Every week, we report on the Philadelphia Resilience Project, the City’s emergency response to combat the opioid crisis. Right now, the efforts are focused on Kensington and surrounding neighborhoods – the epicenter of the opioid crisis – but we expect to expand to other sections of the city as needed.

This week, we continued outreach about closing the Frankford Avenue encampment on November 15, finalized plans to roll out the Police Assisted Diversion program next week, planned upcoming meetings with community and business leaders, and much more.

Below is a more detailed update on the immediate goals which have a deadline of November 16, 2018.

Mission Area 1: Clear Encampments
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Clear Frankford Avenue encampment of all campers and debris by November 15. Encampment closure effort continues with outreach to all individuals residing in the encampment. Outreach also continues to individuals residing in the Emerald Street encampment which will be closed by January 15. As of November 9, there are 189 unique individuals residing in both the Frankford and Emerald Ave. encampment.
In coordination with Mission Areas 3 and 6, solidify housing plans for 100 percent of Frankford encampment individuals who are relocated to the Navigation Center within 30 days of intake. As of November 9, 100 percent of individuals residing in the Navigation Center have started their housing and treatment plans.
Prevent unsafe squatting and the formation of new encampments on all vacant properties within the target area by November 15. Strategies are in development and being finalized.
Mission Area 2: Reduce Criminal Activity
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Reduce injection drug use. Cut down demand for drugs. Interdisciplinary teams are being coordinated to engage the population in the target area.
Create and strengthen existing safe corridor routes for travel to and from school. Five schools have been identified for a pilot program. Effort will begin with Elkin Elementary School, which will be fully implemented by the end of November.
Increase safety measures for children using foot and bike patrols, plus daily school checks. This is ongoing.Specific service detail and police officers have been dedicated to 15 schools in the 24th, 25th, and 26th districts. This Mission Area team is also working in close coordination with the School District.
Implement Police-Assisted Diversion (PAD) program in East Police Division. The PAD program is on track to begin on November 15.  PAD is a harm reduction based approach giving police an alternative to arrest and prosecution. Through PAD, police officers are able to redirect low-level offenders engaged in drug or other activity to community-based services instead of simply prosecution and jail.
Support the operation of removing the encampment on November 15. The Police Department has devoted resources to support this effort.
Mission 3: Reduce Unsheltered Population
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Identify a temporary site for a 24-hour Navigation Center including respite and wrap-around services   The investigation of potential sites continues.   
Create a budget and determine the cost to stand up a Navigation Center.   A budget proposal for a Navigation Center has been created.
Create a by-name list of unsheltered persons in the area and redeploy community outreach resources to ensure

that the mission area is reaching as much of the target population as possible.

There is currently a by-name list for Frankford and Emerald encampments. A by-name list for the Kensington area is in development. The next quarterly Point-in-Time count is scheduled for November 14.
Develop a strategy to bring in public and health services. A budget proposal for a Navigation Center with wrap around services has been developed and is awaiting Finance review.
Identify a provider to operate the Short-term Navigation Center A provider with a positive track record of operating large- scale shelters has been identified. We are working with that provider to expand treatment options and programs.
Mission 4: Reduce Trash and Litter
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Conduct a large scale clean-up along Kensington Ave on November 2. A large-scale cleanup was held on November 1. Ongoing cleanups will continue along the same Kensington corridor as the large-scale cleanup.
Place needle drop boxes at McPherson Square and targeted SEPTA stations. Seven needle drop boxes were installed on October 25. An additional drop box is pending install later this month.
Provide a temporary dumpster to support Frankford Avenue encampment closure. A dumpster will be placed near Emerald Street next week.
Recruit volunteers with lived experience to assist with regular clean ups. Upcoming cleanups have been scheduled for November 10, November 17, and December 8. Seven participants of Center for Employment Opportunities (a workforce development organization) are cleaning with CLIP three days a week.
Use bicycles for mobile collection of discarded syringes. A bike group called KIND — Kensington Initiative on Needle Disposal — are performing weekly cleanups.
311 will establish a local informational and complaint line (pod) specifically for this operation. The bilingual 311 pod is operational as of October 26 and is receiving approximately 50 calls a day.
Mission 5: Reduce Overdoses
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Prevent outbreak of Hepatitis A among homeless individuals and injection drug users in the Kensington area. Outreach teams have been vaccinating in Kensington weekly.  Focus has been in encampments and for those experiencing homelessness.185 Hepatitis A and 175 influenza immunizations have been given to date to 224 unique individuals. A large vaccination event is scheduled for this upcoming weekend.
Prevent transmission of HIV infection through injection drug use. All service agencies and healthcare providers in Kensington area have been asked to increase HIV screening activities among drug users by at least 25%.

