Heroin Action Coalition

http://heroinactioncoalition.com/

Heroin Action Coalition of Maryland

Mission Statement: Heroin Action Coalition of Maryland seeks to ensure that appropriate opiate addiction treatment is available to all who request it or need it without regard for that individual’s income or insurance plan.

Goals

Treatment:

• Provide pre-admission screening and referral for opiate addicts seeking detox and case management services following post inpatient treatment;
• Work to remove obstacles to medically assisted treatment, including buprenorphine and vivitrol, and assist patients in accessing and receiving these treatments;
• Link individuals in recovery from opiate addiction to programs in the community –facilitating wrap around services and ensuring a continuum of care;
• Organize support groups for those in recovery and their families.

Education

• Seek to educate local communities on addiction as both a medical disease and a mental health disorder and the effectiveness of treatment;
• Provide information to state and county legislators, agency administrators, judges, and others to educate them on opiate addiction and to urge them to support evidence-based treatment goals;
• Advise local, county, and state elected officials about unmet community needs regarding the continuum of care in addiction treatment;
• Disseminate evidence-based standards and best practices to Maryland treatment providers and gather data on patient outcomes and success rates;
• Disseminate information on drug addiction to local doctors and urge them to provide screening and brief intervention practices and to make appropriate recommendations for treatment when necessary;
• Work with Maryland Public Schools to implement the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) where it pertains to recovering students within their school community;
• Educate attorneys and public defenders on addiction and the effectiveness of treatment and urge them to recommend drug courts for their substance impaired clients, instead of incarceration.

Advocacy

• Build a coalition of concerned citizens, recovering individuals, their families, community leaders, spiritual advisors, business leaders, educators, medical practitioners, police, etc. to create a grass-roots solution to end opiate addiction within local communities;
• Work with other anti-drug coalitions within the state to strengthen the message of “treatment on demand” and to create a unified policy agenda in support of treatment;
• Focus public attention on the lack of adolescent treatment in Maryland and work to raise the priority for additional treatment facilities;
• Work with legislators, state agencies, and treatment providers to ensure that evidence-based standards and “best practices” are being implemented by all Maryland treatment providers and ensure enforcement of existing insurance parity laws.