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 affects the entire age range. we might see some pea

and the news. joining us in our panel today are mark weber, director of communications, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland; ron tannenbaum, president and co-founder, intherooms.com, fort lauderdale, florida; dr. w. douglas evans, professor and director, public health communication and marketing program, george washington university, washington, dc; sandra de castro buffington, director, hollywood health & society, usc annenberg norman lear center, beverly hills, california. the media obviously influences how people create their opinions, particularly about addiction and treatment issues in behavior health. and doug, why don't we review what we mean about media today. some time ago, marshall mcluhan said that the medium is the message and that is more true today than ever. media have proliferated and they now permeate our society. we're surrounded by it constantly 24/7 and users increasingly are defining what the media are and what those media mean to the rest of us. and mark, why is it important for the media to really understand addiction, treatment, and behavioral health? i

department of health and human services. i am a person in long-term recovery and in my case that means i've been without alcohol or drugs for 35 years. during that time, i have noticed that there is a new recovery movement starting in this country and probably about 10 years ago and i have gotten very involved in an organization called faces and voices of recovery, which is a leadership group within that movement. it's been very exciting to see that more and more people are coming out of the closet, that reducing stigma, reducing discrimination and kind of normalizing recovery is what is happening in this country. it's very exciting to see that having a longer term perspective that goes back 35 years when evybody seemed to be in the closet back then. dr. clark, i know that we've talked a little bit about certain aspects of diversity and one of them is gender. i know that samhsa has a program that is targeted to women and children and pregnant postpartum. do you want to talk a little bit about that? you are correct when you me

department of health and human services. rapped by drug or alcohol addiction often feel like there's no hope, no way out. but for every lock, there's a key. and if you have a problem, it's good to know there are real solutions to help you get free. for drug or alcohol treatment referral for you or someone you know, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. (music) i've been able to pay back and help those who try to seek recovery by my focus on my own recovery, focusing on how do i stay where i am in my recovery, focusing on not only on-on-on the drugs, the alcohol, and those kinds of things, but focusing on the positive part of recovery, such as staying in the business i am right now, such as maintaining relationships with my family, such as being able to continue to pay my mortgage or my rent, or be able to have the things of life i didn't have when i was on the streets in my addiction. tom, i'm going to start with you. what are some of the economic benefits of getting people i

director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health services administration, 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 defined as homeless. and dr. milby, can you sort of ta

department of health and human services. school officials say they have addressed issues in the audit and they plan to implement stronger controls. >>> coming up, of women making progress in the workforce? lawmakers look closely at the gender pay gap for bosses. >>> there is a new template that will take computer lovers by storm. today and "the oprah show", jenny mccarthy opens up boss: and now i'll turn it over to the gecko. gecko: ah, thank you, sir. as we all know, geico has been saving people money on rv, camper and trailer insurance... ...as well as motorcycle insurance... gecko: oh...sorry, technical difficulties. boss: uh...what about this? gecko: what's this one do? gecko: um...maybe that one. ♪ dance music boss: ok, let's keep rolling. we're on motorcycle insurance. vo: take fifteen minutes to see how much you can save on motorcycle, rv, and camper insurance. >> the nation's capital has some of america's wealthiest workers. d.c. workers have the highest salaries of any major city in the u.s., earning $85,000. that is

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 are youth taking today? while most youth who use, do u

health care fraud prevention summits. the partnership between the department of justice and the department of health and human services has never been stronger. that strength comes from a very tangible commitment from the highest levels of both departments to the prosecutors and agents who are -- to work side-by-side each and every day to identify health care fraud as it is happening. the commitment of the secretary and the commitment of the attorney general simply could not be greater. these summits offer our agencies the opportunity to share our success stories, explain our innovative, investigative approaches and listen to and learn from you, to hear your ideas and your concerns. i see many of our strike force partners in the audience here today. agents and investigators from the fbi, the office of inspector general from hhs, and the euro of medi-cal, fraud and elder abuse and the california department of justice. all of them work together to scour the available data and investigate files for fraud patterns, tracking down leads and bringing cases as quickly and as responsibly as possible. the result of these partnershi

department of health and human services. rapped by drug or alcohol addiction often feel like there's no hope, no way out. but for every lock there's a key. and if you have a problem it's good to know there are real solutions to help you get free. for drug or alcohol treatment referral for you or someone you know, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. [music] well, kentucky river community care we serve a rural, eight-county region in southeastern kentucky, and often times our offices and our resources are spread throughout a wide geographical region. so logistically this makes it difficult often times for our clients to travel to access the services they need. our system consists of a video camera attached to a personal computer, which then sends the video signal over a secure internet connection. we also use a digital voice phone system, which greatly enhances the sound quality of the conversation between the provider and the client. now when we first start you on this medic

