| Mark your Calendar! October 16: The House Energy and Commerce committee will consider H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act at 10:00 am. The bill has now made it through five committee/subcommittee mark-ups!!! This is the last step before it can come before the full House for a vote. You can watch the mark-up live. Learn more…
November 9 and 10: “Our Stories Have Power...A Media Workshop for Recovery Advocates” will be in Boston, MA. We are collaborating with Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR) and the Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England. Register online today, space is very limited!
December 2: Presidential Town Hall meeting on addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, Timberlane High School, Plaistow, NH from 3:00-6:00 pm, details coming soon!
Sign-on letter supporting H.R. 1424
Has your organization signed-on in support of The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act? If you’d like to join the over 200 organizations who have indicated their support, email Holly Merbaum today.
Rally for Recovery!
People Advocating Recovery registered 250 voters at its Louisville, Kentucky event. If you haven’t sent us your pictures and information yet, we’d love to hear from you so that we can post your events online!
SAMHSA Hosts Regional Meetings
Recovery advocates have been participating in regional meetings being hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA/CSAT) on developing, strengthening and implementing recovery-oriented systems of care. Learn more…
ACTION Campaign launched
Does your organization provide peer recovery support services? Are there treatment providers in your community that could benefit from tools to improve services? Faces & Voices of Recovery is partnering with other organizations in the ACTION Campaign to reduce the barriers to access and engagement in treatment. Learn more…
Resources
Faces & Voices board member, author of “Broken,” and addiction recovery advocate William C. Moyers has launched a nationally syndicated column called "Beyond Addiction," that is being distributed by Creators Syndicate. If you’d like to read “Beyond Addiction” in your local paper, call or write the editor/news desk and ask them to carry the weekly column.
The White House’s September 20, 2007 Compassion in Action Roundtable featured presentations by Institute for Research, Education and Trainings in Addictions (IRETA)’s Michael Flaherty on “ Building a Common Vision for Recovery in America” (PowerPoint presentation and remarks) and Recovery Consultants of Atlanta and RCSP grantee David Whiters on “A Faith-based Approach to Providing Peer-led Addiction Recovery Support Services.”
Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) is providing Telephone Peer Recovery Support Services under a contract with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. This flyer documents the program’s success in helping people in Connecticut sustain their recovery.
November 7 is the deadline for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Substance Abuse Policy Research Program’s final round of funding. There’s up to $5 million available and applications must be completed online.
The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a letter of guidance to states interested in peer support services under the Medicaid program for mental health and substance use disorders services. The letter reaffirms CMS’ commitment to state flexibility and consumer protection in peer support.
The National Quality Forum has published voluntary national consensus standards for addiction identification, treatment and continuing care management. The standards include four domains: identification of substance use conditions; initiation and engagement in treatment; therapeutic interventions to treat substance use illness; and continuing care management of substance use illness. These four domains are divided into eleven endorsed treatment practices.
Announcements
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has set an October 19 deadline for nominees for its Community Health Leaders awards program that will honor 10 outstanding community leaders who work to expand access to healthcare and social services. Learn more…
Congratulations to Henry Lozano on his appointment by President George W. Bush as Director of the USA Freedom Corps. Henry, a person in long-term recovery from addiction, is a member of the Recovery Month Planning Partners and a member of the Community Anti-Drug Coalition (CADCA) board of directors. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Californians for Drug-Free Youth, a non-profit organization working to bring parents, youth, schools, and communities together to create and support safe and healthy communities.
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