Resources
HIV
HIV testing in your community! Organizations can now order free HIV self-test kits in bulk from DHSP through a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). If your organization is interested in receiving HIV self-test kits, connect with Saron Selassie at SSelassie@ph.lacounty.gov for more information.
Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) is available for people living with HIV and can be accessed through multiple providers. Eligible clients may receive up to $5,000 every 12 months in emergency financial assistance via payments to vendors or landlords on behalf of the client. As of September 2021, 339 clients have been served through this program. Please see the flyers for more information including contact information for providers who can assist with the application process.
Prevention
In December 2021 the FDA approved Cabenuva (Cabotegravir; Rilpivirine), the first injectable treatment for HIV pre-exposure prevention which provides a dose every two months instead of a daily pill, further expanding the tools we have to help end the HIV epidemic. The Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center Program (PAETC) is hosting a four part webinar series to help California clinicians, pharmacists and members of healthcare teams better understand patient eligibility, clinical considerations, insurance coverage, and insights into cultural consideration for the use of Cabenuva. The series, titled Expand your HIV Toolkit: CA Statewide Trainings on Extended-Release Injectable Suspensions for HIV Treatment and Prevention, will happen every 3rd Thursday between January and April from 12-1pm. The first session, Medication Management 101: a foundation in prescribing practices, and clinic implementation experiences, takes place on January 20, 2022. Participants must register for each session they wish to attend and will need to create a login account with PAETC prior to registering
New Reports
Webinars
Peer-Led Innovations in Reentry Support Programming: Towards Holistic Recovery
Feb 16, 2022 03:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Reentry Peer Specialists are equipped with unique knowledge and expertise from lived experience to provide critical supports to individuals reentering the community after incarceration. Recent peer-led developments in the field provide more opportunities to support reentry peer specialists and address the critical needs that people face upon reentry. This webinar will provide information about supporting reentry peer specialists and reentry peer support programs through providing certification, training, and the knowledge and resources to effectively support people in transition from incarceration to the community. Three presenters will discuss the opportunities that come with training and education, along with the policy and practice challenges of supporting people in recovery who are transitioning back to the community, including peer support specialists, themselves.
ARTICLES
Treating Unfreedom
Practicing correctional medicine is fundamentally an exercise in harm reduction. And it’s no match for liberty itself.
By Rachael Bedard & Zachary Rosner
Inquest, November 10, 2021
We are both physicians who work in the New York City jail system. Between us we’ve taken care of hundreds of jail-detained people who were medically vulnerable or who had serious mental illness or substance-use disorders. We have also both devoted significant time in our careers to compassionate release work, the health-based legal advocacy required to divert someone who is seriously ill from jail incarceration. That the institutions where we deliver care should be considered “death-making” is deeply uncomfortable for us, but it is also illuminating. It makes our work feel simultaneously urgent and Sisyphean.
Read More
Opioid Use Hits Construction Industry as Overdoses Soar
By Vipal Monga | Photographs by Justin Merriman for The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 5, 2021
Physically challenging work often leads laborers to turn to addictive painkillers, and Covid-19 makes treatment more difficult
Integrated Health Committee Meeting October 2020
Integrated Health Resources
Seeking members for Community Advisory Board
We Can Stop STD's LA just launched, Project Fierce program. STD rates are disproportionately high in communities of color, and this program is designed to achieve health equity for young women (inclusive of cisgender and trans women) of color in LA County with respect to STDs.
They are looking for 10 community advisory board members to identify sustainable interventions that will best address social determinants of health and prevent STDs in their communities. Please check out the details, and application in the attached flyer and share with any young women of color who would make a great community advisory board member.
Authorities nationwide are reporting an uptick in fatal opioid overdoses during social distancing.
The Daily Beast, May. 03
Kate Briquelet,Senior Reporter
Authorities nationwide are reporting an uptick in fatal opioid overdoses during social distancing.
California County Fact Sheets:
OEND
Naloxone Training Videos
The LA County-sponsored naloxone training (jail release) videos are available for public use via the links below. There are various versions in English and English with Spanish subtitles. More videos will be rolling out in the coming months.
Overdose Prevention Training Video - 4 min (ENGLISH)
Overdose Prevention Training Video - 15 min (with SPANISH subtitles)
Committee Co-chairs:
Amanda Cowan
acowan@clarematrix.org
Committee meetings will be held every first Monday of the month
Integrated Health Committee
The Integrated Health Committee is preparing to reconvene re-entry stakeholders dedicated to improving the comprehensive mental health, physical health, and substance use needs of the reentry population by addressing inequity across systems of care and increasing access to care.
USEFUL LINKS
California Mental Health and Substance Abuse Hotlines
Mental health disorders are among the most common medical conditions faced by Californians. An astonishing one in six residents suffer from some type of mental disorder. Furthermore, just last year California Behavioral Health (CBH) announced that around 8% of state residents suffer from substance abuse disorder. These are some scary statistics. We want to help. The following hotlines are available to all residents of the Golden State, and the last two are available nationally. If you or someone you love needs help, please call whichever hotline is most suitable, and please call today.
California 2-1-1
As a Californian resident, simply dialing 211 leads to an entire network of free and confidential assistance. California 2-1-1 offers free counseling, treatment programs, free information on mental health and substance abuse, as well as legal services and much more.
COVID-19 Stimulant Use and Harm Reduction
NIDA’s new handbook
on stigma and word choice around substance use disorder:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/nidamed_words_matter.pdf
All Los Angeles County residents can access a free meditation subscription at http://headspace.com
2020 Peoples Guide Now Available!
- The NEW State Rent Control law
- Real ID—who needs one and how do you get it?
- The latest information on DACA for immigrant youth
- How you can expunge convictions to help with job searches
- WIC is going to an EBT card system
- What are Blue Cars and how can you use them
- Diaper banks
