parents recognize the signs of possible sub-stance use so they can act if necessary. The HIPS exhibit is supplemented with educational materials that act as a reminder that teens are going through a process of significant brain devel-opment that continues well into their 20’s. Adolescence is a time where the brain is particularly vulnerable to injury or disruption. Substances used during these years can adversely affect brain development. The part of the brain responsible for higher order thinking, impulse control, and anticipat-ing consequences is the last part of the brain to develop. Teens need their parents to set and continually communicate clear and consistent rules and expectations around substance use. The educational materials also highlight the risk teens face from medica-tion misuse. Opioid medications are frequently prescribed to athletes fol-lowing an injury or to teens following wisdom teeth extraction. Through ac-tively partnering with teens and their healthcare providers, parents can be Hidden in Plain Sight is a “staged room” It is NOT intended to SCARE you or make you assume that you would find all of these items within one teens room. The intention IS to PROVIDE you with knowledge and support you in parenting a connected family. Hidden in Plain Sight: A “Staged Room” Page 4 Medfield Cares About Prevention a crucial part in the management process through administering only the medication necessary for acute pain and helping a teen to transition quickly to non-addictive pain control. On Medfield Day, in just four hours, MCAP was pleased to guide 85 individu-als representing parents, grandparents, educators, clergy, business owners, and other concerned community members through the HIPS exhibit at Begin-ning Years. During that time, many residents expressed interest and commu-nicated that they did not have the time to fully view the exhibit Medfield Day. Hidden in Plain Sight will be featured again in connection to various educa-tional opportunities for parents in the upcoming months. MCAP is also ex-ploring other settings for the exhibit, perhaps even parent coffee evenings where one set of parents invite a circle of parents to come together to view the exhibit and discuss the prevention of teen substance misuse following the viewing. HIPS was sponsored by a generous donation from Needham Bank. MCAP has also enjoyed support from Jack Conway Realtors who sold ‘02052’ baseball caps to raise funds for MCAP! MCAP: Community in Action — Medfield Day HIPS Exhibit MCAP is a coalition of dedicated volunteers working together to promote mental health and prevent alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use amongst our youth. It takes a village to keep our kids safe and HIPS is just one of the ways the coalition and the community came together for this purpose. MCAP would like to thank the following supporters that made the HIPS exhib-it possible: Beginning Years Child Development Center — location Department of Public Works — use of printer for posters Evan Weisenfeld—web master Liz Sandeman—logistical support Melissa Zilinski—marketing design Medfield Foundation—financial management Medfield Public Schools — lamination and publicity Medfield Youth Outreach and Sue Navalta — educational materials Needham Bank — general donation to support our efforts Parent and community volunteers: Kathy Thompson, Jeff Marsden, Cathleen Farrell, Bob Meaney, Carryl Navalta, Ali Cronin, Osler Peterson, Susan Cowell, David Traub, Annette Anderson, Dawn Alcott, Chelsea Goldstein-Walsh Page 5 Medfield Cares About Prevention Parent Focus Groups: Coming Soon! Interested? Our next two focus groups will be offered on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 11AM - 1PM (light lunch provided) or 7PM - 9PM (dessert, coffee and tea provided) Registration required. Please contact Dawn or Chelsea at medfieldyouthoutreach@medfield.net or 508-359-7121 This focus group is sponsored by the Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) coalition www.medfieldcares.org Your feedback will help craft our coalition’s strategic plan for keeping Medfield youth safe! Medfield Cares About Prevention Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 6 Medfield youth, we’d love to hear from you! We were so thankful to hear from many of you during focus groups in the Spring of 2016 and we want to keep the conversation going. We are still seeking teens to participate in upcoming youth focus groups in an ongoing effort to hear your voice! Stay tuned for more information in our next newsletter regarding focus groups for Spring 2017. If you have questions or ideas you want to share, please contact us at info@medfieldcares.org Do you want to meet other teens from the region and share ideas about how to address substance misuse in our communities? In our next issue, we will have more information on the upcoming Spring 2017 Metrowest Youth Summit. In the meantime, be sure and check out our website for lots of great resources geared towards teens: http://medfieldcares.org/wp/?qards_page=resources-for-teens Overcoming the Shame and Stigma: Mental Health and Today’s Youth Walpole Library Community Room Monday, November 7 at 7PM or Wednesday, November 9 at 10AM Upcoming Event Teen Corner Our next MCAP newsletter will focus on opioid abuse. Do you have a ques-tion you might want answered in the upcoming issue? Please feel free to submit any questions, specific area(s) of interest or feedback to us at info@medfieldcares.org We look forward to hearing from you! Next Issue Cathleen Farrell is the mother of three children, two of whom are currently in the Medfield school system. The other child attended Medfield through 9th grade and then attended private school for three years (and is now a freshman in college). Cathleen has lived in Medfield for 14 years. Cathleen has an Associate’s Degree from Lasell College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Child Life from Wheelock College. She also has a Certificate in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Cathleen has owned Beginning Years Child Development Center in Medfield for 12 years and recently opened Beginning Years at Medfield High School. Prior to owning Beginning Years, her career was spent working with children and families through a variety of state and federal grants for Partners Health Care and Children's Hospi-tal. Cathleen was also the state wide Inclusion Coordinator for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. Within the Medfield community, Cathleen is the representative of MEMO on Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) and is also a member of the Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) Leadership Team. Finally, she also serves on the Parent Advisory Committee for Lasell College. Cathleen Farrell Medfield Cares About Prevention Coalition Member Spotlight: Cathleen Farrell Stay in touch! Website: https://www.medfieldcares.org Email: info@medfieldcares.org MCAP, 201620161107-newsletter_page_220161107-newsletter_page_320161107-newsletter_page_420161107-newsletter_page_520161107-newsletter_page_620161107-newsletter_page_7

