SAMHSA’s Road to Recovery Update

The Road to Recovery Update keeps you informed about activities leading up to National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month) in September. Feel free to forward this information to friends and colleagues, include it in newsletters or listservs, or link to it from your Web site.

Last Call for Questions for May’s Ask the Expert: Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., Ph.D., Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

Questions for the May Road to Recovery Webcast, Providing a Continuum of Care: Improving Collaboration Among Services, are due by Friday, May 22, 2009.

Submit your questions to Dr. Kirk by contacting us. Answers from Dr. Kirk will be posted on the Recovery Month Web site in early June. Contact information for questions will be kept confidential.

Mark Your Calendars for the June 3, 2009, Road to Recovery Webcast: Recovery and the Health Care/Insurance Systems: Improving Treatment and Increasing Access

On June 3, join host, Ivette Torres, Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for the June 2009 Road to Recovery Webcast.

When the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008 becomes effective in 2010, additional options will become available to those seeking addiction and mental health services. The Act will require group health plans to offer coverage for addiction and mental illness and provide benefits on par with those for all other medical and surgical conditions. This program will examine what impact the Act will have on health care and insurance systems and what it means for individuals and families battling addiction. The show will also explore other issues related to health care's role in recovery, such as proper screening and intervention, prescription drug abuse prevention, and treating co-occurring disorders.

Recovery Month Releases Final Report Highlighting the 2008 Recovery Month Observance

This report details the results of the 2008 Recovery Month campaign and the influence it has had on raising community awareness about substance use disorders as a disease, and about treatment and recovery. Recovery Month showcases the positive impact community voices can have on those seeking a path of recovery. Please visit our Web site to download the report.

Please Join In The Rooms—an Online Social Networking Site for the Recovery Community

Join In The Rooms—the Web's newest and most comprehensive social networking site for the worldwide recovery community. In The Rooms provides resources for people seeking help or treatment, for people in recovery, and for friends, family, and allies of those in recovery. You can join online meetings and affinity groups, browse the library for articles, connect with other resources for recovery, and take an active role in promoting recovery. Join here: http://www.intherooms.com/.

Post the 20th Anniversary Banners on Your Web Site and Use Them in Your Collateral Materials To Promote Recovery Month

The 2009 banners for our 20th Anniversary Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Learn, Together We Heal are now posted on our Web site. Low- and high-resolution banners are available for download and use on your Web sites, t-shirts, and other materials. Please place the banner on your Web site to link to http://www.recoverymonth.gov/ and bookmark the site on computers in your organization, school, or library to help us reach more people. If you have the previous year’s Recovery Month banner on your site, please update the banner with the 20th Anniversary banners provided.

Celebrate Recovery All Year Long: Please Share Your Recovery Events That Occur Throughout the Year!

The Recovery Month observance is not limited to September. Events can be held all year long to increase the education and understanding of addiction, treatment, and recovery issues. Start planning your events, proclamations, and observance and post them to http://www.recoverymonth.gov.

Recovery Month Wants To Post Your Press Releases, News, Studies, Reports, and Other Information

Recovery Month is interested in posting your news, press releases, studies, reports, calls for releases, and other information. If you have materials related to substance use disorders, treatment, and recovery, please send them to recoverymonth@samhsa.gov.

Help us to continue to grow in our efforts to improve the lives of individuals and their families affected by alcohol and drug use disorders!

About Recovery Month

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, celebrating 20 years of observance in 2009, is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. For more information about Recovery Month, visit http://www.recoverymonth.gov.