The Board of Health Job Aids Initiative provides a comprehensive collection of resources to support Boards of Health in developing and maintaining their structure, policies & procedures, protocols, and operational standards.

The mission of the Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative (BOAPC) is to collectively implement local policy, practice, systems, and/or environmental changes to reduce harms from opioid and stimulant use, and to prevent substance-related deaths and harmful impacts throughout the 32 municipalities in Berkshire County.

The mission of the Berkshire Public Health Alliance (BPHA) is to promote, preserve and enhance Berkshire County’s public health by meeting community needs, improving capabilities and providing equitable access to affordable public health services

On March 29, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law a supplemental budget bill which, among other things, extends the temporary provisions pertaining to the Open Meeting Law to March 31, 2025.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, on behalf of the Berkshire Public Health Alliance, is working together to improve food safety in the region. Many foodborne illnesses...

Flu Surveillance The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) produce weekly influenza surveillance reports: CDC Weekly U.S....

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission acts as a fiduciary agent for emergency planning and response activities.

Tickborne illness dashboard that is updated weekly throughout tick season.

BRPC acts as fiscal host for the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) and provides administrative tasks as needed. BRPC also runs BCBOHA's Septic Installer Certification, program and other educational programs.

This BE3C project is basing its collaborative work on the shared belief that when we as a community prioritize the health and wellbeing of Women and Girls of Color, that the wellbeing of all people will improve. With this knowledge, the BE3C partners, aided by BOAPC and WOCHE, will build a new way of doing substance misuse prevention planning: By creating a culturally-responsive, safe space where community members can come together to share knowledge, stories, and experiences, build new relationships, and create tools to address the identified needs of Girls of Color ages 5-11 in the community of Pittsfield.

BRPC has been retained as a consultant to write Berkshire Health Systems' Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).

The provision of blood pressures cuffs from the American Heart Association (AHA) will allow the Public Health Nurses (PHN) to supply needed blood pressure cuffs to the public. The PHN identify individuals with high blood pressure at community clinics, and provide them with a free cuff and education on use, as well as ensuring those with dangerously high blood pressure seek medical attention. The AHA has also provided printed materials for public education.

The Berkshire Public Health Alliance and the ten Alliance/PHE Full-Service Towns are working together to improve food safety in Berkshire County and regionally meet all nine FDA Voluntary Retail Food Program Standards.

BOAPC will engage community members to carry out to Days of Action to knock on doors in areas/ neighborhoods with higher rates of overdose. They will increase awareness of fentanyl in the supply, particularly for people who use stimulants, and encourage engagement with Berkshire Harm Reduction, SafeSpot, the Thrive Team and other local supports.

This grant will allow the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to hire an epidemiologist and 1.7 Community Health Workers (CHW) to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and other associated tasks.

This funding is used to support the Berkshire Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) efforts. The Coordinator and other staff will oversee the MRC including meeting and coordination with other emergency preparedness stakeholders, development of training needs assessments, participation in exercises, drills and events, and the management of volunteers.

Municipal allocation from the town of Lanesborough for MA Opioid Manufacturer Settlements intended for use by the Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative (BOAPC) in association with the North Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative (OAC)

Through pooled Opioid Abatement funds from eight Northern Berkshire Municipalities (Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, New Ashford, North Adams, Savoy, and Williamstown) and Berkshire Health Systems, this project will engage a full-time staff member to coordinate community-led efforts to enhance harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts while addressing underlying root causes in order to reduce opioid overdoses and related harms from substance misuse and addiction.

These project funds are provided through the Massachusetts Healthy Community Fund and are committed to removing barriers to health, incuding structural and institutional racism, poverty and other power inbalances, through community-centered policies, systems and environmental changes approaches. The Pittsfield Gray to Green Project will engage the community and prioritize green planning in a social and racial justice context. Partners include Habitat for Humanity and Working Cities, 18 Degrees and the City of Pittsfield.

Plastic pollution has long been recognized as an environmental problem. Research now suggests that microplastics are also a human health problem. BRPC has partnered with the Toxics Use Reduction Institute on a three-pronged approach to addressing each of these problems: 1. Development of public-facing materials on how everyday citizens can reduce their exposure to microplastics, 2. Development of educational materials for food establishments on how to explore safe alternatives to single-use plastic containers, 3. Development of a toolkit for municipalities on the subject of plastics reduction bylaws.

BRPC will continue to coordinate the Berkshire County Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Coalition/Berkshire County Boards of Health Association in FY26, in collaboration with the BCBOHA Executive Committee and the BCBOHA membership. It will also work with other contractors to ensure that exercises and other deliverables are completed. Public Health Emergency Preparedness Funding supports local Boards of Health in Berkshire County in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and disasters from a public health and health equity perspective. Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) serves as the emergency preparedness coalition for Berkshire County.

Implementation and Expansion of the “Strengthening the Berkshire County Regional Food System with Locally-Sourced Mobile Farmers Market to Serve Low Access Populations” (Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market) project will build on prior and ongoing collaborative efforts to expand local food production and delivery systems as well as bring the benefits of fresh and healthy locally grown food to under served communities and individuals. By increasing the regional food supply network, the Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market Project will improve community resiliency by diminishing our reliance on long-distance food chains, improve equitable access to local, healthy food options, especially for low-income, remote, and rural families, educate the public on the availability and benefits of local foods, and mitigate the stigma of using SNAP benefits and food pantries. The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission joins Berkshire Bounty, Berkshire Grown, and the Southern Berkshire Rural Health Network and partners with Berkshire United Way and Community Health Programs in this partnership. Each partner addresses a distinct food production, storage, purchase, and distribution aspect.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is serving as the fiduciary agent to the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to implement a regional Public Health Inspection Program in selected Alliance towns.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is serving as the fiduciary agent to the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to implement a regional Public Health Nursing Program in selected Alliance towns.

To support the SPARK Coalition’s goal of promoting positive mental health and social connections among youth in central Berkshire County, BRPC will collaborate with Pittsfield High School to pilot the Active Minds peer mental health support program. Developed in collaboration with the Youth Advisory Boards (YABs), this initiative empowers students to lead conversations around mental health, reduce stigma, and foster a compassionate school environment. Through structured sessions and leadership opportunities, students will gain skills in emotional awareness, empathy, and peer support, advancing SPARK’s mission to reduce substance misuse by strengthening youth resilience and community ties.

The SPARK Coalition aims to prevent and reduce substance misuse and its associated harms among Central Berkshire County middle and high school aged youth.

The project builds on existing capacities to expand new and ongoing community-centered, field-based interventions to address the Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Lifecycle of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery in Berkshire County, MA. The project contains three coordinated, regionally specific (North, Central, and South) field programs that reduce the risk of harm from substance use, decrease arrests, and improve health outcomes through field outreach to higher-risk individuals, outreach to & engagement with communities disproportionately affected by substances, along with training and public communications to decrease stigma and increase engagement with services.

Supplemental funding for BRPC's youth substance use prevention and mental health promotion efforts, including SPARK and the Berkshire Early Childhood Community Circle (BE3C), for necessary costs that cannot be covered by other funders