RecoveryBlog
recoveryblog: a blog for recovery advocates!
Our recovery advocacy blog is produced by individuals in recovery! Here you will find commentary and personal discussions on different aspects of addiction recovery and advocacy.
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In February of 2020, I began my position with Faces & Voices of Recovery. With experience in grassroots organizing, working with RCOs and state systems, and peer training facilitation and curriculum development, I brought with me a passion to strengthen the national network of Recovery Community Organizations. As a woman in sustained recovery, I personally utilized peer services and had access to local RCOs. This personal experience helped to solidify my understanding of the vital role peers and RCOs have in building a foundation for recovery and across the recovery continuum journey.
I spent my first few months with the organization learning about our ARCO members. I learned from active ARCO members, members who opted to leave ARCO, and organizations who had unsuccessfully applied for membership. I sought a deeper understanding of their challenges and where Faces & Voices of Recovery, the RCO definition, and the 8 Criteria for RCOs and ARCO membership could improve. I grew my knowledge through rich and vulnerable conversations and by listening to understand. After a few short months, I submitted a proposal to complete a programmatic evaluation on our ARCO program with the intent to make changes that were responsive to challenges encountered by RCOs.
As the work on this evaluation began, Faces & Voices of Recovery became aware of how we as an organization, and many others in our national recovery network, failed to equitably represent Black; Indigenous; and people of color in our work to elevate and increase access to recovery. This was something I had already become aware of through the conversations I had been having with RCOs in our national system. The ARCO Programmatic evaluation grew from making responsive changes for developing RCOs into making responsive changes that were culturally congruent to BIPOC community members, LGBTQIA+ community members, People Who Use Drugs (PWUD), and harm reduction efforts that are inequitably welcomed and represented in recovery spaces.
A wise and brutally honest ARCO member expressed to me that Faces & Voices of Recovery, and the recovery movement as a whole, had a history of inequity and whiteness. This member had been a supporter of our organization for many years and continued to do so but was unabashed about his truth and experience as an African American, long-term recovering community member, and recovery advocate. This person committed to helping us do better if I committed to doing the work. You know who you are, and I thank you. It was with passion and empathy, along with support and access to resources to complete the ARCO Programmatic Evaluation from Patty McCarthy; Phillip Rutherford; and Joseph Hogan-Sanchez, that we began our journey to do better.
This report and the work conducted by our ARCO members is a mechanism to reevaluate our systems, embrace dialogue in the spirit of understanding, and challenge what we know to be true. It is a catalyst for change. It has changed our organization and ARCO membership, but more importantly, it has changed me, and I hope that it spurs change for you. Together, we can do better.
We are pleased to present to you the 2021 ARCO Programmatic Evaluation Report which can be accessed for online reading, downloading, and printing here.
Marianna Horowitz
Program Manager, Faces & Voices of Recovery
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On July 20, The Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control held a hearing on the state of treatment and recovery in the United States, entitled “The Federal Response to the Drug Overdose Epidemic.” Witnesses included federal officials Regina LaBelle (Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy) and Tom Coderre (Acting Director of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.) The role of recovery support services was a central theme of the testimony.
Tom Coderre shared his personal story of recovery and urged lawmakers to see the positive results it has yielded. “True success with substance use disorder also involves enduring efforts, many of which are through recovery supports,” he stated.
Coderre cited that Recovery Support efforts have been part of SAMHSA’s portfolio since the late 1990s. SAMHSA first launched the Recovery Community Support Program, later the Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) in 1998. This grant helped launch and supported the development and strengthening of recovery community organizations (RCOs). Their focus has been emphasizing the critical importance of as a bi-directional bridge between communities and formal systems, including SUD treatment, and the criminal justice and child welfare systems. Coderre praised RCOs for being peer-led and managed.
Also receiving attention in the hearing were two newer grant initiatives, the RCSP 5-year grant program and the Treatment, Recovery and Workforce Support Grants (Workforce Support). The 5-year RCSP grants build peer recovery support services capacity through recovery community centers, and the Workforce Support grants enhance employment opportunities for individuals in recovery from SUDs by addressing gaps in services and providing opportunities for veterans, homeless individuals, and those reentering the community after incarceration. Coderre mentioned that also of note, SAMHSA developed the targeted capacity expansion-peer to peer (TCE-PTP) grant portfolio forging the path for the extensive ongoing training of peers towards certification and expanding the workforce. This portfolio has provided state recognition for peer support service providers in the workplace and, in some states where allowable, Medicaid reimbursement for their services.
