The purpose of the Berkshire Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative (BOAPC) is to implement local policy, practice, systems, and/or environmental changes to prevent the misuse and abuse of opioids and to prevent and reduce unintentional deaths and non-fatal hospital events associated with opioid poisonings 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

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

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) staff will continue to provide services to Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) programs such as Septic Installer Certification Courses, Chokesaver to restaurants and other educational and other programs/services and support as needed and requested by the Berkshire County Boards of Health and the BCBOHA Executive Committee.

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.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is serving as the Host Fiscal Agent for the Berkshire Public Health Alliance. The Berkshire Public Health Alliance is a group of 24 municipalities that signed an Intermunicipal Agreement enabling participating municipalities to share public health staff, programs and services to improve the delivery of public health services through regional cooperation.

This grant is designed to encourage municipalities to share public health services and build toward a more comprehensive set of shared public health services. It will allow the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to hire a full-time Public Health Nurse, an Administrative Manager and at least a part-time Inspector.

BRPC Public Health staff, funded by the Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council (WRHSAC) will conduct a strategic planning process to determine the scope of a COVID After Action Report (AAR) for Western Mass responders. BRPC will work with the WRHSAC Pan Flu/Planning Subcommittee, as well as with targeted respondents in order to develop a plan and scope of services for the AAR consultant.

Emergency funding for COVID-19 public health response. Funding is for the 24 Berkshire Public Health Alliance municipalities and five unaffiliated communities.

Emergency funding for COVID-19 public health nursing.

This grant will support the County Health Initiative (CHI) in developing and implementing a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) for Berkshire County.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) and Partners will participate in technical assistance meetings with Northampton Health Department to engage in capacity building, infrastructure, education co-learning and program development.

BRPC staff and Berkshire Public Health Alliance inspectors will provide a research report on best practices and strategies for small, rural communities in meeting FDA Standard 3 (utilization of HACCP principles to control risk factors in a retail food inspection program). BRPC staff, inspectors and members will complete a model set of plans, policies and procedures that consider local risk factors for Alliance members to adopt which will meet Standard 3. BRPC will work with one or more communities to modify, adopt and implement written policies that meet Standard 3 and update their online assessment information.

These grants will allow the assessment or re-assessments of a Berkshire County municipality in accordance with FDA Food Safety Standards.

A webinar that will be accessible on the Berkshire Overdose Addiction Prevention Collaborative's (BOAPC) website. This webinar will teach parents how to become an advocate for their child with substance use disorder.

The purpose of the Berkshire County Community Engagement & Response Program is to work with the existing emergency preparedness coalition and newly-engaged community partners, including people living with HIV (PLWH) and those who are actively working with injection drug users (IDU), to do a series of community workshops, design a blood-borne pathogen (HIV) community response plan, and to test that plan at an exercise. This HIV community response plan will reflect Berkshire County's unique geographical and demographical needs and the specific needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) and active drug users; it will also be used in future years as a template upon which to build a more comprehensive blood-borne pathogen outbreak community response plan.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission in coordination with the Western Massachusetts Medical Reserve Corps Advisory Group (MAG) serves as the fiduciary for the Berkshire Medical Reserve Corps (BMRC). The Berkshire MRC's mission is to build resilient and healthy communities by recruiting, training and deploying MRC volunteers.

Fairview Hospital, under an agreement with Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), acting as fiscal host for Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) acting as the Berkshire County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coalition will administer the Franklin County Medical Reserve Corps, as well as the Berkshire County Medical Reserve Corps.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), through the Berkshire Public Health Alliance is coordinating the Berkshire Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative. The purpose of the Berkshire Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative (BOAPC) is to implement local policy, practice, systems, and/or environmental changes to prevent the misuse and abuse of opioids and to prevent and reduce unintentional deaths and non-fatal hospital events associated with opioid poisonings throughout the 32 municipalities in Berkshire County.

The four-county Western Massachusetts collaboration will transform the systems serving emerging adults to prevent opioid misuse, address the needs of young adults currently addicted to opioids, and increase their health outcomes as they transition into adulthood.

The focus of the Overdose Data to Action grant will be to develop and implement post-overdose engagement strategies for the Northern Berkshire region; these best practices will then be "rolled out" to other regions of Berkshire County.

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 Grey 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.

The Pittsfield Youth Prevention Connection (PYPC) planning initiative will build on current regional prevention, community engagement and capacity work to develop such a coalition, to perform assessment activities, identify capacity building or infrastructure development priorities, and planning for future implementation, increasing readiness and capacity to apply all five steps of SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework and put into place a comprehensive set of evidence-based prevention programs and policies.

This funding is to support public health activities related to the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C. BOAPC will reconvene the county-wide hepatitis C working group, work with clinical partners to engage more physicians/clinical partners in providing treatment for hepatitis c, and will take part/help facilitate 2 webinars related to the HCV care continuum and health equity (as it relates to HCV).

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) acts as the fiduciary agent for the Berkshire Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coalition. Public Health Emergency Preparedness Funding supports local Boards of Health in Berkshire County to prepare for emergencies and disasters from a public health perspective. Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) acts as the emergency preparedness coalition for Berkshire County.

This grant will allow the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to operate more effectively and efficiently by allowing for the hire of a part-time administrative assistant, as well as scheduling software and the expansion of on-line permitting.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is providing funding to the Berkshire Public Health Alliance to develop a five-year strategic plan on improving food safety in Berkshire County, improving the Board of Health Online Permitting program, training on food safety inspectors.

The objective of this program is to create an enhanced regional local regulatory environment for food inspections in nine or more communities through online permitting, standardized forms, policies and procedures, enhanced training of food inspectors and sharing of inspectors.

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

The 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.

The project will conduct an exercise series exploring how to hold public vaccination clinics during a pandemic.  This grant will allow the Public Health Program to review existing Emergency Dispensing Site Plans, conduct a Tabletop exercise in the summer and then hold three or more seasonal flu clinic drills in the fall to test the plan.