2008 CFC# 12486 
eNewsletter
December 24, 2008
Recovery Voices Count Wrap Up; Moments of Clarity; Resources learn more...
Recovery Advocacy Toolkit: Making Our Voices Count
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eNewsletter - February 8, 2008
Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) Under Fire
Advocates around the country are rallying to save the critical Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP). A special thanks to Bev Haberle (PRO-ACT); Kim Turner-Haugabook (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery [CCAR]); Bill Layfield (Alabama Voices for Recovery) and Tom Coderre (Faces & Voices’ National Field Director) for taking time to attend a meeting with Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Director Dr. Westley Clark on February 2nd to let him know how recovery community and faith-based organizations have used the program to support recovery.
At the meeting, they described how grantees have successfully mobilized community resources to help people seeking recovery, their families and communities. They also talked about the growing demand for RCSP grants from organizations that have witnessed the successful efforts of previous grantees.
There are two critical funding issues for the RCSP program: 2008 and 2009 funding. The third issue is providing technical assistance to support the growing national network of recovery community organizations.
2008 funding
In 2006, Faces & Voices led a successful campaign to restore funding for a new round of RCSP grants. When we learned that there wasn’t going to be a new round of funding in 2008, we mounted a campaign to restore that funding. That campaign is ongoing and we are grateful for the support of allied organizations – Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems George Washington University, Legal Action Center
NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD), State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS), and Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA) for their support. They joined us in sending a letter to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator Terry Cline and CSAT Director Dr. Westley Clark in support of a new round of RCSP funding in 2008.
2009 Funding
When President Bush released his budget for 2009, he called for the complete elimination of the RCSP program. The budget document that accompanies the budget includes a note that this recommendation is being made “…because services provided, such as manicures and other non-traditional therapies, are not based on evidence-based practices for recovery and grantees have not consistently met all performance measures.” Under the President’s proposed budget, existing grants would be terminated, halting projects that are already underway.
The President’s budget proposal is just that – a proposal. Before Congress enacts a budget, there will be Congressional hearings and other deliberations where we will have an opportunity to weigh in to support an expanded RCSP program. This will be a critical year for recovery advocacy. Faces & Voices will be sending out specific alerts on the RCSP program and the overall federal budget that is described in another note in this eNewsletter as Congress carries out its work.
What you can do today
One thing that we’ve learned over the past few weeks is that we all have a very important job ahead of us. We need to educate the public and policymakers about the work that recovery community organizations are doing in their communities to support individuals seeking or newly in recovery and their families.
We need to document the tremendous contributions that individuals are making as volunteers to those efforts. For example, in 2007 RCSP grantee CCAR mobilized the recovery community to provide 10,245 hours of volunteer service and RCSP grantee the El Paso Alliance mobilized the recovery community to provide 6,255 hours of volunteer services. While these hours are priceless in terms of the recovery experience that volunteers provided, if we were to calculate an economic value at the minimum wage, the recovery community in just those two areas provided $107,250 in services to support recovery.
We are collecting information on organizations that have been thinking about applying for RCSP grants or have applied and have not been awarded grants to build the case that there is great demand for an expansion of that program. If your organization has applied for a grant and not received one, please email us to let us know. We will be gathering and releasing that information as well as specific actions that you can take over the coming weeks.
If you haven’t done so already, please go to our Online Advocacy Action Center and ask your elected officials to support the RCSP program.