Georgia Council on Substance Abuse Supports Recovery Support Service Set Aside in Federal Budget
Calls on Georgia Congressional Delegation to Support the Georgia Recovery Community
President Joe Biden has introduced his FY 2022 Budget which includes a 10% set-aside for recovery support services. This is a historic proposal. The Georgia Council on Substance Abuse thanks President Biden for his transformational proposal and calls on the Georgia Congressional Delegation to announce their bi-partisan support for the over 800,000 people in the Georgia Recovery Community by committing, publicly, to supporting this 10% set aside for recovery support services.
The Budget includes:
- $1.7 billion increase – Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Block Grant = $3.5 billion total
- $750 million increase – State Opioid Response Grant (SORG) = $2.25 billion total
- $500 million increase – Peer Support Technical Assistance Center = $1.5 billion total
- $10 million increase – Building Communities of Recovery = $20 million total
This 10% set aside for recovery support services is a Georgia friendly effort. Georgia is blessed with 38 peer-led recovery community organizations with at least one in every Congressional District. This new set-aside will support the stable and continued expansion and development of local recovery community support institutions such as recovery community organizations by reducing addiction/recovery-related stigma and discrimination at the local level; providing addiction treatment and recovery resources and support system navigation; making accessible peer recovery support services that support diverse populations and are inclusive of all pathways of recovery; and collaborate and coordinate with local private and non-profit clinical health care provides, the faith community, city, county. state, and federal public health agencies and criminal justice response efforts.
“The opposite of addiction is human connection. The process of recovery happens in communities and is supported through relationships and social networks. This 10% set aside for recovery support services has the potential to increase the recovery-building work that has been happening in local communities across Georgia since 2011. Recovery support services and supports must be flexible, stable, and consistent. The power of the network of recovery community organizations across Georgia is that they are in urban, suburban, and rural communities. They are, simultaneously united in a set of core values and programs, yet unique and customized for each particular community,” said Neil Campbell, Executive Director of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
“Peer-led recovery is effective, and our Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) has made significant investments in building the peer workforce through GCSA’s CARES certification program and the adult mental health Certified Peer Specialist program offered by the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, and the youth and family peer certification programs offered by the Georgia Parent Support Network. Peers are connected to each other and to their respective communities in a substantial way in our State. They are an integral component of our system. This 10% set aside for recovery support services will allow for sustained growth and development of long-term recovery programs and, as a result, promote greater opportunities for Georgians to get into long-term recovery,” said Campbell.
“If any issue is, and must be, bi-partisan it is recovery. This 10% set aside for recovery support services transcends those polices which divide America and Congress offering an opportunity for Congress to demonstrate they are united in their support for the over 800,000 Georgians and over 26 million Americans in recovery from Substance Use Disorders. Recovery is not a Red or Blue issue it is an American issue. Every single Member of Congress should support this 10% set aside for recovery support services which will help save lives, restore families, build a stronger workforce, and make communities safer,” said Jeff Breedlove, Chief of Policy and Communications for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
