Advocacy

People gathered at a rally holding signs which say “Harm Reduction is Healthcare” and “Syringe Services=Safer Communities”

Health Policy Network helped support this 2024 rally for passing a harm reduction bill to legalize syringe service programs, organized by the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network at the State Capital in Harrisburg. Photo credit: Tiffany Atlas.

Opioid Settlement Funds

HPN’s advocacy efforts to Lancaster County’s Commissioners resulted in policy changes in 2024 to seek more expert guidance on their settlement funding allocations. The Lancaster District Attorney’s office rescinded its request, one we’d challenged publicly, that would have diverted almost 1/3 of received funds to law enforcement roles rather than the treatment and recovery programs specified in the settlement guidance. 

However, both Lancaster County and the state PA Opioid Trust have continued to make important decisions in secret meetings without public input or the participation of impacted communities. In 2023 Spotlight PA, WESA, and HPN began publicy raising questions about the state Trust’s transparency issues, and we continued to raise concerns throughout 2024. 

Spotlight’s March and August 2024 coverage quoted HPN (the latter story included a photograph of Gail attending the State Trust 2023 meeting in Harrisburg, where I wasn’t allowed to make comments.) 

The Sunshine Act issue is included in at least one county’s legal appeal of the state Trust’s decisions. 

National coverage (includes quote from HPN): 

Public Voices Often Ignored in States’ Opioid Settlement Money Decisions, August 2024, Kaiser Health News (co-authored with Spotlight PA)

 

NEW RESOURCE: In November 2024 Spotlight posted an interactive database allowing the public to track roughly $70 million in spending (or planned spending) involving about 450 programs or interventions. 

 

Lancaster County Prison and MOUD/ MAT advocacy

 HPN’s advocacy and education efforts in 2024 were successful in halting a counterproductive and stigmatizing “safety” policy impacting patients in the opioid use disorder treatment program at Lancaster County Prison. 

 See media coverage on our “In the News” page spanning 9 months of 2024 that HPN and other advocates repeatedly pressed for change. 

Transparency and policy issues remain however: 

  1. This problematic protocol was implemented without the knowledge of the County Prison Board, demonstrating a gap in oversight of the prison policies. HPN supports independent monitoring of the welfare of people incarcerated at LCP as well as an investigation of the procedures for implementing policies that should require legal review.  County Commissioners agreed to fund an independent investigation of the Youth Intervention Center when there was a public outcry over a similar gap in oversight happened, but has denied HPN’s call for an investigation into the troubling protocols at the jail.
  2. We have repeatedly asked the County administration to ensure that all meetings of the LC Prison Board are held publicly and accessible to all citizens, including livestreaming and recording of all meetings. Currently 4 of 11 meetings each year are not livestreamed or being recorded. HPN recorded one of the meetings to demonstrate that this can be done inexpensively and easily.

Advocating for Syringe Service Programs  

 

Organizational Letters of Support: