Our Goals

Narcan Initiative - Education


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As the Jordan Filler foundation expands its HEROs of impact, our goals are growing and expanding as well. We are looking for the HERO in Battle against opiate addiction. There are many ways to be a HERO as we continue in this critical Battle to save our young people.

Narcan Initiative: 
This life-saving opiate antidote is quantifiable. In just eight months in one county alone, 100 deaths were avoided using this drug. Each of these lives saved by a first responder Hero who saved precious seconds and administered Narcan to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.

Education: 
Provide valuable information and resources needed at every level in our schools, our homes, and our workplaces. Providing tools to the educators who will be the HEROs required to help equip our young people with the knowledge necessary to make the right choices in their lives.

Area Resources:
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Not a day goes by when the national news doesn’t report on yet another life lost due to an opiate overdose.   But this is not just a national issue, it is in our homes, our schools and our workplaces.

Narcan Initiative

Narcan (naloxone) is an opiate antidote that reverses the effects of an overdose and saves lives when used in an emergency overdose situation. It is completely safe and highly effective. The FDA recently found the nasal spray version of Narcan to be so important, safe, and effective that it granted Narcan it's Fast Track designation with Priority Review. According to the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “this easy-to-use intranasal formulation will no doubt save many lives.” The Filler family saw this firsthand when Jordan overdosed, and nearly died, in their home. Because the first responders did not have Narcan with them, Jordan suffered a heart attack and wasn't saved by Narcan until the paramedics arrived and administered it several minutes later.

The key to saving lives is to equip first responders with Narcan. Too many lives are lost due to the time it takes to transport an overdosing individual to a hospital for treatment. Current research shows that wide distribution of Narcan has reduced overdose deaths by 46%, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counts 30,000 lives saved by non-hospital personnel using Narcan.

With 33,000 lives lost to opiates in 2015, one every 19 minutes, widespread distribution of Narcan will save countless lives. This initiative is a priority of the US Government and JMFF. Obama recently authorized $11 million for Narcan, but it's not nearly enough. Budget constraints at the federal, state, and local level make it impossible to get Narcan into the hands of all first responders, despite requests by most local governments. It is up to each of us to do more.

JMFF is working closely with Senator Mark Kirk and state and local officials throughout the Chicagoland area, including Cook and Lake County, to get Narcan into the hands of every first responder. We are donating substantial funds and resources to make Narcan a reality and help save lives. In Lake County alone, Narcan has saved nearly 1 life per day in 2016. The need is great and the time is NOW.

Please join us in donating funds for this life saving initiative.

Education

This comes in several forms. It includes giving speeches, presentations, and discussing substance abuse. It is attending meetings to listen, learn, talk, and educate. Education includes meeting with parents and children, including those that reach out to us because they are concerned for themselves or others. (We have spoken to dozens of people that have reached out to us. We love doing it, please continue to approach us).

One of the key messages we communicate is: substance abuse is a medical disease that should be treated accordingly. It is not a moral weakness or lack of willpower. Medications often help. We must kill the stigma, so people get help rather than hide the problem; so parents aren't embarrassed and put their heads in the sand; so people don't think of users as "losers." Addiction gets worse with time, so it must be treated. It is not ok to "just smoke marijuana or drink" most days of the week.

There is also a more formal educational component: educating students in middle and high school. Study after study demonstrates the importance of this, there is no controversy. However, it's much easier said than done. Schools face budgetary and time constraints. This is a critical priority. Education in schools is one of our three key initiatives!

We are working closely with organizations at the Local and County levels. This requires hard work, grass roots efforts, tenacity, and financial support. The goal is to mandate a minimum level of evidence based curriculum in the schools. The holy grail would be to convince schools to implement a more comprehensive, evidence based program, beyond the minimum requirements. JMFF is piloting a program in select local schools. We need your support.

HIPAA

Since the inception of our Foundation, one of our three key initiatives has been HIPAA reform. Once a young adult reaches 18, medical and therapeutical professionals are very limited in terms of what information they can share with parents and other family members. Furthermore, most caregivers are not fully aware of what information they can and cannot provide in various circumstances.

As a result, even though these professionals want to bring family members in to work together to find solutions, they generally don't. Imagine your young adult child being in therapy and the doctor doesn't tell you if your child is using drugs, how often, what types of drugs, whether they quit treatment, if he/she is addicted, whether they are taking medication, etc. This happens every day.

This happened to our family. We weren't told that Jordan was kicked out of his rehab center, relapsed on heroin, and was sent to a hospital emergency room due to an overdose, just a couple weeks before he died. Our Foundation has spent extensive resources to pursue this initiative. We have met with many members of Congress, The White House Drug Czar office, healthcare and law enforcement professionals, and presented at Congressional Hearings.

On June 4, a bill entitled "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives! One of the key provisions of this bill specifically addresses our concerns.

According to the bill's primary sponsors, a primary goal is to "Empower Parents and Caregivers. Break down barriers for families to work with doctors and mental health professionals and be meaningful partners in the front-line care delivery team." They add: "we need to solve the precarious legal standing of health care providers who choose to disclose medical information to family members and others. The current state of HIPAA leads healthcare providers to the default position of "not" disclosing to family, who are left in a no man's land of helplessness."

We believe Jordan would not have died when he did if this bill was in place. Please read this letter we just received from a couple whose 30 year old son died from an overdose last month. They feels HIPAA played a large part in his nightmare. We will let you know how the bill progresses in Congress. Thanks a ton for your support, we couldn't do this without you!

TEXT-A-TIP

This program provides an anonymous text-communication system for students. The system allows a student to send a text message to a secure, dedicated number and receive an immediate response. Local experts in adolescent addiction/mental health respond 24/7. Schools promote the program to their students.

Students are more likely to disclose concerns about a friend when the text is anonymous. Most often, friends know more about their friend's substance abuse than his/her parents. If Jordan's friends in Utah told us that he was using heroin, we would have had a chance to save him. We don't blame them. Most students, including Jordan, don't want to "rat" on their friends and get caught.

Furthermore, students anonymously text about themselves, expressing substance abuse or mental health concerns. Many students don’t feel comfortable reaching out to someone if they have to identify themselves or they don’t know who to reach out to. The conversations can continue thru anonymous text or can elevate to a phone call/meeting if the student chooses. JMFF introduced Text A Tip to local schools, which initiated the program in early 2015.