Since 2017, SAMHSA allocated over 60 million dollars to recovery support initiatives, but Coderre urged the Senate to do more to build out the continuum. Following the lead of President Biden’s FY 2022 Budget, he reiterated his call for a 10 percent set aside for recovery support services in the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant which would provide states with funding to further invest in building out recovery support services.
Acting Director LaBelle reiterated the priorities of the Biden Administration, including a need to expand access to recovery support services, as well as the advancement of recovery-ready workplaces. She recognized that recovery support services are offered in various institutional and community-based settings and include peer support services and engagement, recovery housing, recovery community centers, and recovery programs in high schools and colleges, and increased capacity and infrastructure of these programs will create strong resource networks to equip communities to support recovery for everyone. The required infrastructure includes a safe, reliable, and affordable means of transportation to access recovery support services. She pledged that ONDCP will work with Federal partners, State, local, and Tribal governments, and recovery housing stakeholders to begin developing sustainability protocols for recovery housing, including certification, payment models, evidence-based practices, and technical assistance.
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A Historical Summit
by: Bill White
In 2001, more than 130 recovery advocates from more than 30 states gathered in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the invitation of the Johnson Institute’s Alliance Project and with support of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s (CSAT) Recovery Community Support Program (RCSP). That gathering marked the formal launch of a new recovery advocacy movement in the United States. The vision of culturally and politically mobilizing people in recovery and their families and allies was not a new vison, but those of us in St. Paul during those momentous days had an unmistakable feeling that we were participating in something that could reshape the future of addiction recovery. Now, with 20 years of hindsight, we can acknowledge what was so significant about this event.
The 2001 Recovery Summit marked a clarion call to shift the center of the alcohol and other drug problems arena to a focus on the lived solution for individuals, families, and communities. The shift from pathology/clinical paradigms to a “recovery paradigm” exerted pressure for urgent changes in policy, research, treatment, recovery support practice, and service system evaluation. The emergence or elevation of such concepts as recovery management, recovery-oriented systems of care, recovery coaching, recovery support services, recovery capital, recovery cascade (contagion), culture of recovery, community recovery, etc. would be missing from our current landscape without this paradigm shift, as would many recovery-focused research studies.
The 2001 Recovery Summit marked the passing of the recovery advocacy leadership torch from an earlier generation of advocacy organizations, most notably the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (1944, later the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) and the Society of Americans for Recovery (1991). The founding of Faces and Voices of Recovery as an outcome of the Summit set the stage for subsequent efforts, including Young People in Recovery, Facing Addiction, Shatterproof, the Recovery Advocacy Project, Latino Recovery Advocacy, Black Faces Black Voices, the African American Federation of Recovery Organizations, and other national recovery advocacy efforts. Faces and Voices provided the connecting tissue for RCO leaders to gather, communicate, share resources, and speak with a collective voice. The 2001 Recovery Summit set the foundation for the landmark accomplishments of Faces and Voices of Recovery and other recovery advocacy organizations.
The 2001 Recovery Summit marked the coming of age of a new organizational entity—the grassroots recovery community organization (RCO). The emerging RCO was not a recovery mutual aid fellowship, an alcohol/drug problems council, or a prevention or treatment organization, but rather an organization focused exclusively on recovery community mobilization, recovery advocacy, and recovery-focused community development. Subsequently linked through the Association of Recovery Community Organizations, RCOs have been instrumental in supporting further recovery community institution building, e.g., recovery community centers; recovery residences; occupational/workplace recovery programs; recovery high schools and collegiate recovery programs; recovery ministries; recovery-focused health, sports, and adventure programs; and recovery-focused projects in music, theatre, art, and community service.
The 2001 Recovery Summit marked a milestone in multicultural and multiple pathway recovery advocacy. The 2001 Summit was diverse in its representation of women, communities of color, and the LGBTQ community as well as its representation of diverse pathways of addiction recovery. The Summit was historically noteworthy in bringing affected family members into the advocacy movement on an equal footing with those with lived experience of addiction recovery. The Summit marked a milestone: people representing diverse pathways and styles of recovery seeing themselves collectively as “a people” with shared needs and aspirations. That “peoplehood” inspired subsequent calls for authentic and diverse recovery representation at all levels of decision-making within the AOD problems arena.
