April 4, 2016
HARRISBURG, April 4, 2016 – The Pennsylvania Senate today unanimously approved Sen. Judy Schwank’s resolution for an advisory task force to find better ways to address drug addiction and treatment.
“I believe the task force will find that Pennsylvania needs better coordination and, perhaps, a stronger commitment to drug addiction prevention, care and intervention, especially as heroin and opioid overdoses have racked so many of our communities,” Schwank said.
“We suspect more can and should be done because we read about Pennsylvanians dying from drug overdoses too many times on too many days. I’ve listened during public forums and impromptu meetings with constituents who say treatment programs should have the resources to provide more beds for care or they should be able to act quicker and with more focus.
“I look forward to the advisory panel’s work and final report to help stop this growing problem, and I thank the Senate for its understanding and support to make this happen. Treatment works.”
The special panel proposed in Schwank’s Senate Resolution 267 would complete an inventory of the locations and types of drug treatment programs and determine if there is a need for additional help or better coordination.
It would also determine the ease and availability of access by Pennsylvania residents to effective treatment; examine the prevalence and practical impact of using private or public funding or health insurance coverage to pay for treatment; decide how to better help consumers determine the effectiveness and value of different types of treatment and programs, and propose how to nurture promising emerging types of treatment and best practices.
The task force will work under the supervision of the Joint State Government Commission – a bipartisan, bicameral research agency – and have 18 months to deliver its report and recommendations.
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Contact: Mark Shade
Phone: (717) 787-5166
mshade@pasenate.com
March 16, 2016
HARRISBURG, March 16, 2016 – The state Senate Health and Welfare Committee today unanimously approved a proposal by state Senator Judy Schwank (D-Berks) calling for a broad study of addiction treatment concerns in Pennsylvania.
The proposal now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
“The sharp increases in heroin and opioid abuse in recent years here and across the country have really revealed the great need for a more coordinated understanding of and approach to dealing with addiction,” Schwank said following the committee’s approval. “Our work to fight this growing crisis has been earnest, but it remains too fragmented.
“Having a task force focus on the problem will allow us to identify necessary changes that we hope can make a huge difference for the many families who are facing the impact and challenges of addiction.”
Under Schwank’s resolution, SR 267, which has broad bi-partisan support of a majority of the Senate, the task force would be created under the Joint State Government Commission, which is a research agency of the General Assembly.
The task force would:
- Count the locations and types of treatment programs
- Assess the need for additional treatment resources
- Determine the ease and availability of access by Pennsylvania residents to effective treatment
- Examine the prevalence and practical impact of using private or public funding or health insurance coverage to pay for treatment
- Decide how to better help consumers determine the effectiveness and value of different types of treatment and programs, and
- Propose how to nurture promising emerging types of treatment and best practices.
Representatives from the departments of Corrections, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Education, Health, Human Services, Insurance, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, hospitals, treatment providers, medical professionals, recovering former users, family members of users, and other appropriate groups will serve on the task force.
The advisory task force would be required to deliver its report within 18 months.
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September 23, 2014
HARRISBURG, Sept. 23, 2014 – Urged by state Sen. Judy Schwank to examine the growing problem of heroin and prescription drug abuse, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania canvassed the state and issued its report today.
Sen. Schwank said she worked with Sen. Gene Yaw, the center’s chairman of the board, to study the problem following a spate of heroin and prescription drug-related overdoses and deaths in Topton, Berks County.
As the center released its report today at the Capitol, Schwank said she is “encouraged” by their work and how Pennsylvanians will benefit.
“There is recognition now that this very serious problem is something that can be dealt with in the commonwealth. And I look forward to being a part of it,” Schwank said during the Center for Rural Pennsylvania’s press conference. “I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish as a legislature and as a commonwealth to help target this problem.
“This is our blueprint. This is where we go from here, not only to make sure we pass the legislation that’s sitting before us right now, but to think about what we have to do in the future and focus on that.
“Legislation isn’t going to be the silver bullet. We need to ensure that our community members are educated; our youth, certainly, are educated; and our medical community understands the problem. It takes all of us, including law enforcement and our judiciary, to work together to resolve this.”
Schwank said she went to work on the heroin epidemic after 5 Topton residents died this past spring.
After first organizing a town hall meeting that attracted more than 10 times the people she expected to attend, Schwank said she looked across the commonwealth and approached Sen. Yaw.
Parents, families and communities were hurting, and continue to hurt, she said.
“You have to look into the face of an anguished parent to understand what they’re dealing with. And, there are so many of them out there,” Schwank said. “I don’t use the words epidemic or crisis lightly. But in the case of heroin abuse and opioid drug abuse, I believe those words are the words we should be using. That’s how serious this problem is.
