SAAS UPDATE - May 19, 2009

Greetings!

I attended the meeting of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Advisory Committee for Women's Services (ACWS) this week. The primary responsibility of the SAMHSA Advisory Committee for Women's Services is to advise, consult with, and make recommendations to the Administrator of SAMHSA and the Associate Administrator for Women's Services concerning activities carried out by and through the Agency with respect to women's substance use and mental health disorders. The program for the day and a half meeting was excellent and the discussion among the Committee members was thoughtful and informative. Of most interest, I received a draft/preview copy of the new TIP: Substance Abuse Treatment: Addressing the Specific Needs of Women. I was very impressed with the depth of the research relating to adult women. It is not designed to be a primer on treatment and very deliberately does not repeat information that can be found in other TIPs. It has been approved and is "winding its way" though the SAMHSA process and should be released soon. The meeting also included comprehensive reports from the three centers: CSAT, CSAP, and CMHS on current programs and initiatives focused specifically on Women's issues.

In other happenings, the budget process for FY2010 is in full swing and Healthcare reform is moving quickly--everything seems to be happening simultaneously. Please be prepared to spread our advocacy alerts to your constituencies so that we can ensure the inclusion of meaningful prevention, treatment and recovery services for the people we serve.

Many of you may remember the document Blueprint for the States: Policies to Improve the Ways States Organize and Deliver Alcohol and Drug Prevention and Treatment that was put out by Join Together in 2006. Since then they have been collecting information on what states are doing with regard to the 6 Principals. This is a great opportunity to share information about what is happening in your state and to learn about other states' activities.

We are also moving ahead with the National Advocacy Campaign. We continue to fundraise and have developed several documents that you can use to discuss the NAC with your members. The Benchmarking document identifies several goals of the Campaign that we have already accomplished and also lists out many more that we hope to complete as we are able to raise more money. The Opportunities and Threats document outlines the many opportunities we have right now with a new administration, a national discussion about health care reform, and a new Congress to talk about and push forward our issues. It also outlines what we fear may happen if we do not take advantage of these opportunities right now. If you need additional information about the NAC or would like someone to come talk to your board or membership about the Campaign, please get in touch with me at bvaughn@saasnet.org.

We may see things slow down a bit over the summer months, but I strongly encourage you to use the summertime while your Congressional delegation is at home to meet with them about the importance of including addiction healthcare in all discussions about healthcare reform. Stress to them the importance of fully funding addiction healthcare services and the Federal agencies that support our services. If you have any questions or need assistance please get in touch with me.

I wish you a Safe and Happy Memorial Day!

Becky Vaughn
Executive Director
State Associations of Addiction Services

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Research Report

Prevention Program Helps Teens Override Gene Linked to Risky Behavior

A family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behavior proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), components of the National Institutes of Health, supported the study, which appears in the May/June issue of Child Development.

For two-and-a-half years, investigators monitored the progress of 11-year-olds enrolled in a family-centered prevention program called Strong African American Families (SAAF), and a comparison group. A DNA analysis showed some youths carried the short allele form of 5-HTTLPR. This fairly common genetic variation, found in over 40 percent of people, is known from previous studies to be associated with impulsivity, low self-control, binge drinking, and substance use. The researchers found that adolescents with this gene who participated in the SAAF program were no more likely than their counterparts without the gene to have engaged in drinking, marijuana smoking, and sexual activity. Moreover, youths with the gene in the comparison group were twice as likely to have engaged in these risky behaviors as those in the prevention group.

"The findings underscore that 'nurture' can influence 'nature' during adolescence, a pivotal time when delaying the start of alcohol consumption and other risky behaviors can have a significant impact on healthy child development," says NIAAA Acting Director Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D. "This study is one of the first to combine prevention research with a gene-environment study design."

For more information about the study, visit the NIAAA website.

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News You Can Use

Is Your Association Maximizing Its Revenues?

In today's economic environment, revenue maximization is critical. Revenue maximization is a process of ensuring that your organization efficiently captures all of the revenues it deserves for the services rendered. Many companies with a high volume of transactions lose 2% to 5% if revenue - or more - because of lost data, process inefficiencies or human error.

In a presentation at the 2009 OPEN MINDS Best Management Practices Institute in Clearwater Beach, Florida, Joseph Rutherford, Chief Executive Officer of Avita Community Partners, shared seven key strategies for maximizing revenues: increase prices, increase capacity and productivity, increase referral generation for services, manage service authorizations, develop additional services, ensure proper coding when billing services, and enhance third and first party collections.

To read the complete article or for more tips on improving office collections and maximizing revenue, visit the OPEN MINDS website. Membership is free but requires registration.

Learn More About Legal Rights of People with Alcohol/Drug Problems or Criminal Records

Under the Partners for Recovery Initiative funded by SAMHSA, Abt Associates and the Legal Action Center invite you to a new webinar series. The free, 60-minute webinars will be presented by Legal Action Center attorneys, the nation's leading experts on laws and policies affecting individuals with alcohol and drug problems and criminal records.

The first three webinars will examine the following topics: Medication-Assisted Treatment: Special Anti-Discrimination Issues (May 28th, 1:30 pm EST), Legal Rights of People with Criminal Records (June 11th, 1:30 pm EST), and New Federal Parity Legislation for Insurance Coverage of Addiction Treatment (June 29th, 1:30 pm EST)

Click here for more information or to register for one or more of the upcoming webinars.

Check Out This Online Resource to Enhance Your Organization's Email Marketing

Following the recent webinar titled Keys to Successful Association Email Marketing, ASAE Services and CommPartners, LLC have made the informative materials available using this link.

If you have questions about creating your association's effective email marketing strategy, visit CommPartners.

Film Exchange on Alcohol and Drugs Provides Online Resource

FEAD is an online resource that brings short video presentations from leading figures in the alcohol and drugs field direct to your screen. The contributors cover a range of topics honestly and directly, including achievements, problem areas and reflections on the field's history. Many people have found the website useful in helping discussions and expanding on practice and theory. Associations and anyone else who may benefit from this comprehensive resource are encouraged to use the material to enrich events, seminars, groups and teaching. Visit FEAD for more information.

Obama Retains Ban on Federal Funding of Needle Exchange

Join Together, a project of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, reports on President Obama's decision to keep in place a ban on using federal money to support needle-exchange programs, failing to keep his campaign promise.

Obama's budget plan includes language prohibiting federal funding for needle exchanges, even though the White House website stated until very recently that, "The President ... supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users." Commented Obama spokesperson Ben LaBolt,"We have not removed the ban in our budget proposal because we want to work with Congress and the American public to build support for this change. We are committed to doing this as part of a National HIV/AIDS strategy and are confident that we can build support for these scientifically based programs."

However, Tom Angell, a spokesperson for the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said it was "hard to imagine how removing mention of support for a proven lifesaving program from the White House website is part of a grand strategy to 'build support' for syringe exchange."

For related articles and resources on alcohol and drug policy, prevention and treatment visit JoinTogether.org.

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About SAAS

The State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS) is the leading national organization advocating on behalf of state associations of prevention, treatment, and recovery providers and the individuals and families they serve. For more information about SAAS programs and initiatives contact bvaughn@saasnet.org.