Just because we have been focused on the MAPP health planning process to help us figure out what policy initiatives we want to join and lead, it does not mean that public policy issues wait for us. Over the past few months, BACH has worked on a number of policy advocacy issues, including:

• Medical Marijuana law implementation: BACH convened a planning group of stakeholders and held a community education meeting in Dorchester to educate residents about where there was opportunity to influence the way the law will be implemented. The focus was to help limit the availability of medical marijuana to those who really needed it (and not to increase youth access) and to address some of the safety and legal issues in any neighborhood where a dispensary were to be located. The forum resulted in a set of recommendation by BACH to the Mass Department of Public Health as it formulated its regulations. Learn More »

• Boston Public Schools’ condom availability as part of the new Health and Wellness Plan: BACH’s Director wrote a statement on behalf of BACH’s leadership supporting the easy access to condoms in BPS high schools which would include availability from designated personnel who would be present on school grounds, rather than only through community or health staff whose presence on campus was limited.
  Read Statement »
  Read Thank You Letter»

• Safe and Supportive Schools:  in collaboration with other members of the Boston Children’s Hospital Learning Community, of which BACH is a member, we wrote testimony in support of the of H520/S210 (An Act Relative to Safe and Supportive Schools) due to its important addition of behavioral health services in schools. Since, these services help students remain in school, and completing secondary education is a strong determinant of better lifelong health, it was consistent with BACH’s vision of a healthy Boston that is vibrant, just, and equitable, where all people who live, work, play, pray, and learn here have optimal health and well-being and enjoy a supportive environment and a sense of safety and belonging- regardless of who they are, what neighborhood they live in, or where they come from. Read Statement »

• Substance Abuse Prevention Services: The Mass Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services is reorganizing its provision of services and asked for input. BACH took the initiative to convene providers from the community and the Boston Public Health Commission to think through our recommendations since Boston, as the largest city in Massachusetts faces some specific challenges in coordinating services across very diverse neighborhoods. We hope to meet with BSAS staff in the coming weeks. Please contact David Aronstein daronstein@hria.org if you are interested in working on this issue.

BACH is also distributing a questionnaire on Community Health and Community Development to all Boston Mayoral candidates. To make question suggestions, please visit our FaceBook page. Learn More »