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SAMHSA Opens Recovery Month with NSDUH, Melding of Mental Health Faces & Voices on the First Year of Recovery Month without SAMHSA Money Centers' Branding Should Take a More Sophisticated Approach White House will Nominate Botticelli as ONDCP Chief TCA Wants Counseling for Buprenorphine Patients Study Links Medical Marijuana to Reduced Rx Opioid ODs Briefly Noted Coming up     

SAMHSA to write new application for new SOR with stimulants included

The addition of stimulants as an allowable use for State Opioid Response (SOR) grants will require a new application, which the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is working on, ADAW has learned. The change was in the FY 2020 appropriations bill passed last month by Congress (see ADAW, Dec. 23, 2019; “FY 2020 Appropriations: Stimulants added to SOR's $1.5 billion,” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32573 ), along with funding for other SAMHSA programs, including the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant (SAPT BG). After the bill passed before Christmas, Washington went away for the holidays.     

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In the Blossoming Recovery Industry, Who are the Addiction Workers? Program Staff that Faced Tragedy Now Encouraged toward Self–Care Survey: SAMHSA Employees Feel Untrusted, Overly Supervised Letter to the Editor New County–CRC Program Focuses on Co–Occurring Disorders Faces & Voices Tells NIDA it's Time to Study Recovery Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

AAC statement on NAATP lawsuit

As the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) was beginning its annual leadership meeting May 6, American Addiction Centers sued the organization in federal court (see “AAC sues NAATP for defamation,” ADAW, May 13, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32362 ). We wanted to provide further information on the lawsuit (which we linked to in our story last week). Below is a statement provided exclusively to ADAW by AAC May 15.     

Confidentiality of SUD records: History and final rule analysis from LAC

In less than 2 weeks, treatment providers and patients will see what happens to confidentiality. The final rule issued last month on 42 CFR Part 2 (“42 CFR Part 2 final rule: OTP input into PDMP, more law enforcement,” ADAW, July 20, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adaw.32778 ) will take effect. We talked to the lead private organization on this regulation last week about how we got here and where we're going next.     

Lionrock prepared for the pandemic with video treatment

Lionrock Recovery has been providing videoconferencing for addiction recovery for a decade, so it was ready for the requirements under the pandemic for virtual support groups. Originally designed for people who wanted privacy and would not go to a physical treatment program, Lionrock's high‐definition videoconferencing, in groups and in individual therapy, is now essential. (Also see “HD videoconferencing offers a treatment alternative,” ADAW, Nov. 19, 2012; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/adaw.20354 .)     

Names in the News

The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) will be presenting the 2019 Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award to Zachary Talbott at the organization's conference in October. Talbott was selected by his peers for the award. Nominations were announced last month (see ADAW, April 15, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32331 ). Talbott has opened and directed new opioid treatment programs, and had “compassionate advocacy of people with opioid use disorder,” as well as “fierce dedication to our patient population,” according to AATOD's May 1 letter to Talbott announcing the award offer, a copy of which was obtained by ADAW. Congratulations!     

NAATP guidebook not only for residential care

The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) has released its draft guidebook for minimum standards for members (see ADAW, April 22, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32334 ). NAATP is not only for residential treatment providers, however. “Our position at NAATP is that we are a membership association for providers along the entire continuum and that, while residential holds an important place in our work and is our historical foundation, our membership is in no way limited to residential,” NAATP Executive Director Marvin Ventrell told ADAW last week. “Even apart from our membership, we intend our resources, including ethics and the guidebook, to reach and guide the entire continuum. It is true that some of the guidelines have application more or less relative to type of care, but as a whole it should be viewed as a provider guide, not just a residential provider guide.” We regret any confusion. The field — and prominent organizations within it — is changing.     

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SAMHSA‐Requested FY 2015 Budget Axes ATR, Adds $20 Million for Integration Leaders Say Pace of Mergers between Providers Can't Be Forced Naloxone Saves Lives and Can Lead People to Treatment Evidence and the 12 Steps Faces & Voices of Recovery Announces Leadership Transition Local Governments ask Rx Industry to Pay for Take‐Back Days Resources Coming up     

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High Rate of Alcohol Use Found among Homicide Offenders and Victims New Programs Define Middle‐Income Clients as Target Market NAADAC's Alaska Affiliate CEO Charged with Embezzlement Treatment, Recovery and Parenting Pat Taylor Leaving Faces & Voices AATOD on ASAM Methadone Induction Guidelines Briefly Noted Call for Applications Coming up     

Briefly Noted

At last week's annual conference of the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH), the increase in managed care figured prominently as causing a significant barrier to access to treatment. “The issue that is front and center is access to care, the problems that people are having getting necessary care, and not being able to access the right care at the right time,” NABH President and CEO Mark Covall told ADAW. In addition, the continuum of care has been severely impacted by managed care, he said. “Managed care companies are restricting care to crisis care only,” he said. This means that the longer‐term care needed for recovery when patients emerge from a crisis is not being covered. There are no clear legislative or regulatory fixes yet, said Covall, speaking by phone from the busy meeting. As an organization, NABH “will continue to be proactive and reach out to managed care companies,” he said. “We hope the collaboration that is desperately needed will be a two‐way street.” NABH members have reported that “it has been exceedingly difficult to get patients the care they need, and our members are saying that it's hurting patients, and this is not acceptable.” Last week, NABH launched Access to Care, an initiative “that will send our message to policymakers, regulators, payers and patient advocates that only true access to care can lead to recovery.”     

