Pubdate: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 Source: New Haven Register (CT) Copyright: 1999, New Haven Register Contact: http://www.ctcentral.com/cgi-bin/w3com/start?ctcentral+FrontPage Forum: http://www.ctcentral.com/ Author: Esther Armmand CITY ANTI-DRUG PARTNERSHIP IS FIGHTING BACK New Haven Fighting Back is a partnership of the city, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and New Haven's neighborhoods. Our goal is to measurably reduce alcohol and other drug problems and the social and economic costs associated with substance abuse. Over the past year, we have increased our efforts to promote public policy at the local and state levels as part of a coordinated strategy to reduce and prevent substance abuse. We have spoken at public hearings. We are developing a local research arm. And, we're involving the community in strategies to improve options for individuals suffering from addiction. As part of that effort, we helped organize a large group of people to testify at a July 8 public hearing in Hartford sponsored by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The hearing is the first of four to be held around the country as part of CSAT's new project, "Changing the Conversation: A National Plan to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment." Individuals were invited to testify on one or more of five topics: closing the treatment gap; reducing stigma and changing attitudes; improving and strengthening treatment systems; connecting services and research; and addressing work force issues. Among the topics addressed by those testifying from New Haven were the unique treatment needs of mothers with alcohol and other drug problems; the need for education of health care practitioners; workplace issues; the need for more funding to address alcohol and other drug problems; and alcohol and other drug treatment services for the homeless. Addressing one of CSAT's priorities, Fighting Back is developing a research and evaluation component, the Community Epidemiology Work Group, to guide all our strategies and to make relevant findings available to the public. The work group will use local data to identify alcohol and other drug use patterns, trends in drug use, and emerging substances of abuse. The information can be used by agencies to evaluate programs' impact on specific problems, to allocate resources, and to provide early warnings. After the four CSAT hearings around the country, panels made up of experts in each of the five topics will produce a comprehensive report that will focus on improving treatment. Fighting Back, in collaboration with many other groups, worked hard in the last General Assembly session to close gaps in service. We supported parity in insurance coverage for substance abuse treatment, which was included as part of the Medicaid/Managed Care bill. "Parity" means that insurance companies must provide coverage for mental illness and alcohol and other drug problems that is equal to the coverage they provide for other diseases. The new law requires this, but does not set standards for the extent of coverage. The law adds licensed alcohol and drug counselors to the list of providers who can be reimbursed for their services. Another way we have worked to close the gap in services is to promote the availability of transportation to treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is nothing more frustrating -- or more socially and economically costly -- than having a person ready to go into treatment who can't get to the treatment site, even when there is an opening. The "window of opportunity" the individual experiences often closes in the face of that frustration, and may not reopen for a long time. Improving treatment is a major goal of Fighting Back. We have made some progress, but much remains to be done. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea