if you can look for the naloxone distribution project, that's where you can apply for naloxone. thank you. >> thank you. we appreciate that. next item, please. >> line item 13. presentation of d.p.h.'s racial equity action plan update. equity and transparency discussion. >> good evening. welcome. i love your attire. >> thank you. it is in honor of black history month. thank you. >> thank you so much. good evening, commissioners, director henderson, chief scott, members of the public. tonight i will be presenting the update on the racial equity action plan. i gave a presentation january 2021 of the steps that we have been taking that i'm here to give you an update. the purpose of the project is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everybody. it is the intentional and continuous practice of changing policies, practising systems and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color. it has always been in the forefront and focus of d.p.h. since director henderson took office in 2017. we were tasked with this in 2020 with c

and quickly supplied all of the hotels with naloxone and all of the s.i.p. hotels and i think that was a nice kind of precursor so your departmental work we've been doing since and already referenced the shared frame work and the principles and i think that is our north star and just sort of but that one piece that wasn't mentioned earlier is the importance of feedback from the people who are drug users and community support providers. you know, we're not going to have a successful strategy if we don't engage the people closest to the crisis. next slide, please. with my colleagues, we also did an assessment of what was happening with h.s.a. in terms of identification and support. so as part of intake for our caps program and our cal works program. we do a comprehensive needs assessment for all of our clients on a path to economic stability. c.b.o. partners for drug reduction harm services and hope they are ready to receive that support. we have trained our staff at the mission street service center and that was initially our primary focus because this is the

and quickly supplied all of the hotels with naloxone and all of the s.i.p. hotels and i think that was a nice kind of precursor so your departmental work we've been doing since and already referenced the shared frame work and the principles and i think that is our north star and just sort of but that one piece that wasn't mentioned earlier is the importance of feedback from the people who are drug users and community support providers. you know, we're not going to have a successful strategy if we don't engage the people closest to the crisis. next slide, please. with my colleagues, we also did an assessment of what was happening with h.s.a. in terms of identification and support. so as part of intake for our caps program and our cal works program. we do a comprehensive needs assessment for all of our clients on a path to economic stability. c.b.o. partners for drug reduction harm services and hope they are ready to receive that support. we have trained our staff at the mission street service center and that was initially our primary focus because this is the

if you can look for the naloxone distribution project, that's where you can apply for naloxone. thank you. >> thank you. we appreciate that. next item, please. >> line item 13. presentation of d.p.h.'s racial equity action plan update. equity and transparency discussion. >> good evening. welcome. i love your attire. >> thank you. it is in honor of black history month. thank you. >> thank you so much. good evening, commissioners, director henderson, chief scott, members of the public. tonight i will be presenting the update on the racial equity action plan. i gave a presentation january 2021 of the steps that we have been taking that i'm here to give you an update. the purpose of the project is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everybody. it is the intentional and continuous practice of changing policies, practising systems and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color. it has always been in the forefront and focus of d.p.h. since director henderson took office in 2017. we were tasked with this in 2020 with c

with me now is jennifer plumb, founder and medical director of utah naloxone.his. we appreciate it. i have to say, it's astounding to hear some of the fox news host talks about it in the way they did, and blatantly lie to americans, but i can't tell you how many people have come up to me or asked me is the biden administration handing out crack pipes? and i want to be clear with folks as we have this conversation what's actually happening here to aid in the opioid crisis. there are referrals to treatment, there are condemocrats, there are going to be providing vaccinations for hepatitis a and b, alcohol swabs, lip balms, and safe smoking kits. that's where the whole crack pipe comes in. mouth pieces, brass screens, and disinfectant wipes. that does not include, by the way, rubber mouth pieces. that does not include crack pipes. dr. plumb, talk to me about why it is so important to have an initiative like this when it comes to drug addiction in this country. >> thanks for the opportunity. this really has come out of the unexpected for those of us who work in thi

working with the community partners and all of the dph, the pharmacy has worked to distribute naloxoneand we have approximately 28,000 kits a year to our own dph clinics as well as some community providers. and just to be clear, this really complements the long-standing efforts led by our colleagues at the harm reduction coalition, the dope project, as well as many other community providers. we are providing delivery of substance use disorder medication to shelter-in-place sites and isolation and quarantine hotels in order that people can continue to maintain their medication and support their goals of recovery. we have offered more frequent medication pick-ups as well as on-site telemedicine visitacions to respond to needs of clients at more hours a day. and ongoing work, just to remind the commission and how important the pharmacy is, the pharmacy has on-site harm reduction services, essentially like fentanyl test kits and safer use for those who are using and at risk of overdose. and we also seek to champion innovative practices and really i'd like to really commend the behavioral h

