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 to work on establishing safe routes for schoolchildren to walk to and from local schools, continued outreach to the last remaining large encampment, expanded health outreach for HIV and hepatitis, and prepared for another large-scale neighborhood cleanup on December 8.
Below is a more detailed update on other immediate and short-term goals for the seven mission areas of the project.
| Mission Area 1: Clear Encampments – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Outstanding Immediate Goals | |
| 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 26, 38 campers from Frankford Avenue have accepted housing in the Kensington Navigation Center and started their plans. |
| Prevent unsafe squatting and the formation of new encampments on all vacant properties within the target area by November 15. | 8 out of 10 census tracts have been completed for survey. 49 clean and seals are complete. 12 demolitions are complete. 16 private demolitions (likely for development) are complete. We continue to review ordinances, regulations, and laws for guidance to inform the strategy. |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Begin outreach to clear Emerald Street Encampment by January 15 | Outreach to Emerald Street is ongoing. |
| Develop comprehensive strategy to prevent encampments from relocating or reforming. | Law is drafting an encampment policy, food and clothing distribution policy by December 7. |
| In coordination with Mission Area 4 (Trash and Litter), and Mission Area 2 (Public Safety) decrease short-dumping in the target area. | MA1 is no longer managing this objective and has referred it to MA4. |
| In coordination with Mission Areas 3 (Reduce Homelessness) and 6 (Increase Treatment) bring additional services to the Navigation Center. | Case management, housing and immunizations for Hep-A and Hep-C are available at the Kensington Navigation Center during extended hours on Tuesday and Thursday at 7-9am and 5-7pm. Previously, residents had to go off-site for the services.
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| Review and develop policies to promote the safety, security, and civil rights of Kensington community members, including homeless individuals with drug addiction. | Law to draft encampment policy, food/clothing distribution policy by December 7th. |
| Mission Area 2: Reduce Criminal Activity – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Outstanding Immediate Goals | |
| Reduce injection drug use. Cut down demand for drugs. | In progress. We are organizing an outreach team to be escorted by Police to begin work along the Kensington Ave. corridor between Thanksgiving and Christmas. |
| Create and strengthen existing safe corridor routes for travel to and from school. | Training took place at Willard and Elkin with volunteers/parents. Soft launch of corridor has been implemented. Waiting for feedback in order to strengthen and expand the corridor. Met with parents at Sheridan School with training anticipated shortly; volunteers have been recruited. We have visited all the schools that have been targeted and training sessions are being scheduled. The school district has shuttle buses to transport students from various SEPTA locations to Conwell School. |
| Increase safety measures for children using foot and bike patrols, plus daily school checks. | Additional police personnel have been added to the Service Detail. |
| Implement Police-Assisted Diversion (PAD) program in East Police Division. | An officer was detailed to the East Division Inspector’s Office as of this past Monday morning. The officer has begun the process of acclimating herself to the conditions present in the 24th District by going out with the Service Detail and Foot Beat Officers to raise awareness about the program. To date, we’ve screened 3 people for the program. Two were potential retail theft diversions that we’re ineligible due to the presence of an active warrant. |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Enhance federal and state partnerships to address narcotic supply and distribution | In progress and ongoing. |
| Create and strengthen existing Safe Corridor routes for travel to and from school. | PDP has provided the Safe Corridor Reflective vests for the program. |
| Engage the community and ensure they are aware that their needs are being addressed. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Mission 3: Reduce Unsheltered Population – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Outstanding Immediate Goals | |
| Identify a temporary site for a 24-hour Navigation Center including respite and wrap-around services. | In progress. Potential sites have been assessed, but no site has been confirmed. |
| 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. |
In progress. There is currently a by-name list for Frankford and Emerald encampments. A by-name list for the Kensington area is in development. |
