COMING TOGETHER

The very foundation of Drug Free Duval is rooted in the search for understanding. Careful to stay out of judgement or to insist on subscribing to old attitudes or presumptions, DFD seeks to bring every sector together, and then, to listen. 

Brene Brown describes the process in this quote, “It is only when diverse perspectives are included, respected, and valued that we can start to get a full picture of the world, who we serve, what they need and how to successfully meet people where they are.” 

To engage the processes, discover solutions and implement plans it is critical we meet together. There are two main forums DFD engages. Read below to find out more about these essential parts of the DFD culture:

General Meetings & Lunch and Learns

Held quarterly, Lunch and Learns have been critical on three fronts: continually provide information about the coalitions purpose, work and progress; learn more about community stakeholders and their ways-of-work as plans are continually refined; and provide data, information, subject matter experts and insight into emerging issues and responses in as close-to-real-time as possible. 

The relationships between agencies and correspondent reduction in silos as we work toward freedom from substance abuse for all is clear. The lunchtime working meeting is the highlight of many local individual stakeholders and agencies, and has been convertible to a virtual format during COVID-19. Attendance ranges between 70 and 100 people, and collaboration extends well beyond the DFD’s meetings.

The Lunch and Learns are on the calendar and advertised through DFD’s facebook. Let us know if you’d like to attend!

North Florida Poly-Drug Task Force

In response to the rising opioid overdoses and deaths, Drug Free Duval convened interested stakeholders in 2016 to put their collective heads, plans and resources together so our region could engage a cohesive response. Initially called the North Florida Opioid Heroin Task Force, the name was changed in 2019 to reflect the data that indicates most of Duval’s overdoses involve multiple drugs in the decedent’s system.

The task force organized into committees, currently the Healthcare Education and Training Committee, Community Education and Training Committee and the Employer Workforce Committee. The committees were birthed out of data from our region indicating that by engaging directly in these areas, the community could look to driving down the number of drug overdoses and deaths by overdose.

Each committee meets monthly, gathers a wide breadth of data, and organizes it into a logic model that shows clearly the gaps. Next, the committee considers strategies that can address the gaps, and how to measure the effectiveness. Then they each set goals from short term to long term, and report back to the overall Task Force on a quarterly basis. 

The Task Force has hit enormous milestones including passing legislation recommended in the healthcare committee, identifying hotspot areas and providing directed education and training through the community committee, and developing an employer toolkit for use by local and regional employers in the employer committee.

The meetings of the Task Force are on the calendar and advertised through DFD’s facebook. Let us know if you’d like to attend!