Nautilus Public Health

Thank you, Governor Mills!

Mills signs executive order to combat opioid crisis The governor orders the purchase of 35,000 doses of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone; integration of medication-assisted treatment into the criminal justice system; and creation of a statewide network of 250 recovery coaches.

It's that time of year, when the legislature makes decisions about life in Maine. Let's make this a "no decisions about us without us" kind of year!

The ACLU has a great resource on how to testify before a legislative committee. Check it out!

Testifying 101: Making Your Voice Heard in the State Legislature A relatively unique aspect of the legislative process here in Maine is that every bill gets a public hearing. Which means anyone can testify on a bill in Augusta. No exceptions. All that's required is a little bit of prep work on your end.Here is a quick guide on how to effectively testify on a bill...

Thanks, Drew Gattine, for introducing this important bill.

Dental care is health care. It should be covered by health insurance. Including dental care in comprehensive health insurance is long overdue.

SAVE THE DATE for this important (and long overdue) conference):
Maternal & Child Health/Substance Exposed Infant Conference, May 22-23, 2019, Jeff's Catering in Brewer, Maine.

Event registration will be released in April 2019

This two day conference is an educational opportunity for clinicians, medical and social service providers, prevention professionals, public health professionals, behavioral health professionals, community members, parents, and others to discuss strategies to optimize maternal and child health. The presenters each day will provide a host of information related to Health Equity, Trauma Informed Care, Eat Sleep Console, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Maternal Depression, Prenatal Substance Exposure, and the many resources available to this population at large.

Some great info and inspiration here about how local communities can use technology to address the opioid crisis.

National crises are deeply local concerns, demanding local solutions - The Commons Jeremiah Lindemann is a Public Interest Technology Fellow at New America, where he runs the Opioid Mapping Initiative, a coalition of local government task forces devising new strategies to combat the opioid epidemic.   The term “crisis” is often used to refer to something huge––national or...

Happy New Year and happy new AdCare Maine newsletter! Start your 2019 out strong with interesting news and trainings to support your work: https://mailchi.mp/adcareme/news-from-adcare-maine-share-your-perspective-on-the-behavioral-health-workforce-1361249

Is 60 minutes worth learning how to save a life?

This free 1 hour webinar on Thursday, January 31, 2019 (12 PM – 1 PM) is New England Public Health Training Center's introductory "gatekeeper" training for community professionals to understand su***de and su***de prevention. It will feature Vermont's Center for Health and Learning, which runs several programs for different types of professionals in su***de prevention.

LEARN MORE: https://www.nephtc.org/enrol/index.php?id=90

Mills’ ‘Executive Order 1’ makes 70,000 more Mainers eligible for health insurance The Democrat had vowed to expand Medicaid on 'day one' of her administration, almost 14 months after voters approved it.

The Maine State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) has released several new resources at http://www.maineseow.com/
– 2018 Substance Use Trends in Maine Report
– 2018 Public Health District Substance Use Profiles
– 2018 Factsheets
– 2018 Presentations

Did you know? Almost 70,000 Mainers became eligible for MaineCare insurance in November of 2017 when Maine voters passed MaineCare Expansion. Our governor-elect has said she will implement it in the new year!

The sooner you apply for MaineCare coverage the better! Once MaineCare Expansion is implemented, folks should be eligible for retroactive coverage backdated to when your application was submitted.

Check out this resource to learn more about eligibility and the application process: https://bit.ly/2SXFpw9

We also have Financial Assistance Counselors available to help with this process. Call (207) 874-2141 to make an appointment.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse....

Trump administration funding formula causes Maine to lose out on millions in federal opioid money Because officials used older data, the state missed a key cutoff, and funding dropped precipitously.

Our Overdose Response and Prevention training is ONE WEEK away!! RSVP today at https://goo.gl/forms/FR7A78hNRwc6BjWn2