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eNewsletter - October 30, 2008
Our Common Welfare Project
On September 15-16, 2008 the Our Common Welfare Project hosted the Opening Doors: Strengthening Recovery-Facilitative Housing in Arizona Symposium. It was the first formal professional development conference specifically designed for recovery housing providers in three of Arizona’s most populous counties: Maricopa, Pima, and Yavapai.
The agenda was packed with timely and informative sessions designed to expose local recovery housing providers to the well-rounded experience, and evidence-based and promising practices from recovery housing programs across the nation, such as the California Sober Living Network, Old Pueblo Community Services in Tucson, and A Safe Haven in Chicago. The nonprofit organization and national recovery movement organization Faces &Voices of Recovery also participated by presenting national trends, activities, and recent recovery movement accomplishments.
TOPICS
- Historical Overview of Recovery Housing Movement in Illinois
- Illinois Model: How Recovery Housing & Legislation meet: Anchoring Standards, ethical practices & American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria
- Evidence-Based Practices in Recovery Housing
- Motivational Interviewing Overview
- California Sober Living Concepts and Successes
- Panel Discussion: What goes on in other states with Recovery Housing efforts: Ideas For Forward movement in Arizona
- Group Discussion: Certification for Arizona Recovery Homes: “Are we ready? Is it right for Arizona?” and Review of Community Needs Assessment Results
- National Certification For Recovery Specialist (NCRS): Packet review for submission.
- Premier: “Meth Inside Out” The Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (PSATTC)
SYMPOSIUM FOLLOW-UP AND NEXT STEPS:
People who attended the Symposium gave it very high ratings in their evaluations and recovery housing providers expressed tremendous interest in forming a statewide association to continue opportunities for professional development. They were also very interested in beginning to address current issues concerning the quality of care. Attendees wanted to ensure that there were “next steps” taken very soon after the Symposium. They wanted to retain the camaraderie, energy and momentum gained during the two-day event. Every single recovery housing provider expressed interest in forming a statewide association of recovery housing programs. That meeting happened on October 1, 2008 in Phoenix, where the Arizona Recovery Housing Association (AzRHA) was formed and future meetings were scheduled to continue building the organization. For more information, contact Patty Henderson.
About the Symposium:
The Symposium coincided with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and the bi-annual meeting of the Association of Halfway House Alcoholism Programs (AHHAP). AAHAP speakers joined others representing the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), local housing providers, and Arizona State University to present an array of topics to 60 attendees – 63% represented owners, managers, and staff of recovery housing programs (halfway houses, three-quarter houses, sober and transitional living), 13% represented local government including the Arizona Department of Corrections, 2% represented employers of individuals in recovery, and 7% represented treatment providers. The Symposium was held at the Hilton East Phoenix located in Mesa, Arizona.