Capitol Hill Happenings
Around the Agencies
- New SAMHSA resource on effective reentry practices for individuals with MH and SUDs returning to the community from jail or prison
- CMS announces 32 recipients of Accountable Health Communities (ACH) cooperative agreement awards
Upcoming Events
- CADCA webinar on effective media messages to reduce impaired driving
- Upcoming webinar on role of faith communities in supporting families impacted by addiction
- Webinar on the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) Criteria for Clinical and Program Standards
Stakeholder Spotlight
Capitol Hill Happenings
ONDCP responds to House Energy and Commerce Committee inquiry on fentanyl
On February 23rd, bipartisan leaders of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to Kemp Chester, then-Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) focused on fentanyl. Specifically, the letter requested ONDCP’s assistance in questioning federal agencies about their plans to address the synthetic opioid fentanyl. ONDCP has responded to the Committee’s request, answering the fifteen questions related to fentanyl trafficking, overdose deaths, and enforcement efforts. In the response to Committee leadership, ONDCP highlights to role of the National Heroin Coordination Group (NHCG), which works to reduce the availability of both heroin and fentanyl simultaneously.
Read the original letter from Energy and Commerce Committee leadership here.
Read ONDCP’s response here.
Around the Agencies
New SAMHSA resource on effective reentry practices for individuals with MH and SUDs returning to the community from jail or prison
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a resource on transition planning for people with mental and substance use disorders leaving jail or prison. The Guidelines for Successful Transition of People with Mental or Substance Use Disorders from Jail and Prison: Implementation Guide was developed to provide practitioners with knowledge to support implementation of successful strategies for transitioning people with behavioral health conditions from jail and prison into the community. The new SAMHSA guidelines provide examples of successful strategies for transitioning people with mental or substance use disorders from correctional settings into the community. The guide promotes the Assess, Plan, Identify, and Coordinate (APIC) approach to identifying various successful evidenced-based strategies that work across jurisdictional systems.
SAMHSA is hosting a webinar to provide an overview of the guide On April 20th at 2pm EST. Register for the webinar here.
Access the guidelines here.
CMS announces 32 recipients of Accountable Health Communities (ACH) cooperative agreement awards
Last week the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) Innovation Center announced 32 recipients of Accountable Health Communities (AHC) cooperative agreement awards. The awards will support local communities in addressing the health-related social needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries by bridging the gap between clinical and community service providers. The 32 communities are in the following States: AZ, CO, CT, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, and WV.
The AHC cooperative agreement awards have three tracks: 1) Awareness Track – Increase beneficiary awareness of available community services through information dissemination and referral; 2) Assistance Track – Provide community service navigation services to assist high-risk beneficiaries with accessing services to address health-related social needs; and 3) Alignment Track – Encourage partner alignment to ensure that community services are available and responsive to the needs of the beneficiaries. The 32 new awardees fall into either the Assistance or Alignment track.
For a full list of recipients, click here.
To learn more about the AHC initiative, click here.
Upcoming Events
CADCA webinar on effective media messages to reduce impaired driving
The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) is hosting a webinar on “How Coalitions Can Coordinate with Law Enforcement Agencies to Create Effective Media Messages to Help Reduce Impaired Driving.” The webinar will provide support in developing media messages designed to raise the visibility of enforcement operations to reduce impaired driving. The intended audience is coalitions, prevention organizations, and law enforcement agencies. The webinar will help participants: understand the main purpose of creating enforcement visibility; identify effective and ineffective messages; recognize the best messages and media for reaching specific primary audiences; learn how prevention organizations and coalitions can create visibility in coordination with enforcement operations of local and state police agencies; and distinguish between paid, earned, and social media types. The webinar will be held on April 20th from 1:00-2:30pm EST.
Register for the webinar here.
Upcoming webinar on role of faith communities in supporting families impacted by addiction
The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (NCADD), Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), and the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC), are hosting a webinar series on how faith communities can strengthen their efforts to support the healing of individuals and families hurt by the addiction epidemic in our country. The webinars are supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The first webinar, Addiction and the Faith Community, will be presented in two parts: Part 1: Faith Communities Respond; and Part 2: Children of the Opioid Epidemic. The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 27th at 2:00pm EST.
Register for the webinar here.
Webinar on the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) Criteria for Clinical and Program Standards
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a webinar entitled “Introduction to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria for Clinical and Program Standards.” The webinar will provide an overview of the substance use disorder treatment care continuum and standards described in the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria. The webinar will provide an overview of all the ASAM Criteria levels of care, and then focus specifically on complex levels of care, including withdrawal management, early intervention, partial hospitalization, and clinically managed low-intensity residential services. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 19th from 3:30pm– 5:00pm EST.
Register for the webinar here.
Stakeholder Spotlight
The D.C. Update from the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) is now featuring a “Stakeholder Spotlight” to highlight the work of a stakeholder group with which NASADAD works closely. The Spotlight will include background on an organization that impacts the substance use disorder field and describe NASADAD’s collaborative efforts with them. This week we’re catching up with the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR).
Catching Up with the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR)
Founded in 2011, the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) is a nonprofit recovery community organization (RCO) that currently serves 25 regional affiliate organizations. These affiliate organizations collectively support over 25,000 individuals who in recovery from a substance use disorder. NARR’s mission is to support individuals who are in recovery by improving their access to quality recovery residences through standards, support services, placement, education, research and advocacy.
NARR’s affiliate members vary in age, size, experience, regional environments, and development needs. NARR hosts an open call every month for affiliate peers and stakeholders to share successes and challenges related to recovery residences, pose questions and answers, and gain national and local perspectives. NARR provides its affiliate standards, white papers, and advocacy support on its website. Additionally, NARR offers training and technical assistance to help develop a State/regional organization or provide ongoing support to existing affiliates.
NASADAD is appreciative of NARR’s work to support individuals in recovery and increase their access to recovery residences. In particular, we are grateful for the leadership of NARR’s president, Dave Sheridan.
To learn more about NARR, click here.
Should you have any questions, or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Robert Morrison, Executive Director, or Shalini Wickramatilake-Templeman, Federal Affairs Manager, at (202) 293-0090.