Comments to the General Assembly Working Group on Addiction and Recovery
I am Jeff Breedlove, I am a person in long term recovery. On behalf of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, our Executive Director Neil Campbell, and members of the Georgia recovery community; it is an honor to say thank you to the members of the General Assembly Working Group on Addiction and Recovery for convening today’s
meeting.
This is a historic and transformational meeting. By joining together and working in a bi-partisan manner you are providing a foundation to advance recovery and save lives across Georgia.
You might not realize this, but the Georgia recovery community is estimated to be over 800,000 people strong. Our recovery allies – family, friends and co-workers and professional helpers – are aware of this meeting and, while they are not with us in
person they are excited, thankful, and hopeful. The work you are doing on behalf of recovery is appreciated and making a difference across Georgia.
A special thank you to our two co-chairs, Senator Randy Robertson and Representative Erick Allen. Your bi-partisan leadership is making a difference and saving lives. Thank you both, very much.
The Georgia Council on Substance Abuse is your state wide recovery community organization:
• For over 20 years GCSA has been a voice of recovery in Georgia.
• We provide advocacy, training, education, and peer recovery support services.
• We ensure the peer voice is heard, “Nothing about us, without us.”
• Think of us as the Home Depot of recovery, “You can do it, we can help!”
• We are a diverse community of individuals in recovery who organize and mobilize recovery communities and the peer workforce statewide.
• The way we see it, there are three major challenges that individuals, families and communities face:
1. isolation,
2. stigma, and
3. extremely limited resources
Building community collaborations to increase the impact of recovery in our communities through education, advocacy, and training.
We support the restoration and wellness of individuals, families, and communities.
CARES ACADEMY
• For the past 10 years, GCSA serves as the state’s certifying body for addiction peer recovery support specialists, called CARES.
• The CARES academy is the cornerstone of GCSA and of recovery support efforts across the State. CARES serve in every facet of the behavioral health delivery system and in emergency rooms and NICU programs. Georgia leads the nation with over 740 CARES across the state.
• Upon successful completion of the Academy, participants are awarded a certificate identifying them as Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialists, and upon successful completion of the CARES exam, CARES working in eligible facilities are able to bill Medicaid for Certified Peer Specialist–Addictive Disease services.
RECOVERY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
• Under a contract with DBHDD, GCSA serves as the statewide network coordinator of recovery community organizations, forming a strong, mission-driven system of peer-operated supports and services in rural, suburban and urban parts of the State.
• A recovery community organization is an independent, non-profit organization led and governed by representatives of local communities of recovery. These organizations:
1. Organize recovery-focused policy advocacy activities,
2. Carry out recovery-focused community education and out-reach programs, and/or
3. Provide peer-based recovery support services.
• RCOs are developing across Georgia in local communities to address the needs of people in or seeking recovery. We know that when recovery organizes in reaching out to others, communities are safer and healthier.
• There are 30 RCO’s across Georgia from Athens to Albany, from Rome to Macon, from Statesboro to Tifton, across metro Atlanta and the list continues to with local communities seeking to establish an RCO.
• 16 of these programs were funded by a 2018 state appropriation of $4M.
Building community collaborations to increase the impact of recovery in our communities through education, advocacy, and training
PEER COACHES IN THE HOSPITAL SETTINGS
Emergency Department
• Through a federal grant to support states relative to the opioid crisis, we serve three rural Northeast Georgia Hospital System Emergency Departments in Gainesville, Braselton and Winder.
• Program started in Nov 2017. We run 8:30am-12:00am 365 days a year.
• Our peer recovery coaches are Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialists and receive extensive training.
o Total encounters: 4,241
o # of patients: 3,463
o # of successful follow-ups: 4,943
o # of peers still engaged with a recovery coach: 856
• We’re continuing to do targeted outreach to the Hispanic community and have started a volunteer team of students from local universities that are Spanish-speaking and want to help with this outreach. We’ve conducted 6 listening sessions and facilitated 4 trainings with adults and youth at a local Hispanic Church. We are working with an Emory University DNP student that will be creating a Tool Kit on program implementation.
• We are providing training and technical assistance to 18 recovery community organizations across the state to implement peer programs in their local emergency departments based on this program.
NICU
• In 2016 NGHS recognized moms with SUD were leaving their infants in the NICU and not showing up to take care of their babies born with NAS.
• In 2017, the Georgia State Legislature added a line item in the state budget to provide funding for a pilot program placing peers within the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) of Northeast Georgia Health System.
• In the first year of the program, length of stay for infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) decreased from 19 days to 15 days. An average day for an infant in the NICU with NAS costs approximately $3,000. With 762 reported cases of NAS in Georgia in 2017, this equates to a savings of $9,144,000 for the state of Georgia if this program were implemented in all NICUs across the state.
• Prior to the peer recovery program, NICU hospital staff implemented systemic process changes for babies born with NAS and decreased length of stay from Building community collaborations to increase the impact of recovery in our communities through education, advocacy, and training 37.6 days in 2016 to 19 days in 2018. This equates to a savings of $45,519,600 if all NICUs in Georgia implemented similar changes.
• The changes started with asking moms what the staff could do differently do encourage them to be present for their babies. They started treating moms with respect and changing their language. They also switched from methadone to morphine for babies born with NAS. They more or less created a recovery oriented system of care and updated their practices to meet the latest research.
• To date, we have provided support to 187 moms. Or 187 families.
• 1,207 successful follow up conversations
• We get referrals to meet with moms prior to delivery through the local family treatment court, local treatment centers, medication assisted treatment centers, Ob/Gyn offices, and all areas of the women’s and Children’s pavilion.
• Coaches present about the program across the state.
Warm Line
Through this same federal funding as the ED programs, GCSA operates a CARES Warm Line, offering telephone recovery support and coaching from 8:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m., 365 days per year. We receive between 1,000 – 1,200 calls per month.
Thank you for the opportunity to share an update on this life saving programs that you support. As a result of your leadership, these programs are restoring individuals, families, and communities. The Georgia Council on Substance Abuse is honored to be your state wide recovery community organization and we look forward to being of service to the General Assembly Working Group on Addiction and Recovery as you
lead the effort to save lives across Georgia.