| Develop a strategy to bring in public and health services. | A meeting with interested organizations for bringing in health services was held on November 29. |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Explore intermediate housing, inspired by Seattle’s use of Tiny Houses. | No updates to share at this time. |
| Open temporary Navigation Center, with plans to move people through and out of it and into temporary housing. | Planning continues to secure a site for the comprehensive Navigation Center. |
| Bring public services on site to provide access to treatment, employment services, ID registration, and recovery assistance, and to work towards preventing the spread of communicable diseases. | A meeting with interested organizations for bringing in volunteer and health services was held on November 29. |
| Develop a housing exit strategy by creating a program to ensure that there is a flow of people through the Navigation Center and on to longer term housing with the end goal of self-sufficiency and rehabilitation. | No updates to share at this time. |
| Mission 4: Reduce Trash and Litter – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Attempt to engage prison system to have weekenders prisoners assist with cleaning areas in the grid | In progress. |
| Continuous clean up efforts within the initial clean up area | The next large-scale clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, December 8 from 9 am to 12 pm, beginning at Elkin School at D & Allegheny. Registration information for this clean-up can be found here. |
| Clean-up totals as of 11/27 | ABANDONED VEHICLES TOWED: 87 MILES COMPLETED W/ MECHANICAL BROOMS: 28.5 ILLEGAL DUMPS CLEANED: 14 CLEAN AND SEALS COMPLETED:39 GRAFFITI ABATEMENTS: 3,831 DOORS & WINDOWS PAINTED:13 VACANT LOTS ABATED: 227 COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS COMPLETED:169 CLIP GROUPS RECEIVING SUPPLIES: 45 PWD INLETS CLEANED:100 PPR BAGS COLLECTED: 193 PPR ILLEGAL DUMPS IN PARKS: 5 311 QUALITY OF LIFE COMPLAINTS RECEIVED: 909 311 QUALITY OF LIFE COMPLAINTS RESOLVED: 721 |
| Coordinate with School District to ensure Safe Corridors are blight-free. | In Progress |
| Coordinate with Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet and incorporate some of their their mission goals | In Progress. |
| Engage Environmental Crime Unit to investigate illegal dumping. | In Progress . |
| Engage with SEPTA to discuss the installation of trash receptacles at EL stop entrances along Kensington Ave. | In Progress. |
| Identify process for additional placement of trash receptacles and ongoing collection responsibilities. | In Progress. |
| Support efforts to expand operation geographically. | No updates to share. |
| Mission 5: Reduce Overdoses – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Prevent outbreak of Hepatitis A among homeless individuals and injection drug users in the Kensington area. | Complete and ongoing. Outreach teams have been vaccinating in Kensington weekly. Focus has been in encampments and for those experiencing homelessness. Hepatitis A immunization of homeless and injection drug using populations has been implemented by street-side outreach. To date, 268 people have been immunized. Surveillance for cases of acute hepatitis A in Kensington has been implemented. There have been no cases of hepatitis A identified in the area. |
| Prevent transmission of HIV infection through injection drug use. | Complete and ongoing. All service agencies and healthcare providers in Kensington area have been asked to increase HIV screening activities among drug users by at least 25% and HIV testing sites in Kensington have increased the number of tests performed by 31%. HIV surveillance data reports are distributed biweekly to key partners. 91% of injection drug users with new HIV infection were linked to medical care within 30 days. |
| 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. | In progress. It 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. | In progress. A data-sharing agreement has been drafted and is under review by Law Department. Meetings to discuss data-sharing across City departments and the creation of a high-risk client list are occurring weekly with all relevant partners. Public Health has been tasked with being the “manager” of the high-risk client list, but access is granted to those providing services. |
| Increase distribution of naloxone (Narcan) and related training. | Pharmacy billing for naloxone (Narcan) was implemented in PDP this week. |
| Create or enhance data systems, data management, data integrity, and data analytic capabilities in various city agencies. | A job description for data analyst/epidemiologist was created for enhancing capacity in the Fire Department/EMS. Recruitment of candidates is underway. |
| Expand mobile or field-based distribution of Medical Assisted Treatment (MAT). | Funding to support field-based distribution of MAT has been identified. A contract has been initiated with a service provider in Kensington to offer MAT through a mobile van. This pilot program will run from December 2018 – February 2019.
