HJBR Mar-Apr 2019

Opioid Epidemic 32 MAR / APR 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of BATON ROUGE   Regional Plan to Address the Opioid Epidemic is Released Capital Area Human Services At the summit meeting, Capital Area Human Services (CAHS) Executive Director Jan Kasofsky, PhD, said, “It is my hope that this plan will be used broadly by local entities who will match their mis- sion to the recommendations contained in this plan. “More than 150 individuals attended the summit to gain specific knowledge of the recommendations and commit tomoving forward in implementing needed actions. CAHS facilitated meetings, compiled information, and published the report after 18 months of community meetings of the Capital Region Behavioral Health Collaborative. Speaking at the summit were CAHS Executive Director Jan Kaso- fasky, PhD; Mayor Sharon Weston Broome; East Baton Rouge Par- ish Coroner William “Beau” Clark, MD, D-ABMDI; CAHS Addiction Recovery Services Director Jan Laughinghouse, PhD, LCSW; and The “Community-Wide Response Plan to the Opioid Epidemic” was released in December at a summit meeting with more than 150 commu- nity members. The release signals more than 18 months of work to develop the plan, and now, to commit to a coordinated community-wide response to recommendations and actions needed to address this public health issue.