OUR MOVEMENT IN MOTION
March 30, 2023


SECTION 1: News and Announcements


+ WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: The late Imani Woods changed the harm reduction movement forever, and her lasting legacy lives on today. This Women's History Month, we celebrated Imani and continue learning from her words of wisdom, which still ring true — calling us all to center the communities we work with and for. Before becoming a fierce voice advocating for services including syringe exchange, Imani was an "abstinence proponent." She went on to later become a tireless, "'ardent protester' in support of harm reduction." She served as the founder and executive director of Street Outreach Services (SOS) in Seattle and was a founding member of NHRC (then Harm Reduction Coalition). Read more about Imani here.

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+ NSSSP SURVEYS: Calling all Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) — We need your feedback! The 2023 National Survey of Syringe Services Programs, launched with the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) and RTI International, is open. Tracking SSP budgets and data over time helps us advocate for more resources. Respond today with your experiences! Check your inbox for an email invitation from NASEN, and see more info with this FAQ link.

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+ SAMHSA PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY: SAMHSA is looking for feedback on a draft set of National Standards for Peer Support Certification. The goal of these standards "are to advance peer specialist efforts in serving people experiencing mental health and/or substance use conditions and their families by improving the quality and consistency of state certification approaches across states." The deadline for submitting comments is Monday, April 10, at 5 p.m. EST. To view the draft and submit comments, click here.

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+ REQUEST FOR ABSTRACTS: Health Affairs is planning a theme issue on housing and health, to be published in February 2024. Approximately 20 peer-reviewed articles will be published, including original research, analyses, commentaries, and Narrative Matters — from leading researchers, scholars, analysts, and health care stakeholders. The deadline to apply is Monday, April 17, 2023. For more information and to apply, visit this link.

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+ CONFERENCES AND EVENTS:

-Harm Reduction International's HR'23 HRI Conference, Strength in Solidarity, takes place Sunday, April 16, through Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. Learn more about the conference here, and click here to register.

-The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance, is happening in Phoenix, AZ from Wednesday, Oct. 18, through Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Learn more about the conference here, and click this link to register.

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+ KENTUCKY SYMPOSIUM: NHRC collaborated with VOCAL Kentucky and the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition to offer a highly successful harm reduction symposium in February. Attended by about 50 people the week of Valentine's Day, the event featured a series of panels, presentations, and discussions to support harm reduction program expansion in the state. The overall theme of the event was based on "Loving People Back to Health" in honor of the essential spirit of harm reduction.


+ NEWS: FDA approves OTC Narcan — While we support over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone in all its forms, we're echoing the need for naloxone to be free and accessible for all, beyond pharmacy walls. Harm reductionists have been working to make this happen for many years, long before the FDA decision was made to approve Narcan nasal spray OTC. Let's continue advocating to get life-saving naloxone into more communities and in the hands of people who use drugs. This Filter article outlines the latest update.

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+ NEWS: Hidden fentanyl can kill. Test strips can help make drug use safer —"'The whole thing is, know your drug,' said Jose Martinez, who participates in street outreach with the National Harm Reduction Coalition in the Bronx." Drug testing strips save lives, and have been proven to keep folks safer as outlined in this article by The New York Times focused on the NYC area. Despite this, test strips are classified as "illegal drug paraphernalia" in many areas across the U.S. These life-saving tools should be available to everyone — no strings or legal risks attached.

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+ NEWS: Opioids were the most common cause of fatal poisoning of young children — In this NBC News coverage, NHRC's Associate Director of Capacity Building, Mike Selick, shares ways to keep children — and all people — safer at home. "If opioids are going to be in the home, everyone in the home should be trained on how to recognize an opioid overdose and have naloxone so they are ready to save a life."

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SECTION 2: Emergent and Exciting Work


+ FUNDING AND GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:

-Positive Women’s Network-USA Policy Fellowship, a year-long program, was created to support women, transgender and nonbinary people living with HIV to gain skills in policy advocacy. Applicants from any state are welcome to apply for the virtual trainings, and regularly participate in group sessions and one-on-one mentoring coaching from May 2023 through June 2024. For more details and to apply by Sunday, April 9, 2023, click here.

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North Star Fund is currently accepting applications for its latest cycle, and folks are welcome to apply through the deadline on Friday, April 14, 2023. To learn more about the grant opportunities and how to apply, visit the North Star Fund’s website here.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Overdose Data to Action in States (OD2A-S) Funding will fund state health departments and the District of Columbia to expand surveillance efforts to track fatal and non-fatal overdoses, emerging drug threats, and associated risk factors as well as enhance data linkage. Applications are due by Monday, May 8, 2023, at 11:59 EST. To read more and apply, click here.

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SAMHSA's 2023 "Communities Talk" stipend cycle is underway. Click here to register, and request a stipend ASAP.

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+ RESOURCES:

-NHRC requests organizations to add or update their information on the Naloxone Finder map in an effort to ensure the resource is up-to-date. To add a new program, click here. To update existing program information on the map, please fill out this form. We appreciate your support in spreading the word about these life-saving materials!

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-Created by the Drug Policy Alliance and adopted by the Stanford REACH Lab, “Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs” is a curriculum for high school students including accurate information that empowers teens if they choose to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or other drugs, to reduce potential harms. Learn more about the resource here.

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+ TRAININGS: Lighthouse Learning Collective developed an 8-session LGBTQIA+ harm reduction training series titled, "Lighthouse Learning Series." The virtual series is for harm reduction providers in NYC who would like to build on their harm reduction knowledge to provide better services to LGBTQIA+ folks. The sessions, running from January through April, focus on topics ranging from sex work to sexual and reproductive health, disability justice, chemsex, and more. For more information, click here.

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If you support emergent and exciting work at National Harm Reduction Coalition, please join our community of monthly donors, the Harm Reduction Champions! Become a Harm Reduction Champion Today.

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SECTION 3: Policy


+ LEGISLATION:

-We are excited to see LB307 progress in the Nebraska legislature, a bill that provides an exception to the penalty relating to drug paraphernalia under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act! Click here for more information.

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In more exciting news, we are celebrating that Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi signed House Bill 722, which decriminalizes fentanyl testing strips. This bill will save lives! Read more about the legislation here.

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SECTION 5: Work for the Movement


Integral Care is hiring an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) and a MAT LPHA.
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AIDS Care Group is offering an APA-accredited one-year residency position.
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NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene is hiring for several roles, including:

-Medications for Substance Use Disorders Technical Assistance Lead, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care, and Treatment (BADUPCT)
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-Director of Operations, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care, and Treatment (BADUPCT)
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Hiring? Send us a note about open positions in harm reduction to [email protected] to have a job post shared here.


National Harm Reduction Coalition
243 Fifth Avenue
Box 529
New York, NY 10016
United States

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