Orla Kennedy

Senior Policy Analyst, Substance Use Disorders

Orla Kennedy is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Substance Use Disorders team, working to improve treatment access, build community support systems, increase access to services and expand incarceration alternative programs.

Orla has experience in policy research and analysis, stakeholder engagement and technical assistance. Her experience in health advocacy includes maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS as well as gun violence prevention. She has worked at John Snow, Inc., Harvard School of Public Health and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Orla brings her public health perspective to Community Catalyst, and is passionate about health equity and improving health outcomes for underserved populations.

Orla has a Master of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s from Providence College.

Community Catalyst works to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill.

Orla Kennedy's Blog and Newsletter Posts

Apr 25, 2022

Saving Lives from Addiction = Keeping the Focus on Health and Harm Reduction!

For the first time in history, the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy includes support for harm reduction – drug overdose prevention and health interventions that save lives. This is a major step forward in preventing fatal drug overdoses.

Mar 24, 2022

Building on the ACA to Address Substance Use Disorders & Mental Illness

Thanks to the ACA, 31 million people have gained health insurance, and millions of people with substance use disorders and mental illness are able to get life-saving care.

Oct 21, 2021

Multiple Opportunities to Advance Racial Justice in the Build Back Better Act

Congress is back in session after both chambers were away last week, and they’re picking up their negotiations regarding the size and scope of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act. As we’ve written about previously, Community Catalyst has been c...

Sep 24, 2020

Improving Addiction Services During COVID and Beyond: Take Our National Survey

Community Catalyst’s Substance Use Disorders team just launched a national online survey to increase the voice of people with substance use challenges and people in recovery in improving the system.

Feb 18, 2020

An Open Letter to State Medicaid Directors: Medicaid Block Grants are Bad Medicine for Addiction

This post is one in our series of blog posts on the harmful impacts of Medicaid block grants. Dear State Medicaid Director: I’m following up on a letter you received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month, encouragin...

Feb 20, 2019

The Opioid Crisis in Black Communities: Who is Paying Attention?

As overdose deaths are rapidly increasing in many Black communities, we ask who is paying attention, and more importantly, who is taking action?

Jan 25, 2018

Medicaid Work Requirements: Bad Policy for All, Particularly Harmful to People With Addictions and People of Color

Time after time, the Trump administration talks about our country’s drug overdose crisis, yet its relentless attacks on health care simultaneously undermine access to life-saving treatment and services for people with substance use disorders. The...

Jun 08, 2017

How Structural Racism Fuels the Response to the Opioid Crisis

Today’s overdose problem is not the first time our country has faced a devastating drug crisis.

Orla Kennedy

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