The 2001 Recovery Summit marked an early vision—the seed—of the integration of primary prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, treatment, and peer recovery support—a process that continues to this day through efforts to delineate roles and responsibilities as well as efforts of coordination and collaboration across this service and support continuum. Prior to the 2001 Recovery Summit, recovery never appeared on the alcohol and other drug service continuum. The emergence of peer recovery support services as a distinct service entity following the Summit constitutes a significant historical milestone.
What the 2001 Recovery Summit did more than anything was weld the personal commitments of individuals and programs into a national recovery advocacy movement. We had a name; a consensus on vision, goals, and tactics; and, most importantly, we had mutually supportive relationships across the country that bound us together in common cause. I look forward to our gathering this October to revision the future of recovery advocacy in the United States.
An Invitation to Return to Saint Paul
by: Philip Rutherford
Even before my arrival at Faces & Voices, I learned about the rich history and significance of the St. Paul summit that happened on October 5, 2001. While working at a Minnesota RCO, I attended an event put on by The Association of Recovery Community Organizations (ARCO) that was modeled after the original summit. At the time, it was called the ARCO Executive Directors Leadership Academy, and it transformed both my personal understanding of the recovery movement, and ultimately the trajectory of my organization. ARCO’s roots are connected to the powerful movement that arose from the St. Paul summit and that continue to propel the work of countless organizations today.
On October 3, 2021, at the River Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota, we will convene another summit to commemorate the passing of the 20th anniversary of that event. We will examine where we are today and look toward the future. The event will have plenary speakers like Bill White, Dr. Nora Volkow, William Moyers Jr. and Dr. Delphin-Rittmon, and will include six different tracks of learning concentrations around Advocacy, Peer Recovery Support Services, Capacity Building, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Family and Youth, and Leadership Development.
Many things have changed about the recovery movement since 2001. At Faces & Voices, we see this event as an opportunity to celebrate the tireless efforts of those who have come before us, honor those in the trenches right now, and help clear a path for anyone who wants to join the journey. Similarly, some things haven’t changed, and we see this event as an opportunity to have frank and open discussions about where change is required.
If 2020 has taught me anything, it is to expect the unexpected, and as such, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention COVID-19 and the possibility of rates of infection affecting our plans. The COVID-19 Delta and Lambda variants are influencing how the celebration will take place. We are closely monitoring guidelines and restrictions and will make decisions as the situation unfolds.
Unless restrictions prohibit us from gathering, we plan on hosting the conference in-person. We understand some people may be hesitant to attend, due to safety concerns.
If necessary, we will deliver a webinar-based, hybrid option to accommodate more people, so that we can still be together as a community for this important milestone. We will update you as we can. In addition, the River Centre has taken a number of precautions to ensure your safety.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.
To make it a bit clearer, here are three possible scenarios as examples:
Scenario A– All is well. No mandates or city-wide orders in place regarding COVID
*Summit takes place as scheduled. Proof of Vaccine/Negative test results/mask required (with audit during event). We will stream only keynote events.
Scenario B– Positivity rates increase, moderate concern surrounding transmission. No mandates or city-wide orders in place regarding COVID.
*Summit takes place as scheduled. Proof of Vaccine/Negative test results/mask required (with audit during event). Social distancing rules will be enforced, hybrid conference occurs with streaming of each session.
Scenario C-All is not well, mandates or city-wide orders are in place regarding COVID
Summit takes place entirely in virtual space.
Gate: September 1 decision date
Nationwide positivity of >12% Scenario C
Nationwide positivity of 5-12% Scenario B
Nationwide positivity of <5% Scenario A
Regardless of the eventual format, we extend a warm invitation for you to participate. You can register by clicking HERE. Let’s go make some more history.
UPDATE: On September 1, 2021 Faces & Voices of Recovery made the difficult decision to move the event to a completely virtual setting.
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Posts from William White
The opioid crisis has not abated and has had a significant impact on African American communities.This issue brief presents recent data on prevalence of opioid misuse and death rates in the Black/ African American population; contextual factors and challenges to prevention and treatment; innovative outreach and engagement strategies to connect people to evidence-based treatment; and the importance of community voice.
Some random thoughts excerpted from my journals during my recent blogging hiatus.
On Weak Recovery Definitions: At its central core, addiction recovery is a radically altered relationship between an individual and the psychoactive drugs that once dominated their life. Any definition of recovery that does not reference a change in that relationship fails on multiple levels. Recovery may be more than a radical change in that relationship, but it surely must include that change. The danger of ever more vague definitions of recovery is this: when recovery becomes everything, it becomes nothing.
