Advocacy

Gail testified virtually in March 2026 to the Maryland House Health Committee in favor of a Pharmaceutical Marketing bill, HB1134, that would limit industry gifts to health care professionals.
A woman with glasses and curly hair is being interviewed on a news broadcast. The caption reads, "INMATES HANDCUFFED WHILE GETTING METHADONE - LANCASTER CO. PRISON." The CBS 21 logo is visible.
A woman with dark hair is being interviewed on a news broadcast. The caption reads, "INMATES HANDCUFFED WHILE GETTING METHADONE - LANCASTER CO. PRISON." The CBS 21 logo is visible.

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.

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. 

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.

Gail Shows a fentanyl test strip while testifying in Harrisburg, January 10, 2022.

Gail shows a fentanyl test strip while testifying in Harrisburg, January 10, 2022.

HPN Records Prison Board meetings when the County won’t
You can view the Lancaster County, PA, Prison Board meetings that county officials do not want you to see on HPN’s YouTube channel.
As part of our advocacy for transparency and accountability, HPN hired a videographer to record and post the 4 meetings a year the Prison Board holds in the jail facility, starting in 2024. (We have not livestreamed them yet, but are looking into ways to do this affordably.)
 
 Advocates repeatedly asked officials to record and post these meetings, as they do almost all other public meetings, including the 2/3 of the Prison Board meetings livestreamed from the county’s main office building. They said no.
 
The county also will not provide portable PA equipment for meetings in the jail. No microphones. No amplifier. In a room with very poor acoustics. 
 
The 40-50 people attending often have to strain to try to hear. We believe this is inexcusable as well, and likely an ADA violation.
 
But until they are willing to do better, HPN spends about $250 per meeting to hire a videographer. Only $1,000 a year. Adding a portable public address system for the 40-50 people in the room might add $1,000 more to that cost. The county IT department’s budget is $5.7 million (2024).
 
Vital public discussion at these meetings should not become inaccessible to taxpayers who can’t take off work on a weekday morning to attend, or who have mobility, hearing, or visual challenges. 
 
Livestreaming, recording, and posting public meetings online provides closed captioning access. It allows more citizens to engage in local government. It helps hold policymakers accountable.
 
LINKS:
 
HPN’s YouTube channel. For recordings since 2024 of the 4 meetings each year at the jail: 
County’s Vimeo channel. For recordings of other Prison Board meetings, held in the county government building: https://vimeo.com/user110595592

Advocating for Syringe Service Programs  

Examples of Letters of Support & Advocacy for PA SSP Bill: 

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.