Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans' President/CEO Michael Griffin served as a panelist during the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s Mississippi Policy Conference on Aug. 10 at the MGM Gold Strike Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Miss.
Griffin joined fellow panelists Kathie Kane Willines, director of policy and advocacy of Chicago Urban League; Mitchell Davis, chief of police, Village of Hazel Crest, Ill.; Winston Kidd, circuit county judge, Hinds County Drug Court; and John Dowdy, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to address the topic, Opioid Addiction in the African American Community: Public Health Emergency or Criminal Justice Crisis. U.S. Representatives Karen Bass (Calif.) and Robin Kelly (Ill.) served as moderators of the panel.
Panelists explored the disparities in drug policies, law enforcement response, and treatment delivery in the African American community. The three-day conference also consisted of multiple policy sessions addressing education, voting rights, and economic inequality.