Kathi Cotugno is the new coordinator of the Mayor’s Drug Task Force. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – Kathi Cotugno, the new coordinator of the Mayor’s Drug Task Force, is not new to the work. She joined the task force as a volunteer when it first formed three and a half years ago, after losing her son to the epidemic.
“That’s why I’m into this,” Cotugno said.
Since she took over the reins in June, the task force has met twice, bringing together Sen. Donald F. Humason, Jr., Rep. John C. Velis, Mayor Brian P. Sullivan, Fire Chief Patrick Egloff and Police Chief Lawrence Valliere, Baystate Noble Community Relations Director Michael R. Knapik, the Board of Health, and other members from the community and the school district. Next month, they will hold a strategy meeting.
Cotugno said the number of overdoses in Hampden County are up. “We’re not sure if that’s an increase in the fentanyl, or whether it’s that we’re on top of it a little more,” she said.
Westfield numbers haven’t really changed. Deaths are down from three years ago, but Cotugno said there was one in the last few weeks. There have been 30 overdoses since January, and six recorded deaths this year, a number which she said is low.
“Our data comes from our police department and fire department. If a person overdoses out of town, but is a Westfield resident, they aren’t counted.”
Cotugno said most of the overdoses for 2017 and 2018 were really caused by fentanyl, not heroin. “That’s why we see the increases in deaths, too. It’s being found in cocaine, and sprinkled on pot. There’s also fentanyl in pill form. Kids think they’re buying prescription drugs off the street, but they’re not really prescription. Some of those are being laced, also,” she said.
The Drug Task Force’s mission is community awareness and community outreach.
Attendees of the 2017 Overdose Awareness Vigil on Westfield’s Park Square green listen to some of the stage performances. (WNG file photo)
Towards that end, plans are being set for the International Opioid Awareness Day Vigil. The event will take place in Westfield on Friday, Sept. 6 at Park Square Green from 6 to 8 p.m. Speakers are being lined up for the vigil, including Mark Jachym, a Westfield resident in recovery; members of “Within the Walls,” a writer’s group of women who have been incarcerated, many for drugs; and Cotugno herself.
“It’s a very powerful event. It’s powerful to give support to those who have had a loss. It’s powerful that we offer hope to those in recovery, and to parents. People find that they’re not alone. We’re really working on that piece,” she said.
Also featured at the vigil will be the “Wall of Hope.” The wall was created three years ago to allow anyone who would like to write a message to do so. Materials will be available to write messages and people are also welcome to bring photos of their loved ones to post.
Another way families and community members may participate at the event is to purchase a luminary bag for $5, on which they may write a message to a loved one or someone in recovery. Cotugno said people can call her office at City Hall at 413-642-9322 to reserve a luminary bag.
Downtown businesses will be asked to put a candle and sign in their windows in support of the vigil. (WNG File Photo)
Area businesses are being encouraged to participate by placing a candle in their windows, with a sign reading: “This business supports #citywithoutstigma.” Cotugno said she will be visiting businesses, asking them to put out the display at the beginning of August.
Cotugno said they’re really relaunching the task force. Her goal is to bring together everyone who is working in different ways on the problem. “Everyone is in their silos. I’m hoping that we can be the central hub with other programs in the community,” she said.
The task force is working with Baystate Noble Hospital, which will receive a state grant of $100,000 for opioid treatment and prevention this year. Cotugno said if people go into the Noble emergency room right now for help, they will try to find them a bed. Coming down the road, the state is mandating that ER’s offer a Medical Assisted Treatment (MAT) program. They would leave the hospital if medically cleared, and would receive immediate treatment, in the form of a box of medication, including Naloxone for overdose protection.
“I’m hoping that we can start an outreach program for Westfield, as a collaboration between the hospital and community police. There is not one now,” she said.
The outreach program, which already exists in Springfield and Northampton, would be comprised of a social worker based out of Baystate Noble, a nurse, recovery coach, and police officer. The goal would be that within 72 hours of an overdose, someone would visit them at home.
Cotugno said she would also like to see a community policing space downtown. “It’s just my dream. We haven’t figured any of that out yet,” she said.
For youth, the focus is on education-based materials. That already happens with the Botvin Life Skills health curriculum — which the district started using two years ago – and has a substance abuse prevention component. This year, the curriculum will increase with technology-based materials.
“The younger we can get them information, the more chance that we’ll have success,” Cotugno said, adding that she is hoping the task force can help with a parent education piece for that program.
The task force has a working sub-group comprised of school guidance counselors, the superintendent, YMCA, community policing, two Health Department nurses, a parent, two people in recovery and Baystate Noble to work towards these goals.
“My hope for the fall is we’re going to either do a collaboration or a summit. We want to integrate more with the community,” Cotugno said. The summit would bring together everyone in the community that is working to prevent and treat addiction.
We need everyone to help change things in the community. It’s not just one person that’s going to make that happen. Like the saying, ‘It Takes a Village – I still believe that,” Cotugno said.
