of that. we, using our grant portfolio, are trying to make sure that in the housing first context, mental health and substance abuse wraparound services are provided. i've mentioned our soar program that our center of mental health services has, and then dealing with people who are in transitional or shelters because that's where they are, as was pointed out, those are the things that we're doing. and i also like to put in a pitch for our access to recovery program, which allows wraparound services to be provided. it's a state-run program. we are in 19 jurisdictions and 5 tribal organizations, and we allow wraparound services, including facilitated housing and employment services, to be an integral part of that process. so working with our partners at hud, our partners at the department of justice, as well as the administration for children and families, we are trying to make sure that the federal government plays a critical partnership with the ngos in the community. excellent. well, i want to remind our audience that september is national alcohol and drug addiction recovery month. i want to encourage you to go to the web site, www.recoverymonth.gov, to get more information, and to get engaged,

of the road to recovery. today we'll be talking about treating addiction among our nation's youth. joining us in our panel today are frances harding, director, center for substance abuse prevention, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland; monique bourgeois, executive director, association of recovery schools, fort washington, pennsylvania; greg williams, co-director, connecticut turning to youth and families, danbury, connecticut; dr. mark godley, director, research and development, chestnut health systems, bloomington, illinois. fran, what is the extent of the problem with youth in america? our most recent survey from samhsa is that around 10 million, a little over 10 million of our young people, are using alcohol and substances. that actually breaks down to 26 percent of them are drinking and another 17 percent of them are binge drinking, which is having more than five drinks in a row at one setting. so it's a concern of ours that our young people are really starting to accelerate drinking and drugging than they have in the past. and mark, it's really...as fran has mentioned, alcohol is really the main problem. what other substances ar

of using prescription and over-the-counter medications properly. joining us in our panel today are dr. h. westley clark, director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland; dr. timothy condon, deputy director, national institute on drug abuse, national institutes of health, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland; dr. barbara krantz, chief executive officer and medical director, hanley center, west palm beach, florida; beverly gmerek, prescription drug abuse prevention program coordinator, peer assistance services inc., denver, colorado. dr. clark, how prevalent is prescription drug misuse in the united states? well, we estimate that there are approximately 15 million people who misuse prescription drugs in the united states, and that gives us an estimated 2.5 million new initiates per year, or, if you think about it, that's about 7,000 new initiates a day. and within that, do one age group uses it more than others? what is the distribution among the age groups? well, i think the most important thing to keep in mind is that prescription drug abuse

of the road to recovery. today we'll be talking about homelessness and substance use disorder treatment. joining us in our panel today are dr. h. westley clark, director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health servicesinistration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland. richard cho, director of innovations and research, corporation for supportive housing, new haven, connecticut. robert kershaw, business owner and outreach worker, oxford house, incorporated, silver spring, maryland. dr. jesse b. milby, director, medical psychology, substance abuse and homeless research program, department of psychology, university of alabama at birmingham, birmingham, alabama. dr. clark, when is a person categorized as homeless? well, the most important thing is to recognize that when a person lacks a permanent, fixed residence, they meet the category of homeless. now, there are a number of temporary arrangements that people have; for instance, it's estimated that roughly 1.6 million people are living in transitional or shelters, and they also meet the definition of homeless. so it's-we're looking for people who have permanent, fixed residence, and if you don't have that, then you're define

westley clark, director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department oflth and human services, rockville, maryland. marco e. jacome, chief executive officer, healthcare alternative systems incorporated, chicago, illinois. john de miranda, president and ceo, stepping stone, san diego, california. william lossiah-bratt, board of directors, southeastern regional representative, faces and voices of recovery, cherokee, north carolina. dr. clark, why should we be concerned about ethnic and racial differences within the addiction and recovery field, as well as other differences? well, one of the things that we want to make sure is that people who have substance use problems are able to recover and that materials that we use can assist them in that process. and so, you know, there are differences associated with cultural values and beliefs, starting from how one physiologically responds to a particular substance misuse to how certain substances are used in a cultural context. so if we're going to facilitate recovery, we need to understand the language, the belief

am very pleased to have sahmsa's center for mental health services participating in this year's activities along with csat and csap, as we call them. getting the message ofovery right is critical because people take action based on what they hear and see and, most importantly, what they experience. experience shapes our knowledge, our values, our attitudes, our beliefs, and our action. i have this wonderful job in which the drug problem is an equality opportunity problem. it doesn't really care about sex or race or ethnicity. and you know what? the drug problem doesn't care whether it has a "d" after it or an "r" after it or any other party affiliation. this is a national problem. we have to work much harder, and we should take this report that sahmsa did, should take this report for the wakeup call for which it is. wow, the national recovery month press conference here at the national press club- exciting, exciting opportunity. i'm very familiar with the press. believe it or not, i received a little press a few times in my active addiction. you laugh, but it's true. but i think the important thing is, now i am getting press as a result of my recovery, a

center. we serve people with mental health disabilities and with hiv. i have led the program into accreditation so that the commission of rehabilitation facilities where -- we are a community services provider with the department of rehabilitation. we are also funded with the department of public health. i am also a co-chair for hiv prevention planning. i have dedicated my life prior to working 20 years in technology to nonprofit work as well as being a case manager in the tenderloin at a department of public health building, primarily working with people with chronic health. mental-health and hiv work with every aspect -- affect every citizen in san francisco, every aspect from youth to veterans to people who have other disabilities. the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is quite high, usually twice the number of unemployment rate for other people that are not disabled, and they are usually the first fired and the last hired in an economic development. that said, one out of 10 placements with the department of rehabilitation are with the positive resource center, and darlene has commended us several times on that, and i have gotten her approval as well as our program

center. both of those claims are simply not true. according to president obama's administration's own center for disease control, the agency said, i quote, we'll continue to provide monitoring and treatment services for mental and physical healthtions related to world trade center exposures for both responders and for eligible nonresponders. the world trade center program is critical in meeting the ongoing and long-term special needs of individuals that were exposed to dust, smoke, degree, and psychological dralm from the world trade center attacks. as of september 30, 2009, the world trade center program enrolled over 55,000 responders in its programs. this is the center for disease control's budget -- this is in the c.d.c.'s budget justification for 2011. as the energy and commerce committee's mark of this legislation, republicans offered an amendment that would authorize the program that is already providing treatment and monitoring benefits and authorize funding for the program at exactly the level that was requested by the president of the united states. that same amendment asked for real accountability to ensure that we knew how the tax dollars were being spent. unfortunately, that amendment was defeated. now, i am pleas