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MCAP parent focus groups

MCAP Focus Group Communication (2)

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Posted on June 21, 2016 in MCAP - Medfeild Cares About Prevention, Uncategorized

Medfield night at the Natick Mall, unitl 9

Posted on May 20, 2016 | Comments Off on Medfield night at the Natick Mall, unitl 9

20160425_HIPS_Event_Invite_Print

Come visit the HIPS exhibit at the Natick Mall tonight, and have a Medfield person as your tour guide, until 9 PM.  The exhibit allows one to walk around in a teen’s bedroom full of all the things that indicate that substance abuse is happening.

Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) (www.MedfieldCares.org) is staffing the exhibit tonight.

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MCAP presents Hidden in Plain Sight at Natick Mall

Posted on April 25, 2016 | Comments Off on MCAP presents Hidden in Plain Sight at Natick Mall

20160425_Hidden_In_Plain_Sight_Flyer

You are invited to a special exhibit!  Metro West prevention coalitions unite to bring Hidden in Plain Sight, an initiative to help parents spot signs of teen risky behavior, to Natick Mall.  See the above flyer for more details! While anyone age 21 and over may view the exhibit at any time it is open, the grand opening is May 10th from 10am to 12pm and will feature community and state leaders throughout the Metro West area.  Medfield’s own coalition, Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) will oversee the exhibit Thursday, May 19th from 10am to 2pm and Friday May 20th from 5pm-9pm.  Why not make it a day or evening out to the mall with friends to explore the exhibit and catch up with coalition members from your community!  We hope you to see you there!

 

REQUEST FOR PARENT/COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS as “Tour Guides”

  Hidden in Plain Sight:

Spot At-Risk Behavior at The Natick Mall

 Community Initiative to Help Parents Recognize Signs of Youth Substance Use

 WHAT:          The Hidden in Plain Sight initiative helps parents spot signs of youth at-risk behaviors using an interactive display of a teenager’s bedroom. Specially trained “tour guides” from MetroWest community coalitions will walk participants through the display, providing education about adolescent development and common signs of substance use.

This exhibit encourages parents to communicate with their children about at-risk behavior that could lead to opioid addiction and other substance use disorders because a strong parent-teen relationship is the most effective tool to prevent substance use.

The initiative is sponsored by South Shore Hospital’s Youth Health Connection, BlumShapiro, The Natick -Mall, Natick Together for Youth, the Town of Natick, SOAR (Supporting Our Addicts Recovery) Natick, Ashland’s Decisions at Every Turn Coalition, Framingham Health Department, the Holliston Drug & Alcohol Awareness Coalition, Hopkinton Organizing for Prevention, Medfield Cares About Prevention, SAFE/JAG Coalition, and Wayland Cares.

WHY:            The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, with an estimated 1,173 opioid related deaths in 2014 and an estimated 1,104 opioid related deaths between January and September 2015.*

Studies have shown that youth use of substances like alcohol, marijuana and prescription pain medication is associated with increased risk of addiction to heroin and other opioids.

