The Holyoke District Court designed a new program called the HEART Program that aims to reduce opioid overdoses in the Holyoke, MA and nearby communities. The program involves multi-sectoral collaborators to institute practices to conduct with individuals with court appearances an opioid use disorder screening, brief intervention, and referral to healthcare. The program was initiated in April 2020. It is now being adapted due to COVID-19, with the plan to re-launch it in January 2021.
We are seeking 1 part-time intern (approximately 10-15 hours per week) to join an existing intern team. Together the interns will coordinate the operation of the program and assist with designing an evaluation of it over a hybrid internship. Some intern hours will be done remotely and some will be in-person at the Holyoke District Court. Day-to-day activities of the interns will be assigned and supervised by the Honorable William P. Hadley, First Justice, and court staff. UMass Professor Elizabeth Evans will oversee the internship experience.
Interns will be expected to work with a high level of independence, prioritize all aspects of project activities with minimal supervision, and self-initiate suggestions and approaches to coordination efforts. Interns will engage with (1) people with opioid and other substance use disorders who are involved with the criminal justice system, (2) staff who serve this population, for example staff who work in the carceral and legal system (e.g., courts, district attorney, public defender, probation, parole, police, jails, prisons), medicine and behavioral health care delivery, social services, public health, and public policy, and (3) scientists with expertise in addiction, the criminal justice system, healthcare delivery, and public health. All activities will be conducted in accordance with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines as specified by Governor Baker, the Holyoke District Court, and UMass Amherst.
Fluency in Spanish is preferred. Some program participants will have Spanish-language preferences and thus ability to converse in Spanish and to translate written materials into Spanish would be beneficial.
Example internship activities
Program operation
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Learn about the program and summarize key elements - history, intent, design, current status, adaptations due to COVID-19
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Interact with program participants in the court in-person and, as needed, by Zoom – provide education about the program, facilitate use of telemedicine equipment, assist with linkage to health and social services
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Review the existing literature on similar opioid intervention programs
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Meet key stakeholders, understand their roles and responsibilities, create contact lists
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Engage in regular communication among team members - meetings, email, Zoom, file sharing, etc.
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Coordinate and attend meetings, take minutes, follow up on action items
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Document program tasks, processes, and activities
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File materials and disseminate materials as requested
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Assist with preparation of presentation materials – PowerPoint, reports, other documents
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Perform data entry and data management tasks
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Assist in general day-to-day tasks, including typing correspondence and word processing
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Perform miscellaneous tasks to facilitate program operation
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Program evaluation
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Assist with designing an evaluation, solicit feedback on the evaluation plan, and finalize it
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Create a logic model and a theoretical framework to inform the evaluation
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Learn about privacy and confidentiality guidelines and design protocols to abide by them
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Obtain approvals from the UMass Institutional Review Board (IRB) and other regulatory agencies
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Design data collection processes and analytic methods
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Perform miscellaneous tasks to facilitate the design of an evaluation
Ability to continue activities in Summer 2021 will be assessed as the program proceeds. The internship is mostly unpaid, with a small stipend for hours worked at the court over the spring semester (i.e., about 5 hours per week will be paid). The internship would be suitable for UMass students seeking an independent study experience for course credit or as fieldwork to fulfill the UMass Health Promotion and Policy internship requirements (e.g., undergraduate internship credit, CAPE, ILE).
Interested applicants should email their resume and a cover letter to Elizabeth Evans, PhD at eaevans@umass.edu.
The Holyoke District Court designed a new program called the HEART Program that aims to reduce opioid overdoses in the Holyoke, MA and nearby communities. The program involves multi-sectoral collaborators to institute practices to conduct with individuals with court appearances an opioid use disorder screening, brief intervention, and referral to healthcare. The program was initiated in April 2020. It is now being adapted due to COVID-19, with the plan to re-launch it in January 2021.
We are seeking 1 part-time intern (approximately 10-15 hours per week) to join an existing intern team. Together the interns will coordinate the operation of the program and assist with designing an evaluation of it over a hybrid internship. Some intern hours will be done remotely and some will be in-person at the Holyoke District Court. Day-to-day activities of the interns will be assigned and supervised by the Honorable William P. Hadley, First Justice, and court staff. UMass Professor Elizabeth Evans will oversee the internship experience.
Interns will be expected to work with a high level of independence, prioritize all aspects of project activities with minimal supervision, and self-initiate suggestions and approaches to coordination efforts. Interns will engage with (1) people with opioid and other substance use disorders who are involved with the criminal justice system, (2) staff who serve this population, for example staff who work in the carceral and legal system (e.g., courts, district attorney, public defender, probation, parole, police, jails, prisons), medicine and behavioral health care delivery, social services, public health, and public policy, and (3) scientists with expertise in addiction, the criminal justice system, healthcare delivery, and public health. All activities will be conducted in accordance with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines as specified by Governor Baker, the Holyoke District Court, and UMass Amherst.
Fluency in Spanish is preferred. Some program participants will have Spanish-language preferences and thus ability to converse in Spanish and to translate written materials into Spanish would be beneficial.
Ability to continue activities in Summer 2021 will be assessed as the program proceeds. The internship is mostly unpaid, with a small stipend for hours worked at the court over the spring semester (i.e., about 5 hours per week will be paid). The internship would be suitable for UMass students seeking an independent study experience for course credit or as fieldwork to fulfill the UMass Health Promotion and Policy internship requirements (e.g., undergraduate internship credit, CAPE, ILE).
Interested applicants should email their resume and a cover letter to Elizabeth Evans, PhD at eaevans@umass.edu.