The Overdose Task Force is Seeking Work Group Community Co-Chair Applicants
Interested in applying to be a community co-chair on an Overdose Task Force work group? Click here to learn more. A description of the role and expectations are included on pages 1-3. To apply, please complete pages 4-6 of the above linked document and email your completed application to cathy.a.schultz@ohhs.ri.gov. You can also learn more on the EOHHS website.
What is the Task Force?
The Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force is a statewide coalition of professionals and community members with the goal of preventing overdoses and saving lives. In November 2022, the Governor signed an Executive Order that enhances the existing strategies of the Task Force’s Action Plan in the areas of prevention, treatment, rescue, and recovery. The Action Plan was expanded once more in 2023.
The Governor’s Task Force has a strategic plan to end the overdose crisis – changing lives by ensuring racial equity, uplifting community voices, using data to drive change, and building connections to care. The Task Force is committed to addressing the root causes of overdose, including the socioeconomic factors that influence health.
Who is in the Task Force?
The Task Force is the center of all drug overdose prevention and intervention activities in the state, often bringing together more than 150 people to its monthly meetings. The multi-disciplinary composition of the Task Force, with the perspectives of individual members and expert advisors, brings cross-learning to the sectors around the table.
Task Force work groups were initially formed in the four core areas of prevention, rescue, treatment, and recovery. Additional work groups have since been developed and include these focus areas: harm reduction, racial equity, first responders, substance-exposed newborns, and family.
Get Connected
The Task Force meets monthly from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm on the second Wednesday of each month on Zoom.
Upcoming agendas and minutes are posted on the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s website the Friday before each Governor’s Task Force meeting. We also store past presentations on this website:
You can also attend one of many Task Force Work Groups and subscribe to our newsletter:
Read the latest Task Force Report
Read Governor Daniel J. McKee’s Overdose Task Force September 2024 Semi-Annual Report. This report includes goals and activities of the Task Force, as well as funding alignment.
Read about the 2023 Strategic Plan Refresh Goals and Activities
Read Governor Daniel J. McKee’s Overdose Task Force 2023 Strategic Plan Refresh Goals and Activities At-A-Glance document. This summary document contains the goals set out in the the 2023 strategic plan refresh.
Task Force Co-Chairs and Director
Thomas Joyce, LCDP, CPRS, CCHW; Community Co-Chair of the Governor’s Overdose Task Force
Richard Leclerc, MSW; Task Force Co-Chair and Director, Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals (BHDDH)
Ana Novais, MS; Assistant Secretary and Task Force Co-Chair, Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS)
Cathy Schultz, MPH; Director of the Governor’s Overdose Task Force
Task Force Expert Advisers
- Jonathan Goyer, Director, Rhode Island Recovery Friendly Workplaces
- Traci Green, PhD; Boston University School of Medicine and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
- Brandon Marshall, PhD; Brown University School of Public Health
- Josiah Rich, MD, MPH; The Miriam Hospital
Task Force Members
- Dr. Jef Bratberg, PharmD; The University of Rhode Island, Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Dr. Philip Chan, MD, MS; Rhode Island Department of Health
- Secretary Richard Charest, MBA; Executive Office of Health and Human Services
- Dr. Alexander Chirkov, MD; State Center for the Office of Medical Examiners, RIDOH
- Raymond Coia, New England Laborers Health and Safety Fund
- Colonel Bradford Connor,, Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association
- Zachary Cunha; United States Attorney- District of Rhode Island
- Thomas Davis, CVS Pharmacy
- Ashley Deckert, MSW, MA; Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF)
- Heidi Driscoll, Rhode Island Regional Prevention Coalitions
- Mary Dwyer, MS, M.Ed., APRN-CNS; Rhode Island Nurses Association
- Representative Jay Edwards, Rhode Island General Assembly
- Honorable Michael J. Feeney, Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court
- Dr. Sarah Fessler, MD; Rhode Island Medical Society
- Aaron Guckian, Rhode Island Dental Association
- Julia Harvey, Healthcare Advocate
- Linda Hurley, CEO; CODAC, Inc.
- Angelica Infante-Green; Rhode Island Department of Education
- Susan Jacobsen, Director of Health Equity Initiatives, Thundermist Health Equity Zones Initiative
- Cory King, PhD; Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner
- Major Dennis Leahey, Rhode Island State Police
- Dr. Melanie Lippman, MD; Emergency Medicine, Lifespan, Inc.
- Karyn Lowe, Governor’s Office
- Laurie MacDougall, Education Director, Rhode Island Community for Addiction Recovery Efforts (RICARES)
- Michelle McKenzie, Preventing Overdose and Naloxone Intervention (PONI)
- Senator Joshua Miller, Rhode Island General Assembly
- Elena Nicolella, Rhode Island Health Center Association
- Teresa Paiva-Weed, Hospital Association of Rhode Island
- Dr. Patricia Ogera, MD; State Center for the Office of Medical Examiners, RIDOH
- Taino Palermo, Commission on Health Equity and Advocacy
- Peter Ragosta, RPh; Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy, RIDOH
- Jason Rhodes, Department of Health, Emergency Management Services, RIDOH
- Mike Rizzi, Harm Reduction Representative
- Honorable Kristin E. Rodgers, Associate Justice, Rhode Island Superior Court
- John Tassoni; The Substance Use and Mental Health Leadership Council of Rhode Island
- Sandra Valentine; Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts (RICARES)
- Matthew Weldon, Department of Labor and Training
- Martha Woffard, Blue Cross Blue Shield RI
- Kasim Yarn, Office of Veterans Affairs
MORE RESOURCES
Strategic Plan
Action Plan
Read the Rhode Island Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force Action Plan (May 11, 2016)
Executive Order
Evidence Update
Read the Addiction and Overdose Evidence Update (December, 2020).