WHEN:         Hidden in Plain Sight is open to the public May 9th-26th

                     Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays from 5pm-9pm, Tuesdays & Thursdays from 10am-2pm, and Saturdays & Sundays from 12pm-4pm

                     Each sponsoring community coalition has taken responsibility for set shifts.

                     Medfield, through Medfield Cares About Prevention has committed to cover Thursday, May 19th from 10am to 2pm and Friday, May 20th from 5pm-9pm with volunteer “tour guides” from Medfield.  Volunteers are welcome to sign up for the whole four hour shift or for two hour increments.  Medfield Youth Outreach will offer trainings for volunteers on May 10th at 11am and 7pm (or upon request) at their location. “Tour guide” training is approximately 45 minutes long.

WHO:           Hidden in Plain Sight is open to all members of the public over the age of 21 and therefore all volunteers must be age 21 or over.  Children may not accompany adult volunteers due to the nature of the exhibit.

WHERE:       The Hidden in Plain Sight event is at the Natick Mall, 1245 Worcester Street, Natick, MA 01760; located on the first floor of the mall, near Sears (next to GameStop and across from CVS).  Volunteer training will be held at Medfield Youth Outreach at 88R South Street, Medfield High School (DOOR 12).

 

CONTACT:    Please contact Dawn Alcott or Chelsea Goldstein-Walsh, medfieldyouthoutreach@medfield.net, (508) 359-7121 if you are interested in volunteering for this event.

 

*Source: MA Department of Public Health http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/quality/drugcontrol/county-level-pmp/data-brief-overdose-deaths-ma-residents-january-2016.pdf

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On being a selectman

Posted on April 7, 2016 | Comments Off on On being a selectman

BoS

Tired this afternoon – home for dinner at 10PM last night, 9:30 PM the night before, and 9:00PM tonight, for meetings respectively of the –

  •  Board of Selectmen
    • Schools seeking approval of application to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to start the process to replace Dale Street School, perhaps with an addition onto the Wheelock School, making Wheelock a grades 2 – 5 school.
    • Met with Liz Sandeman to receive a her donation of a flag and for recognition of Donate Life Month – organ donation promotion.
    • declared a snow emergency.
    • reviewed the warrant articles for the town meeting to assign speakers.
  • Medfield State Hospital Master Planning Committee
    • planning for its 4/11/16 public forum at the MHS auditorium.
  • Medfield Energy Committee
    • update of stretch code article for the town meeting
    • update on the solar installation at the WWTP
    • update of solar at the Public Safety Building and the DPW Garage
  • Met Tuesday morning with the Larkin Brothers about their Hospital Road 40B.
    • Their plans now down to 48-52 units,
    • 75% with first floor master suites,
    • they are continuing to plan to target the empty nesters market (no shared playground for kids).
    • Meeting again in two weeks with them and their architect.
    • Sunday I saw the open house sign out at their North Street, Grove Place development, Michael Larkin toured me through a three bedroom unit there with a first floor master suite.  It had nice details, with both angled and right angle bays, windows of different sizes, and good looking quality in the kitchen and baths.
  • Met this morning with the Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) (www.MedfieldCares.org) leadership team.  Report on the recent member survey, and upcoming Hidden in Plain Sight event to take place at the Natick Mall from 10-2 on May 19 and 5-9 on May 20.  Invited three millennials to join the group.

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Posted in Energy Committee, MCAP - Medfeild Cares About Prevention, Medfield State Hospital, Select Board matters, Uncategorized

MMA on opiates

Posted on March 1, 2016 | Comments Off on MMA on opiates

MMA-2

The Massachusetts Municipal Association recently released a white paper suggesting what towns should be doing about opiates.  It has a list of the 10 best practices, several of which we are already doing (e.g. – the drug return turn in box at the MPD, Narcan in cruisers, and MCAP), but we have not yet appointed a point person to lead our effort or dealt with some of the other recommendations.

The report notes that someone has died from opiates in almost 75% of our towns in Massachusetts.

