A cross-section of professionals and others who have been affected by opioids will converge in the Ceremonial Courtroom at the Quinnipiac University School of Law Center, 370 Bassett Road, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9, for the summit, “Building Bridges and Finding Answers: The Opioid Crisis in Connecticut.”
“The program’s primary objectives are to generate policy recommendations to tackle the opioid crisis, identify programs to help and support those afflicted by opioid addiction, including their families, towns, schools, communities and treaters, to destigmatize the disease, and to offer hope to those who have been affected by opioid addiction,” said Jennifer Gerarda Brown, dean of the School of Law.
Brown said the summit will explore the current state of the opioid crisis in Connecticut, identify programs that are working in the state and determine what needs to be done to tackle the crisis.
The summit will feature state and local government officials and leaders from various professions, including law, medical, nursing, education, social work and communications, who will take part in a series of presentations on the opioid crisis’ impact on Connecticut, what first responders are seeing in the field, and the treatment options that are available to those who are addicted. The summit will also include first-person accounts from dependent users, people who have lost family members to opioids, as well as those who are treating the addicted.
Summit participants will join one of 10 working groups in such areas as opioid education, first responders, law enforcement, family support, medical provider education, opioids in the schools and their impact on pre-K-12 and their families, and employers and businesses.
These working groups will spend the next seven months researching their topics, coming up with findings and creating plans to move their ideas forward. The working groups will present their findings on June 7, 2019 at the Quinnipiac University School of Law Center.
The Connecticut Bar Foundation and the Connecticut Bar Association are co-sponsoring the summit with Quinnipiac.
The summit is not open to the public, but it will be livestreamed at bit.ly/2CoSPMI. Information about the findings and recommendations will be made available on or after June 7, 2019.