Recovery is not like pregnancy—you are or you are not. It is a spectrum with variations and degrees of tone and quality as indicated by one’s own self-evaluation and by objective measures of substance use disorder (SUD) remission, global health, quality of personal and family life, and key measures of social functioning. The remission requirement is, however, key because it restricts application of the medical term “recovery” to persons whose alcohol or drug (AOD) use reached a point of severity to meet SUD diagnostic criteria. (Technically, a person cannot “recover” from a medical condition they never had.)
Pain and Hope in Addiction Recovery: What recovery promises is not a guarantee but the potential to transmute pain into a person—like base metal into gold. Pain and despair in the absence of hope is an invitation to self-destruction; pain in the presence of hope can be a life-saving catalyst and a fulcrum of personal transformation. Pain can be a messenger and an opening, but there is no deliverance without hope.
Mirror Faces of Addiction and Recovery: Recovery must be as morally redemptive as addiction is morally corrupting, as connective as addiction is alienating. Recovery must be the Janus face of addiction, offering degrees of retrieval for past losses. Daily acts of addiction erode and degrade; daily acts of recovery restore and upgrade. Addiction and recovery involve mirror processes of character deterioration and character reconstruction.
On Shallow Criticism of Mutual Aid Groups: If you would not judge a city based on your contact with one of its citizens, then why would you judge any mutual aid group based on your contact with one of its members, your exposure to a single one of its meetings, or your reading of a snippet of its literature? All recovery mutual aid groups (and all other social institutions) possess vulnerabilities, limitations, and imperfections in design and practice. Analysis of such are best made through rigorous and sustained investigation of each group’s history, literature, contemporary practices, as well as scientific and personal evaluations of relative effectiveness. Shallow and ill-targeted criticisms reveal more about the critic than the object of criticism.
On the Purposes of Recovery Community Centers: The goal is not to create a larger closet within which we can hide but rather to create recovery space within every arena of community life and to serve as a guide into those spaces. Beyond their myriad menus of recovery support services, another purpose of the recovery community center is to create a sanctuary in which people from diverse pathways of recovery can gather to commemorate their survival–as individuals and as a people.
Recovery as Sweet Revenge: Recovery can be a bold rejoinder to:
–People who believed you would never change and who reveled in your failures
–People who expressed contempt for you in their every word and gesture
–People who bolstered their own self-esteem by reveling in your decline
–People who supported your addiction because of their ability to manipulate and use you in your addicted state
–People who attempted to sabotage your early efforts to stand
For such people, your recovery will be a great disappointment and cause for confusion. Your recovery is a taunt to their disbelief and disdain. Every breath you take in recovery can be an act of sweet revenge. Breathe deeply! You don’t have to recover for a righteous reason: just recover! Defy all their expectations!
The Alchemy of Recovery: Addiction inflicts intense emotional heat and pressure. It can burn you to ash or, through the spiritual heat and pressure of recovery, transform you into a diamond.
On Awe and Wonder: There is a potential point in recovery when we stop the internal and external noise and silently experience the awe of our survival—the wonder of just being. In such moments that we can feel, perhaps for the first time, truly connected to the cycle of life. It is then time to face, with as much courage as one can muster, THE big questions: “Now what? I have survived that which has killed so many others. Why? For what purpose?”
On Recovery Representation: Local, state, national, and global discussions of addiction engage multiple stakeholders. Some have ego, status, money, institutional interests in the game, but it is only one constituency—those most directly affected by addiction—that have full skin in the game. All they are and hope to be, their very lives, can rest upon decisions made at these policymaking tables. The level of urgency and experiential knowledge they possess must be included in every policymaking venue. Nothing about us without us remains the call of recovery advocacy.
On Grief and Activism: As a society, we have yet to grasp the enormity of loss exacted by the opioid epidemic. Endless lives have been and are being silenced before their time. Our eyes have run out of tears and our stark faces tell the truth of their lost dreams. While the loss of a life to drug use or addiction is tragic in its own right, it is not nearly as tragic as the loss of their stories to shame and silence. We are powerless to alter physical death, but we are not powerless to keep alive the story of someone’s life. We can move beyond grief to activism. For those of us who survived, we must speak for the lost. We must let them speak through us. Failing that, their lives, their stories, their aspirations will be forever erased. As a token of remembrance and gratitude for our own deliverance, we can speak their names and give their lives added meaning through our service. A social death does not occur until the last person speaks their name. Whose name could you speak today?