A PDF of the MMA’s white paper can be downloaded here – http://www.mma.org/images/stories/NewsArticlePDFs/municipal_services/mma_opioid_task_force_jan2016.pdf

The MMA’s article (below) can be found here –

http://www.mma.org/municipal-services/15918-mma-releases-report-with-opioid-strategies-for-cities-towns

 

MMA releases report with opioid strategies for cities, towns

January 25, 2016

At its Annual Meeting on Jan. 22 and 23, the MMA released a 16-page report intended to help local officials take action on the escalating opioid abuse epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives in recent years and is affecting virtually every community in Massachusetts.

“Local officials have the ability to lead by providing prevention programs, encouraging public awareness, ensuring safe disposal sites for prescription drugs, and serving as a clearinghouse for valuable resources for treatment and support,” said Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas, co-chair of the MMA’s Municipal Opioid Addiction and Overdose Prevention Task Force.

Task force co-chair Michael McGlynn, who recently concluded 28 years as the mayor of Medford, said the 16-page report “will offer some direction and information to the public and our colleagues in government.”

“Municipal officials across the Commonwealth have the obligation to lead the fight against the devastating impact of substance use disorders,” McGlynn said.

The report, titled “An Obligation to Lead,” outlines 10 specific opportunities for local officials to lead the fight against the public health epidemic surrounding the abuse of prescription drugs and opioids. Local officials are urged to lead an effort to increase public awareness and to designate a point person in city and town halls focused on the epidemic and available resources.

The report recommends the facilitation of broad-scale collaboration across departments, the development of a one-page resource guide for families and those seeking treatment or assistance, and a partnership with schools to develop a prevention curriculum.

Local officials are urged to provide naloxone (Narcan) to first responders and designate safe prescription drug disposal sites in their communities.

The opioid abuse epidemic claimed an estimated 1,200 lives in 2014 – complete data are not yet available for 2015 – and accounts for more than half of all deaths among 25- to 44-year-olds. In 2014, the epidemic caused more deaths than car accidents and gun violence combined in Massachusetts.

The MMA’s report represents the findings of the MMA’s 11-member task force, which held many meetings over an 18-month period with policy makers, experts, advocacy organizations, and partners.

The task force concluded that local officials are best positioned to manage the opioid crisis, but the group also developed a series of policy recommendations for state leaders in order to assist cities and towns in their efforts to manage this growing epidemic.

The task force called for the state to create a centralized database of all treatment services, to work to make more treatment beds available, to develop and fund a model prevention curriculum, and to better enforce the Prescription Monitoring Program.

• Download “An Obligation to Lead” (365K PDF)

By Katie McCue and John Ouellette

 

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MCAP’s new website

Posted on October 14, 2015 | 1 comment

MCAP Logo_1C_300

Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) has a brand spanking new website.   Check it out at www.MedfieldCares.org.

  • looks great,
  • works great,
  • great content to help Medfield residents and youth find assistance.

Thanks to Medfield’s own Evan Weisenfeld for the website.

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Posted in health, MCAP - Medfeild Cares About Prevention, People, Safety, Teens

Prom safety

Posted on April 29, 2015 | 1 comment

Safe and Substance Free Parent Resource Guide for Keeping Teens Safe for Prom and Graduation.

This resource is available in part from the Norfolk County DA’s office in collaboration with Youth Health Connection and other partners.  This information was shared by Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP).

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MCAP

Posted on April 9, 2015 | Comments Off on MCAP

The Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) meeting this morning saw three positive results:

  • Tip Line – Establishment of a local tip line was advanced with news that everyone was in agreement with the script for call answering outlined by David Traub and news that the Norfolk District Attorney’s office will probably fund the cost of the telephone line.  The tip line idea is to provide an anonymous telephone line that anyone can call with information that can then be passed along to third parties, such as, “we hear you are planning to be at the Cape for the long weekend, and we are also hearing that there is a large party planned for your house on Saturday night.  We just thought you would want to know.”
  • Age 21 to buy tobacco – MCAP voted to recommend to the selectmen that the town increase the age to buy tobacco products from the current age 18 to age 21.
  • Marijuana education – MCAP decided to recommend early education in the elementary schools about the issues related to marijuana use be provided in conjunction with the tobacco use education that is already occurring.

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Treating addicts

Posted on March 7, 2015 | Comments Off on Treating addicts

This is a great description, by a primary care physician from Western Massachusetts, of what it is like to treat addicts in this our age of opiates (e.g. – high school sophomores whose first drug use is heroin).

http://www.mcle.org/main/thisWeek?emcampaignID=15086&emuserID=43207

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