BRANTFORD, ON – The Brantford-Brant Community Drug Strategy has released its 2023 Action Plan.
From September through December 2022, the Brantford-Brant Drugs Strategy Coordinating Committee met to identify the community’s most pressing drug-related challenges. The initial Brantford-Brant Community Drugs Strategy was reviewed and the recommendations that should be pursued most urgently were identified. The 2023 Action Plan lays out concrete, targeted steps toward achieving these goals.
“The important life-saving work of the Drugs Strategy has become more critical than ever,” said Alyssa Stryker, Drugs Strategy Coordinator. “Many of the issues that prompted the formation of the Drugs Strategy are still prevalent, as well as new challenges faced by people who use drugs. The Drugs Strategy partnership is committed to implementing the urgent actions of the 2023 Action Plan and providing our community with more information regarding our progress.”
The 2023 Action Plan contains 14 initiatives that the Drugs Strategy Coordinating Committee and its affiliated working groups will undertake in 2023 to move Brantford and the County of Brant closer to realizing the recommendations of the original Drugs Strategy.
Among these initiatives is the continued work to open a safe consumption and treatment services (CTS) site in Brantford. Opening a CTS site has been a priority for the Drug Strategy (led by Grand River Community Health Centre) since 2019, although this work was put on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, The Drugs Strategy will restart work toward opening a CTS site, beginning with public education and consultation with key stakeholders and community members while working to identify an appropriate site. The Drugs Strategy will also collect baseline data in preparation for a rigorous evaluation of any potential site. Once a location has been identified, the Drugs Strategy will engage in extensive site-specific community consultation before moving forward with an application for operational approval from Health Canada and funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health. For more information on this work, please visit Grand River Community Health Centre’s website.
The Brantford-Brant Community Drugs Strategy is a multi-stakeholder community initiative made up of a partnership including public health agencies and municipal organizations including the Brant County Health Unit, St. Leonard’s Community Services, The Aids Network, Brantford Police Services, Grand River Community Health Centre, Brantford Substance Users Network, Brant Community Healthcare System, the City of Brantford, the County of Brant and Woodview Mental Health and Autism Services.
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