168 HIV screening tests were performed between October 15-October 31, which is an increase of 31% compared to baseline. 10 of 11 patients (91%) found with new HIV infection were successfully linked to medical care.

Create risk-based model for identifying individuals who have experienced previous overdose and are at highest risk for a subsequent overdose so they can be referred for services. This is in development and dependent on the establishment of a data-sharing agreement (outlined below).
Implement name-based data sharing and/or reporting of non-fatal overdoses and opioid-related risk conditions, so that highest-risk individuals can be referred for services by November 16. A data-sharing agreement has been drafted and requires additional review by Law which is underway. A weekly meeting has been established to discuss data-sharing among numerous city agencies.
Mission 6: Increase Treatment Options and Access
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Disseminate information on treatment access. Additional information on accessing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) was posted on DBHIDS’ website at dbhids.org/MAT.
Deploy mobile outreach team including medical professionals to provide Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in the field. Mobile outreach teams were at the Frankford encampment and continue to engage individuals.
Coordinate with Community Forgiveness and Restoration Program at Temple.   Another workshop was held on November 3 and participants increased. CBH member services and others participated
Facilitate access to treatment from bridges with reserved Kirkbride beds. All five Kirkbride beds reserved for the encampment have been used as of November 1.
Launch treatment capacity database. This is in the final stage of development.
Expand warm hand-offs for treatment access across the system by December 31. As of November 3, 142 warm handoffs to behavioral health treatment were accomplished.
Mission 7: Mobilize Community Response
Immediate Goal Progress as of November 9, 2018
Create a community calendar to highlight meetings, trainings, clean ups, big public events, paint days, and other programming. The community calendar is now live and publicly available at phila.gov/opioids.
Identify potential funding partners and engage an external fundraiser. Engaging a fundraising partner is underway and is expected to be complete within 30 days.
Create and train Philly311 unit for specialized Kensington/Fairhill information and assignments. Kensington 311 pod is operational as of October 26 and is operating in both English and Spanish. We’re receiving approximately 50 constituent calls a day, which are shared with serving departments daily.
Direct engagement with Kensington/Fairhill community. This is ongoing. A community meeting with local representatives of community based organizations and faith-based organizations is scheduled for November 16.
Create a volunteer sign up form. This is complete as of October 26 and can be accessed HERE. We are currently recruiting volunteers for three upcoming cleanups.
Create targeted information and resources for neighborhood leaders. This is in development.  
Create promotional materials to share at libraries, rec centers, schools, and throughout the community.   This is ongoing.
Ensure all materials are understandable and meet other Access and Functional Needs (AFN) requirements. This is ongoing.
Increase frequency of communication to residents providing status of the Philadelphia Resilience Project. Weekly emails continue and we are determining which other targeted methods of communication will be deployed, such as texts, calls, canvassing, and community bulletins in neighborhood papers.
Want to stay up-to-date on our efforts to address the opioid crisis in Kensington and across the city? Sign up for our mailing list and check for updates at phila.gov/opioids.
Learn more about the Philadelphia Resilience Project.