The Recovery Bill of Rights
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Event: Congressional Briefing on Recovery Support Services
September 28, 2006
Faces & Voices of Recovery, in conjunction with the Congressional Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill on innovative programs that are supporting people newly in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. There were over 50 people in attendance half of whom were staff members representing congressional delegates.
The briefing highlighted one federal program in particular – the Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) – in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the recipients of which are pioneering ways that communities can support people in recovery and their families.
RCSP grantees have an inspirational track record. Some of the ways they support people in their recovery include helping them secure and keep jobs, find safe housing and become contributing citizens. People in long-term recovery are now serving as leaders and volunteers in recovery community organizations providing desperately needed peer-to-peer recovery support services. Local recovery communities including doctors, teachers, lawyers and other community leaders in recovery are meeting the needs of area residents. They are demonstrating that organizing the recovery community in cities, towns and reservations across the country is critical to sustaining addiction recovery and getting help to those who still need it.
Attendees of the briefing heard from Faces & Voices of Recovery's Executive Director, Pat Taylor, from Eva Marie Seneca, a woman who has used these services to move off of the welfare rolls to a sustainable job as well as from the leaders of three organizations who have been innovators in providing recovery support services: Beverly Haberle, PRO-ACT (Pennsylvania), Don Coyhis, White Bison (Colorado), and Phillip Valentine, CCAR (Connecticut).
Click on the links below to view each speaker's presentation and for other information that was distributed:
Presentations:
Pat Taylor, Faces & Voices of Recovery
Bev Haberle, PRO-ACT
Don Coyhis, White Bison
Phillip Valentine, CCAR
Handouts:
RCSP Conference Report: Emerging Peer Recovery Support Services and Indicators of Quality
RCSP Informational Sheet
White Bison Wellbriety Milestones and Resources
Rising! Recovery In Action