by Anthony Hennen
Pennsylvania’s state government has taken action in recent years to legalize fentanyl test strips and expand medication for opioid use disorder in county jails and state prisons.
Now, some are looking to provide more funding for recovery services to help people stay sober and find community.
Proposed legislation, House Bill 1650, would create the Lifetime Recovery from Substance Abuse Grant Program to improve the support system in the state for those recovering from substance use.
The program would encompass peer support, mentoring services, housing and job assistance, and other forms of support.
“We have spent millions and millions of dollars on saving people,” said Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, who introduced the legislation with Rep. Joe Hohenstein, D-Philadelphia. “What are we doing to get a return on that investment, so that when we save them, we are helping them continue on a road to recovery?”
The bill would direct funding to nonprofits, health care providers, municipalities, single county authorities, and licensed recovery houses to provide support services.
Those services include peer support networks, family and community support, crisis intervention referrals, mentoring services, and helping users find stable housing and work. Money for recovery services would come from appropriations by the General Assembly or from opioid settlement funds that went to the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
“What it does is it makes the money available for them to be able to provide the services and training that people need so that we have people available to do it when the help is requested, when it’s needed, and that that help knows how to provide that foundation for long-term recovery,” Gregory said.
Gregory didn’t want to put a number on how much funding he thought a recovery support program should receive; “if you could show the need or results, the number will take care of itself,” he said.
Gregory has been outspoken about his own struggles with addiction. He’s been in recovery since 2010 and wants to reduce the stigma that surrounds addiction.
“It’s hard for people to ask for this help because they don’t want to be stigmatized,” Gregory said. “But if you have this help available, that’s going to provide an impetus for people to ask for it … because the more people we can get in long-term recovery to talk about their story, the more we can tear down the walls of stigma.”
The problem is significant. In 2021, more than 5,100 Pennsylvanians died from an overdose.
“We are in the most challenging environment that I’ve seen in the last 35 years,” said William Stauffer, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Recovery Organization Alliance.
Stauffer emphasized the importance of building community and giving people hope for overcoming addiction. Clinical treatment at a hospital or doctor’s office isn’t the only thing that matters.
“Beyond that is the connection to recovery communities and developing the kinds of life skills and supports and coping mechanisms that help you stay in recovery over the long term,” Stauffer said. “Recovery support services are those things nestled in community that help sustain that over the long run.”
Amid efforts like testing for fentanyl, providing medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jails and prisons, and making it easier to find addiction treatment centers, long-term recovery has had less attention.
“We’ve actually never had systems to provide what people need to get better,” Stauffer said. “We’ll focus on one element. MOUD — which is very helpful, I’ve seen a lot of people really benefit from MOUD — but you have to provide it comprehensively with other services over the long run.”
Momentum may be building, however.
Last year, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration created an Office of Recovery to expand peer support services nationwide.
“We’re beginning to recover the value of recovery,” Stauffer said.
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Anthony Hennen is a reporter for The Center Square news wire service, covering Pennsylvania, and co-host of Pennsylvania in Focus, a weekly podcast on America’s Talking Network. Previously, he worked for Philadelphia Weekly and the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is managing editor of Expatalachians, a journalism project focused on the Appalachian region.
