Resource Library

This infographic is a helpful reference guide to use when referring to people who have a substance use disorder, who use drugs and alcohol, who have returned to drug use, and who take medication as a pathway of recovery.

This monograph, by William White, is regarded as a seminal work in the addictions treatment literature, as it is the first and most comprehensive attempt to lay out the empirical support for moving to recovery-oriented systems of care.

This is a recording of a webinar hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) that focuses on Peer-Centered Programming. It presents information on:

• Recovery planning as a strengths-based, forward-facing process
• Defining recovery capital and its significance to sustained recovery
• Identifying goal-setting tools to use while supporting people in recovery within varied contexts
• Reflecting on the value of hope in recovery planning

The purpose of this introductory training, developed in 2021 by the Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center, in partnership with the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center, is to provide HIV clinicians (including, but not limited to physicians, dentists, nurses, and other allied medical staff, therapists and social workers, and counselors, specialists, and case managers) with an overview of the challenges and strategies for change in working with individuals with HIV/AIDS and a diagnosis of a substance use disorder. Given the potentially broad array of health disciplines, this presentation uses the terms “patient,” “client,” and “consumer” interchangeably to refer to the individuals a training participant may be working with in their organization.

PowerPoint Presentation – 1-hour version (abridged)

PowerPoint Presentation – 3-hour version (full)

Trainer Guide – 3 hour version

Two-page Fact Sheet

This guide, put together by SAMHSA, outlines the role of peer services, expected outcomes, and certain requirements.

Families affect and are influenced by the recovery experiences of children, youth, and adults with mental or substance use disorders. As caregivers, navigators, and allies, family members play diverse roles and may require a variety of supports.

Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) partners with the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health (NFFCMH), the National Family Dialogue on Substance Use Disorders, and others to support families of children, youth, and adults with behavioral health needs.

Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) is enriched by the lived experiences of people in recovery, who play key roles in BRSS TACS project leadership, development, and implementation. Learn about the role of peer workers and access recovery-related resources about peer supports and services.

Find resources that support youth and young adult leadership in recovery programs. Youth and young adults are powerful agents of change in behavioral health care. Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) works with Youth M.O.V.E. National, Young People in Recovery, and others to support recovery and advance youth and young adult leadership.

This paper provides a perspective on the recent concept of recovery-oriented systems of care with respect to its origins in the past and its status in the present, prior to considering directions in which such systems might move in the future. Although influential in practice, this concept has yet to be evaluated empirically and has not been the object of a review. Recovery-oriented systems of care emerged from the efforts of persons with mental health and/or substance use disorders who advocated for services to go beyond the reduction of symptoms and substance use to promote a life in the community. Subsequent efforts were made to delineate the nature and principles of such services and those required of a system of such care. Coincident with the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration dropping reference to behavioral health in its revised definition of recovery, confusions and limitations began to emerge. Recovery appeared to refer more to a process of self-actualization for which an individual is responsible than to a process of healing from the effects of a behavioral health condition and associated stigma. In response, some systems are aiming to address social determinants of behavioral health conditions that transcend the scope of the individual and to develop a citizenship-oriented approach to promote community inclusion.

There is an enormous need for peer-led programs that serve individuals with mental health conditions who have criminal justice system involvement. The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. And more than half of them have a mental health problem, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. People who live with mental health challenges are less likely to be released on bail, and have longer jail and prison terms. Even when they are released, they are more likely to incur technical probation violations. And this doesn’t even take into account how difficult it is for people coming out of jails and prisons to get jobs and housing, which are essential to finding their way back to normal lives.

One of the biggest challenges faced by community-based mental health and vocational programs providing services to individuals with histories of incarceration is harmonizing the conditions of community supervision, such as parole and probation, with the core values of recovery, choice, and self-determination. Service recipients are needlessly caught up in the real or perceived tensions between the expectations of each system and frequently find themselves dancing to the beat of two different drummers. This duality results in conflicts and power struggles that divest most service recipients of the ability to view reentry and recovery as being part of the same process: acquiring the wide range of skills and personal supports needed to transform their lives and be hopeful about their futures. Long-term strategies for reentry and recovery must be integrated so that those impacted meet all of the conditions of community supervision while also exercising, whenever possible, choice over their services and the setting of recovery-oriented goals.

Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a medical problem, just like heart disease or diabetes. Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities - and they are often accompanied by substance use. It's critical that we talk about these challenges and that we do so in the right way. The terms we use to describe mental illness matter. We have all heard derogatory terms used to describe someone who has a mental illness. Here are a few to jog your memory: Cuckoo; Mad as a hatter; Screwy – having a screw loose; Bananas; Loopy; Crackers; Wacko (whacko); Loony; Nuts; Freak; Crazy; Weirdo. Can you imagine mocking someone with an illness such as cancer or heart disease? Here's how we can do better.