On Rhetoric versus Action: Communities reeling from the effects of opioid addiction and related problems do not need more rhetoric, reports, and recommendations; they need more resources.
Ministry of Presence: What we can offer of greatest value is our presence and our acceptance of another person’s suffering. Then and only then can we offer our own story. Then and only then can we offer technologies of survival and recovery. Many people have ideas about recovery, speak about recovery, and write about recovery. Far fewer cultivate the capacity to listen to recovery in all its glorious varieties. That is what we must all become: recovery listeners.
Self-examination and Listening as Acts of Humility: Wisdom and humility can arise from the ashes of ignorance and arrogance, but not without rigorous self-examination and a consciously cultivated capacity for listening.
On Treatment Brokers: Beware of treatment pimps and pushers (e.g., treatment brokers) who view you as a crop to harvest for financial profit. When healers see suffering, they see the potential for recovery; when pimps see suffering, they see dollar signs.
Favorite Quotes from Recent Reading:
You can’t lead people you don’t love. You can’t rally people you don’t respect. –Van Jones
We must go where the pain and peril are greatest and the quest for real solutions is most desperate. – Van Jones
On the journey to myself I’ve been so many people.—Indigo Williams
What I am, I am; and let it be enough. –D.H. Lawrence
What good is it if we just make ourselves more holy? What’s the point? The point is to serve, to offer, to be the offering. –Bernie Glassman
Since its founding in the mid-twentieth century, Narcotics Anonymous (NA) has emerged as a major addiction recovery support resource, with more than 71,000 weekly NA meetings in 144 countries. But what is known about the effects of NA participation from the standpoint of science? To answer that question, Marc Galanter, Keith Humphreys, John Kelly, and I authored a paper analyzing the results of 227 NA-related scientific studies. That report is now available for review and free download (click HERE).
As long-tenured researchers of addiction recovery mutual aid in the United States, the authors regularly receive questions from service professionals, policy makers, and affected individuals and families about the scientific status of 12-Step and alternative groups. It is hard to sort through the rhetorical zeal (ranging from passionate support to venomous attacks) encountered within professional and public discussions of 12-Step and alternative approaches to addiction recovery mutual aid. This just-released report summarizes research data on the following questions:
When did formal scientific studies of NA begin?
What is the international scope of NA research studies?
What is the relative growth and availability of NA in the U.S. and internationally?
Who participates in NA?
How common is 12-Step co-attendance?
How do people get to NA?
What are the major obstacles to NA participation?
What is the retention/dropout rate within NA?
What are the effects of NA participation on drug use and remission / recovery from substance use disorders?
What is the average duration of continuous recovery among NA members?
What are the major risk factors for recurrence of drug use and addiction among NA members?
What are the broader effects of NA participation on health and quality of life outcomes?
What factors related to NA participation predict substance use and quality of life outcomes?
Do such positive effects differ across demographic, cultural, and clinical characteristics?
Is NA effective in improving recovery outcomes of adolescents?
Is NA safe for adolescents and other vulnerable populations?
Is NA appropriate for people with less religious or spiritual orientation? What is the role of spirituality in NA’s program of recovery?
Is NA appropriate for people with co-occurring psychiatric illness?
How does concurrent participation in addiction treatment and NA affect long-term recovery outcomes?
Is
NA appropriate for people in medication-assisted treatment?
What mechanisms might help explain the positive changes people experience through NA participation?
Does NA lead to isolation from mainstream community life or greater civic involvement?
What is the cost-effectiveness of NA participation?
What are the attitudes toward NA among helping professionals and addiction treatment personnel and their related referral practices?
What can treatment centers do to increase patient participation in NA?
What are the major limitations of published research on NA?
Future research will continue to illuminate questions related to the effects of NA participation on recovery outcomes. The scientific evidence we reviewed possesses both consistency and coherence. NA members and NA literature boldly assert “We do Recover.” The studies reviewed in this report provide scientific confirmation and context to that assertion. It is our hope that this analysis will offer scientific grounding to future discussions of the potential role of NA in recovery initiation and enhanced quality of life in long-term addiction recovery.
Direct involvement of physicians and other health care professionals in identifying and treating alcohol use disorder is possible, practical, and necessary. The medications described here have been shown to be effective in, and are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for, the management of alcohol dependence or the prevention of relapse to alcohol use.
