From the Administrator:
Obtaining Benefits, Attaining Recovery
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Terry L. Cline, Ph.D. |
Throughout my career—as a service provider, program administrator, Oklahoma’s Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Oklahoma Secretary of Health, and now, as the SAMHSA Administrator—I’ve heard many stories of recovery, hope, and success. I’ve also heard about the barriers that have prevented people from obtaining the help they need and have limited their horizons. One of these difficulties is finding a way to pay for treatment.
States face rising numbers of uninsured people and increasing costs of care, while too many individuals must cope with complicated paperwork and convoluted bureaucracies.
To stretch our dollars and make the best use of our resources, we must constantly re-examine well-established programs and procedures, and explore new and creative solutions.
The cover story in this issue of SAMHSA News describes an innovative effort linking individuals in need of treatment with Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) as stepping stones to recovery. Since 2005, a Federal interagency initiative called SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) has helped states and communities develop strategies and provide training to caseworkers who assist individuals who are homeless and have mental illnesses in preparing applications. Because establishing eligibility for SSI is linked to eligibility for Medicaid, many clients are then able to pay for treatment.
At the same time, SAMHSA is pursuing other innovative efforts to reduce and prevent homelessness and to encourage and promote employment among people with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders.
The Agency will continue to evaluate and document the results from all of these efforts to determine their usefulness, document the value to policymakers and funders, and build a consumer-driven system focused on recovery. 
Terry L. Cline, Ph.D.
Administrator, SAMHSA
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