, the center hosted over 1100 visits, with 268 meaningful engagements, nearly 200 referrals, and naloxone was administered three times, and the center has been received well by guests, and there are repeat guests, and really, the model is to make it the one-stop shop that many of us have been trying to make it for a very long time, and really, d.h.s. is trying to make it linkage to behavioral health treatment, medical services, and we're collaborating with our other colleagues with regard to other needs, which includes requests for housing, other shelter, food, and clothing, so just to give you an update on that. in terms of additional items on the director's report, we did have a very exciting extension of $5.4 million to the right to recovery fund. this was announced by the mayor along with supervisor hillary ronen. this will extend the program to the end of june of 2022 to meet the current surge in applications, and the current program will continue to support covid-19 positive san franciscans who continue to need financial help to survive. this is an effort that we are in close collab

to continue to offer respectful and dignified care in a sense of welcome we have naloxone available throughout the facility that guests and staff may access. we allowed guests to remain on site as long as they do not pose a risk to others. as you've already heard through our meaningful engagement process an act referrals we provide connection, expeditiously wherever possible to substance abuse treatment for all guests. i wanted to conclude by also offering an update on hiring for behavioral health needs at d.p.h. which has been afforded by the emergency declaration. as you will likely recall, our goal is to hire 200 positions by end of march as part of the 90-day emergency declaration. i want to just summarize our accomplishment to date. so far, we are achieved 50% of that goal having filled or closely on boarded 100 positions. these 100 positions includes behavioral health clinicians, pharmacist, health workers and others. we have streamlined a great number of administrative aspects of hiring in order to fill vacancies. our remaining 100 positions are on track to be filled by end of march and

we've got naloxone and the federal support we have fentanyl test strips to those individuals who may not know what substances they're ingesting as the illicit fentanyl is in the meth and cocaine supply and the evidence suggests that people are better able to prevent an unintended overdose death if they use these fentanyl test strips, using less of the drug and every interaction to get the supplies to people on the streets where they are is an opportunity to engage them in treatment services and get them on the path to recovery. that's where our efforts are focusing heavily now and i will say we're not feeling defeated but it's been a major setback in the last couple of years how dramatically things have shifted. >> thank you. i think without directly saying so by deduction you can relate what's happening on the southern border to what you're grappling with. senator markey and i have two pieces of legislation about increasing provider and patient education. one is the label opioid act and safe prescribing act. through your work in addressing the opioid epidemic can you speak to the im

, the center hosted over 1100 visits, with 268 meaningful engagements, nearly 200 referrals, and naloxoneas administered three times, and the center has been received well by guests, and there are repeat guests, and really, the model is to make it the one-stop shop that many of us have been trying to make it for a very long time, and really, d.h.s. is trying to make it linkage to behavioral health treatment, medical services, and we're collaborating with our other colleagues with regard to other needs, which includes requests for housing, other shelter, food, and clothing, so just to give you an update on that. in terms of additional items on the director's report, we did have a very exciting extension of $5.4 million to the right to recovery fund. this was announced by the mayor along with supervisor hillary ronen. this will extend the program to the end of june of 2022 to meet the current surge in applications, and the current program will continue to support covid-19 positive san franciscans who continue to need financial help to survive. this is an effort that we are in close collabor

to continue to offer respectful and dignified care in a sense of welcome we have naloxone available throughout the facility that guests and staff may access. we allowed guests to remain on site as long as they do not pose a risk to others. as you've already heard through our meaningful engagement process an act referrals we provide connection, expeditiously wherever possible to substance abuse treatment for all guests. i wanted to conclude by also offering an update on hiring for behavioral health needs at d.p.h. which has been afforded by the emergency declaration. as you will likely recall, our goal is to hire 200 positions by end of march as part of the 90-day emergency declaration. i want to just summarize our accomplishment to date. so far, we are achieved 50% of that goal having filled or closely on boarded 100 positions. these 100 positions includes behavioral health clinicians, pharmacist, health workers and others. we have streamlined a great number of administrative aspects of hiring in order to fill vacancies. our remaining 100 positions are on track to be filled by end of march and

we have naloxone everywhere we can get it, a lifesaving antidote with flexibility in funding support.e have been able to distribute fentanyl test strips to individuals who may not know what substances they are adjusting if illicit fentanyl has gotten into the supply. evidence suggests people are better able to prevent an unintended overdose death if they use these test strips. they are using less of the drug. every interaction to get these supplies to people on the streets where they are is an opportunity to engage them in treatment services and get them on the path to recovery. that is where efforts are focusing now. we are not feeling defeated, but it has been a major setback in the last couple years with how dramatically things have shifted. host: about 10 more minutes to comment on the pandemic's impact on mental health and substance abuse. (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 in the mountain and pacific time zones. david elliott from facebook saying, i see lots of people with mental health issues, more kids than ever before. they a