Danielle Kirby receives Ramstad/Kennedy Award

The 12th annual Ramstad/Kennedy Award for outstanding leadership went to Danielle Kirby , director at the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery at the Illinois Department of Human Services and the state's Single State Authority, for her leadership in recovery support programs across Illinois and nationally. The award was announced last week and was established in honor of Congressmen Jim Ramstad and Patrick J. Kennedy. The two congressmen have been vocal advocates of recovery support services in all forms and championed localized efforts to support prevention, treatment and recovery. Now more than ever, recovery leaders are essential to our ability to address historic rates of overdoses and suicides, said Kennedy, founder of the Kennedy Forum. “People like Danielle Kirby are not only serving the communities in which they work; they are also serving their country. We are extremely grateful for her hard work and dedication,” Kennedy said. Kirby addressed stigma through innovative public awareness campaigns, as well as including persons with lived experience at decision‐making tables, showing others in strategic roles the importance of making recovery visible, according to the award announcement, which came from the National Association for Children of Addiction (NACoA), a Recovery Month planning partner. “Danielle Kirby has been in this position for less than two years, and yet has shown an energetic and inclusive spirit in supporting and promoting recovery community organizations and recovery resources for the present and future benefit of Illinois families and communities,” said Sis Wenger, NACoA president and CEO. “Together, in partnership with the dedicated organizations who comprise the Recovery Month Planning Partners, recovery success stories are becoming commonplace in Illinois, in part because of Danielle's ongoing and exceptional leadership and commitment.”     

Philadelphia says smoking ban has not led to treatment impact

Despite charges by Brooke Feldman and others (see “Advocate: Philadelphia smoking ban shuts some patients out of treatment,” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32388 , ADAW, June 10), the number of people leaving addiction treatment in Philadelphia is up, not down, after the smoking ban, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility services (DBHIDS) stated last week in a press release. The statement came out June 24, the day before a planned protest spearheaded by Feldman.     

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New TIP from SAMHSA Focuses on Criminal Justice System CRC's Karlin Describes Steps Toward Success Range of Treatment Services Attention Barriers to Substance Abuse Treatment in Criminal Justice Settings Partial Repeal of Education Aid Restrictions for Drug Conviction Takes Another Step in Congress Faces and Voices Recovery Group Faces Its Challenges in Washington Correction Briefly Noted Call for Applications Coming up     

Briefly Noted

We asked Jerry Rhodes, former top executive at CRC (now Acadia) and a leader in opioid treatment program management, what he thinks of methadone as a medication to be used in primary care to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), as some people — including former Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli — recommended last year (see ADAW, July 16, 2018). “I take issue with that,” said Rhodes. “Methadone is a dangerous drug in an unregulated environment,” he told ADAW. Buprenorphine is prescribed this way, but “buprenorphine is a relatively safe drug, and methadone isn't,” he said. A veteran of many battles over methadone, including the near‐elimination of opioid treatment programs, Rhodes told ADAW that “you don't give unfettered access to methadone” to patients with OUD. “Be careful what you wish for” is his advice. This has the potential to cause harm, he said. “Only people who don't understand the history of its utilization would recommend this.”     

Online meetings for 12‐Step and other support groups

The study showing that Alcoholics Anonymous as as effective, or more effective, than psychotherapy (see “Research: AA is better pathway to abstinence than psychotherapy,” ADAW March 16, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adaw.32655 ) was published a few days before COVID‐19 federal and state restrictions on group gatherings (“social distancing”) took effect, making AA and other meetings untenable. This seems like cruel timing. But John Kelly, Ph.D., one of the authors of the study, provided the below infographic to ADAW on other meetings. And Keith Humphreys, Ph.D., co‐author, was quoted recently on ABC News saying that he is concerned about patients with extreme mental health issues such as addiction, for whom face‐to‐face contact is key.     

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Getting Ready for 2014: Integrate With Medicine and Get a Mix of Payers Faces & Voices Seeks to Strengthen Recovery Community's Role in Election When is it Time to Stop Medication‐Assisted Opioid Treatment? NIH Proposes Rules to Avoid Big Pharma Bias Anchorage Moves to Non‐Sober Housing to Fight Homeless‐Alcoholism Problems Buffalo Audit Finds Lack of Financial Controls in Treatment Program Briefly Noted Names in the News Coming up     

Underage drinking and the role of parents

Last week's article on underage drinking and DWIs touched on the role of parents in helping to prevent both (see “Binge drinking in 12th grade predicts DWIs, blackouts and ‘extreme’ binge drinking,” ADAW, Feb. 3, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32610 ). The article was based on a study published in Pediatrics, co‐authored by Ralph W. Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Last week, Hingson, who presented on underage drinking at the annual leadership meeting of Community Anti‐Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), also explained more about the role of parents. “Parents do have an influence over whether and how much their children drink,” he told us. For example, if a parent binge drinks, their children will be twice as likely to binge drink — and to have alcohol use disorder.     

Talbott,patient advocate and OTP owner,leaves BayMark

Zac Talbott's last day with BayMark Health Services, which bought his opioid treatment programs (OTPs), Counseling Solutions Treatment Centers, in Chatsworth, Georgia, and Brasstown, North Carolina, last year (see “From starter OTP to acquisition by BayMark: A 3‐year journey,” ADAW, Sept. 8, 2018, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32095 ), was May 24. He had various options and opportunities that could have resulted in him leaving earlier, but he did not want to leave in the midst of so much change. He opened the first Counseling Solutions clinic in 2015 (see “Methadone patient and advocate to open own OTP in Georgia,” ADAW, Aug. 17, 2015, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.30292 ).