“We applaud the Center for Rural Pennsylvania for focusing specifically on the issue in rural Pennsylvania. We know that this is an issue in our urban and suburban areas as well.”
Schwank recognized Reading Hospital’s chief of emergency medicine, Dr. Charles Barbera, for his role in helping to guide the response to the epidemic.
“He has been a wonderful advocate for us on this issue and has helped to guide us in some of our efforts in Berks County,” Schwank said.
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More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
July 22, 2014
READING, July 22, 2014 – Working to stem the tide of heroin overdoses and deaths in Berks County and throughout the state, Sen. Judy Schwank joined other elected and health officials today to talk about the “Heroin Crisis Facing Pennsylvania.”
The forum, held at the Reading Area Community College, was an opportunity for experts to talk about possible solutions to the heroin problem. The session was the second in a series of four public hearings scheduled by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
“Berks County has been wracked by heroin-related deaths and arrests in the past year, including the arrests earlier this summer of 13 Topton-area residents and the deaths of six Kutztown and Brandywine Heights high school graduates since 2013,” Schwank said in her opening statement. “Between 2009 and last year, 58 overdose deaths were reported in Berks County, spiking in 2011 at 16 and last year at 15, but none of them were heroin-related until this year, according to a report by the Pennsylvania Coroners Association.”
Across the commonwealth, Schwank noted an 89 percent increase in overall drug-overdose deaths since 1999.
Heroin’s affordability is one of the biggest problems, Schwank said.
“A typical bag that used to be $20 six years ago can be bought today in New York for $4 or even $2,” the senator said. “Rural areas in Berks and nearby face the issue of easy access to such several major metropolitan areas. In particular, Berks lies along the I-78 corridor.”
The Senate adopted legislation in May that would provide for prescription drug monitoring. Sen. Schwank, who voted for SB 1180, said the registry would increase the quality of patient care and help law enforcement agencies prevent fraud and drug abuse, and eventually help to curtail heroin use.
“Heroin is not subject to this registry, but victims have often turned to it after becoming addicted, to more costly prescriptive medications, and it is deadly because it’s purity level varies,” she said.
State Sens. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) and the chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Scott Wagner (R-York), and John Wozniak (D-Cambria) attended the heroin crisis forum, as did state Rep. Jerry Knowles (R-Berks).
Other forum participants included: PA Deptartment of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Gary Tennis; Deb Beck, executive director, Drug & Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania; Phil Bauer, a parent who advocates for prescription drug safety; Linda Texter, director of the Reading Hospital Drug and Alcohol Center; George J. Vogel, executive director, Council on Chemical Abuse; Christine Gilfillan, associate director, Berks Women In Crisis; Kutztown Mayor Sandy Green; Brandywine Heights Area School District Superintendent Andrew M. Potteiger; Alison Snyder, personnel director, East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc.; Dr. Gregory K. Sorensen, chief medical officer, Reading Health System; Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams; Michael J. Gombar – chief Berks County detective; Schuylkill County District Attorney Christine A. Holman; Berks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Scott D. Keller; and Berks County Magisterial District Judge Dean Patton.
The center will hold its next hearing at 9 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5, at St. Francis University in Loretto. Its final hearing, 8:30 a.m., Aug. 22, will be held at Clarion University.
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More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
May 5, 2014
HARRISBURG, May 5, 2014 – In response to the arrests today of 13 mostly underage Berks County residents by Pennsylvania State Police, state Sen. Judy Schwank issued the following statement:
“I am grateful for the excellent investigative work of the Berks County District Attorney’s office and state police, but the arrest today of more than a dozen of our children underscores an already underscored problem.
“Ten of the 13 people charged in this latest drug raid were younger than 21. If the charges are upheld, that will mean these students are taking drugs into our schools or they are buying them there. This has always been a problem but the growing presence of heroin as a drug of choice means we must do more to re-wage our war on drugs.
“Our children, people like the ones who have been charged today with possession of heroin, cocaine and marijuana, are dying in alarming numbers. This cannot happen.
“As I have emphasized, we need to do much more to make sure families are more aware of the danger signs of drug abuse, especially heroin, and they must know that police officers are searching longer and harder to stop this growing – but preventable – problem.
“Action must also be taken in the General Assembly. There are legislative options before us to consider. If they need to be improved or changed, we should do that. Our silence is complicity. We must not be complicit as our kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews succumb to heroin’s deadly grip.
“The arrests this morning are important but the continued vigilance of the entire community is needed to stem the tide on prescription drug/heroin abuse. We can’t let our guard down.”
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