Thereafter, the outcome of the program will be evaluated and a decision made as to whether to continue it. |
| Provide each EMS provider medic unit with a smartphone to capture overdose data to be reported to OD Map (which is used by DVIC for tracking). | Complete and ongoing. |
| Mission 6: Increase Treatment Options & Access – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Outstanding Immediate Goals | |
| Disseminate information on treatment access. | Accessing Treatment & MAT Provider List has been published to the DBHIDS website. CBH Member Services and two CPS from DBHIDS are onsite weekly on Wednesdays at the Mural Arts Storefront in Kensington. CBH Member Services will be training 311 on accessing treatment and CBH Member Services as a resource from 11/28-12/5/2018. |
| Deploy mobile outreach team including medical professionals to provide Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in the field. | In progress and ongoing. Merakey Parkside’s Mobile Outreach Team is now using Uber Health to pick up individuals and has established relationships with Eagleville and Kirkbride for individuals seeking inpatient treatment. |
| Launch treatment capacity database. | This has been moved to long term. Final drafts are being refined for live posting. It is not yet live on the website. There will be a dry run prior to live posting to ensure consistent and accurate reporting. |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Expand warm hand-offs between emergency departments and treatment options. | Alternate funding opportunities are being explored. |
| Expand Police Assisted Diversion (PAD) into East Division. | See update provided under Mission Area 2. |
| Incorporate withdrawal management into the Journey of Hope Project. | This will be moved to a long-term goal. RHD is pending a DEA license and physical modifications to two sites. |
| Mission 7: Mobilize Community Response – Progress as of November 30, 2018 | |
| Outstanding Immediate Goals | |
| Identify potential funding partners and engage an external fundraiser. | An RFP was released for a consultant to assist The Resilience Project in developing both a strategic and tactical fundraising and partnership plan with philanthropy and private funders. A few proposals were submitted and are currently under review for a final decision. It is projected for a decision to be made by the end of the week. |
| Direct engagement with Kensington/Fairhill community. | On October 26, Philly311 launched a team of four (three bilingual) agents dedicated to receiving and responding to all service requests that come in about The Philadelphia Resilience Project. As of November 19, Philly311 received a total of 1,141 “Quality of Life” service requests in the Philadelphia Resilience Project target area (19125, 19133, 19134). From the 1,141 cases, a total of 696 cases were closed and 445 cases were new, in progression hold or open status. The “Quality of Life” requests were comprised of these top 10 quality of life issues: Abandoned vehicle, Illegal dumping, Graffiti removal, Street Light Outage, Rubbish Collection, Vacant house, Vacant lots clean-up, Recyclables collection, Sanitation violation, Dangerous sidewalks. |
| Create targeted information and resources for neighborhood leaders. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Create promotional materials to share at libraries, rec centers, schools, and throughout the community. | The Philadelphia Resilience Project marketing materials have been created to distribute to businesses, residents, libraries and community meeting, in both English and Spanish. |
| Ensure all materials are understandable and meet other Access and Functional Needs (AFN) requirements. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Increase frequency of communication to residents providing status of the Philadelphia Resilience Project. | The November 16 Non-Government Organization convening was a great success. Over 75 community leaders were in attendance to learn about how they could assist with the Resilience Project. Various leader expressed interest in either being a referral or on-site provider at the Philadelphia Resilience Project’s Community Resource Center. |
| Short Term Goals | |
| Identify community members that may need newsletter and communications in Spanish. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Engage Council Members. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Engage with the We Love You Foundation. | No updates at this time. |
| Empower existing volunteers to recruit new volunteers from within their networks. | No updates at this time. |
| Offer corporations a day of service. | No updates at this time. |
| Purchase additional safety kits to support cleanup operations. | No updates at this time. |
| Stand up a Community Advisory Group of 12-13 people (or groups) to give feedback and guide future engagement. | In progress. |
| Enable residents to be stewards of their block through meetings, cleanups and social events. | In progress. |
| Engage CDCs and nonprofits to strengthen relationships, and more conversation. | In progress and ongoing. |
| Open door 311 center for opioids in the neighborhood with 1 staff member. | In progress. |