Specifically:
- Acamprosate calcium is indicated for the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol in patients dependent on alcohol who are abstinent at treatment initiation.
- Disulfiram is an aid in the management of selected patients who want to remain in a state of enforced sobriety so that supportive and psychotherapeutic treatment may be applied to best advantage.
- Oral naltrexone (naltrexone hydrochloride tablet) is indicated for the treatment of alcohol dependence.
- Extended-release injectable naltrexone is indicated for the treatment of alcohol dependence in patients who have been able to abstain from alcohol in an outpatient setting. Learn more about Vivitrol here: https://www.vivitrol.com/opioid-dependence/what-is-vivitrol
READ PUBLICATION HERE
Medication for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Brief Guide
SOURCE: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Medication for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Brief Guide. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 15-4907. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015.
On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule announcing the implementation of sections 1102 and 1106 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act).
The Paycheck Protection Program and loan forgiveness are intended to provide economic relief to small businesses nationwide adversely impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
You can apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans once they are approved and enrolled in the program. You should consult with your local lender as to whether it is participating in the program.
Loans under the PPP will be 100 percent guaranteed by SBA, and the full principal amount of the loans may qualify for loan forgiveness.
The Paycheck Protection Program will be available through June 30, 2020.
The deadline for this announcement has passed.
SAMHSA just released a grant announcement for Emergency Grants to Address Mental and Substance Use Disorders During COVID-19. Although only States, Territories and Tribal Communities are eligible applicants, they must clearly define the direct services they will provide with the money, and should include funding for RCOs in their proposals.
One of the five options for them to select from is:
“Provide recovery support services (e.g., linkages to nutrition/food services (funds may not be used to actually purchase food/meals), individual support services (individual contact/check in by peer support personnel, faith-based groups, etc), childcare, vocational, educational, linkages to housing services, and transportation services) which will improve access to, and retention in services. Grantees must ensure the ability to provide these services virtually where needed. (Note: Grant funds may be used to purchase such services from another provider.)”
Please contact your SSA’s office as soon as possible to advocate for funding contracts to go to your RCOs. Each state will receive up to $2 million to be used over 16 months.
The deadline for applications is April 10th!!
We encourage you to act now, TODAY, to call your contacts at your SSA’s office.
This is the fastest way to get financial support for RCOs to address the COVID-19 pandemic for the people you serve.
If you need help finding the contact person in your state, please call us at (202) 737-0690.
NOTE: This is a 90-minute introduction video only. The complete 3 day training is available to be delivered to your organization either virtually or on-site through the National Recovery Institute. For training inquiries contact nri@facesandvoicesofrecovery.org.
Topics covered:
– The history, benefits & types of Virtual Recovery Support Services (VRSS)
– The current environment
– Ethical considerations in the provision of VRSS
– Basics of confidentiality including HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2
About the presenter: William Stauffer, LSW, CCS, CADC
William Stauffer is the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Recovery Organization Alliance (PRO-A), the statewide recovery community organization of Pennsylvania. He is in long-term recovery since age 21 and has been actively engaged in public policy in the recovery arena for most of those years. Mr. Stauffer is a graduate of Northampton Community College, Cedar Crest College and Kutztown University. He is also an adjunct professor of Social Work at Misericordia University in Dallas Pennsylvania. William Stauffer has initiated numerous workforce expansion initiatives for persons in recovery. A major focus of his work has been aimed at moving our entire SUD care system towards a five-year care paradigm to dramatically expand the numbers of Americans in Recovery while saving lives, resources, and communities. He is co-chair of the public policy committee for Faces & Voices of Recovery and the 2019 recipient of the Vernon Johnson Award Individual Recovery Advocate of the year.
Note: This is an overview of a multi-day training offered by the National Recovery Institute to prepare program administrators and peer workers on the implementation of Virtual Peer Recovery Support Services.
Interested in more webinars and trainings?
Check out Faces & Voices of Recovery’s National Recovery Institute. NRI delivers training, technical assistance, evaluation, research, translation, and capacity building products and services to support individuals, organizations and states on topics related to recovery support services and policy development. We are always working on the next round of groundbreaking offerings to support recovery support providers and other related entities. Learn more about how we can help you!
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Investing in recovery support services will reap the economic benefits of long-term recovery, reduce the burden on the criminal justice and child welfare systems, and get people the housing, employment and educational services they need.