The national opioid settlements were created out of the terrible losses of the opioid epidemic, and the local funds allocated under the settlement need to be used to prevent future suffering. But it can be hard for Health Departments to understand how to do that.

Join the Municipal Technical Assistance Team from the MOSAIC opioid recovery partnership to learn more about how best to use your municipality's opioid settlement funding. This session will feature best practices and practical next steps for communities ready to do this important work.

More than 100 people joined WMPHA and the Franklin/Hampshire Training Hub in early August to discuss the different roles and responsibilities of Animal Control Officers, Animal Inspectors, and Boards of Health with MDAR's Michael Cahill.



DPH is excited to share that the Community Health Equity Survey (CHES) is now live! Access the survey at www.mass.gov/HealthSurvey. As trusted community partners, Board of Health and Health Departments can do a lot to help in spreading the word.

Some ways you can help:

·        Send a link to family, friends and colleagues in MA

·        Promote the survey on town/community mailing lists

·        Post about the survey on social media

·        Post flyers about the survey in places where people go

·        Use staff or volunteers to support survey takers

What is the goal of the survey?

The Community Health Equity Survey will help communities improve conditions that impact health, particularly those most impacted by health inequities. The survey it reflects what residents want to know about how their communities experience housing, mental health, safety, and other drivers of health. DPH and state partners will use CHEI data to spend funding, improve programming, and develop policies that address health inequities.

How long will the survey be open for and who can take it?

The survey will be open through early Fall 2026. It takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete and is available in 11 languages: Arabic, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese (simplified or traditional), English, Haitian Creole, ASL, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Is this survey confidential?

Yes, the survey is confidential. It does not collect information like your name, your email, or your address, and it does not collect your IP address or information about the device you are taking it on.

What support is available for my town to share this survey?

We’ve developed outreach materials such as flyers, rack cards, social media posts, sample emails, talking points, and more that you can use to help us spread the word. These are available on our website: mass.gov/DPH/HealthSurveyPromo and you can order printed flyers and rack cards for free on the Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse: https://massclearinghouse.ehs.state.ma.us/category/CHES.html.

FRCOG created a Western MA flyer you can download.

How and when can I access this data? 

Results will be publicly available on our website (www.mass.gov/CHEI) in Spring/Summer 2027. There are many free resources to help anyone in Massachusetts access and use the data: you can meet one-on-one with a Data & Action Support Provider for individual support, get customized CHES data analyses for your community, and attend free webinars with information and real-life examples of how to use CHES data for action.

Health Inspector: Town of Orange, North Quabbin Health Collaborative

The UMass School of Public Health and Health Sciences is conducting paid interviews about what creates public trust with two categories of people. Below are the flyers, which they asked us to share with you.

Public Health Officials

the General Public