department of health and human services. [music] [music] what we're going to do now is we're going to talk about some of those training issues that make our jobs as trainers a little bit more difficult. and what we thought we would do is get from you, first of all, some idea about what you are concerned about. who are or how are- the purpose of this training is really to help providers develop skill and expertise in responding to the particular needs of lgbt clients so that when they come in, they feel understood, they feel valued and they feel like this is a safe place where they can honestly receive help. this traraining really started with a publication from samhsa that provided kind of a guidebook and overview for treating lgbt people. but what we know is that a book is never enough; it tends to end up on someone's shelf never to be used. and so a small group of people started doing training in this area. we recruit particpants from around the country, experienced trainers, we bring them in. they spend about 2 and a half

department of health and human services. people trapped by drug or alcohol addiction often feel like there's no hope, no way out. but for every lock, there's a key. and if you have a problem, it's good to know there are real solutions to help you get free. for drug or alcohol treatment referral for you or someone you know, call 1 (800) 662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. (music) if i can do it, anybody can do it. i'm no exception. i happen to be a professional, but i was also an inmate. upon studying for the bar exam, there was pressures as to your ability to concentrate and focus. i was dating someone whose father was a sports physician, and at their house were boxes of hydrocodone, sample boxes. and i did go to their house, i took 2 of the sample boxes that had 40 pills in them. my theory at the time, although yes, it was absolutely wrong to take pills out of someone's house that are not prescribed to me and do not belong to me, was after the bar exam, i will stop taking them. i did

department of health and human services. people who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction sometimes say hurtful things. they drive the people who love them most away. if you know someone who suffers from drug or alcohol addiction, listen. try to hear what they are really saying. know that there is hope, and help them find their voice again. for drug or alcohol treatment referral for you or someone you know, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. (music) new directions really is the only program specifically designed to serve homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders. we're a long-term treatment program, which really means that we look at every aspect of a veteran's life. we help them change their lives, change their behaviors, and really have the skills that they need to be able to succeed on the outside once they leave new directions. they leave new directions with a job, with an income, with the skills, the life skills that they need to continue out in the society, and

department of health and human services. people who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction sometimes say hurtful things. they drive the people who love them most away. if you know someone who suffers from drug or alcohol addiction, listen. try to hear what they are really saying. know that there is hope, and help them find their voice again. for drug or alcohol treatment referral for you or someone you know, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. (music) one of the things that we recognize in any continuum of care model is that people need different services depending upon their unique situation. everybody gets an individualized treatment plan. if you have mild to moderate conditions, you may need one series of services. if you've got moderate to severe, you may need another series of services. it's clear that people in the moderate to severe spectrum have also had problems, may have problems with the law, child welfare, their job, their family, their mental health, their phys

it was just about an hour ago and that is near the demeanor of health and human services building. -- the department of health and human services building. sherry ly joins us with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. we are actually right here near the capitol, the ray bun building as well which houses some of the house members and then over there is the hght and human services building that you mentioned. town there on c street is where the shooting happened. here what is we know right now. the shooting apparently involving u.s. capitol police just before 5:00 this morning. there are reports that the suspect was shot in the and. he was down but conscious. this was a 200 block of c street in southwest. again, happening just before 5:00 this morning. there were a number of evidence markers on the scene. typically, those would be evidence of shell casing suggesting perhaps that multiple shots were fired again based on the information or what we've seen out here. it appears there may have been several shots fired. we are still waiting somebody from capitol police to come out here and provide us with

of second and c street. that's just in between the backside of the rayburn house office building and the department of health and human servicesg to police, that person brandished t gun, pointed it at theolice officers who had responded. those officers fearing for their life fired their weapon and shot the man at second and c street. we do not have any information about the condition of the man and no information about what exactly transpired, whether there was an argument, altercation, whether any words were spoken. it was a situation where a call came out, report of a man in the area of the capitol ground with a weapon. the alert went out. officers began to search for this individual. shots were fired. we don't kn how many shots were fired. we dot know whether or not the suspect, the man with the gun was able to get out. this is very early in the investigati. also in terms of folks coming to work given the time of day it is. a lot of cures onity about what's going on. keep in mind this immediate area around second and c they do have records closed off. that certainly could impact people. back to you. >> megan mcgrath oncapit

resolution authorizing the san francisco department of public health to accept and expend retroactively a grant from the united states department of health and human services in the amount of $631,739 to fund the project entitled "project for assistance in transition from homelessness" for the period july 1, 2010, through june 30, 2011. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello, i am a program manager with the san francisco department of public health, a better health services. i am here to present projects for assistance and transition from homelessness, known as the past grant. we have three recipients of the grant. it comes from the state of california. with this grant, we provide case management services. the grant is focused on people who are homeless and have mental health issues. with this grant, we provide primary care, case management out reach, mental health services, substance abuse services. there is also assistance for clients to help with moving expenses, if they are going from homelessness into housing. also, money to prevent eviction. supervisor chu: it looks like for this grant it would require a matching fund level of about $210,000. do you kno

director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland. marco e. jacome, chief executive officer, healthcare alternative systems incorporated,

the bill would authorize the secretary of health and human services to establish a national plan. it would allow the department of health and human services to award grants for research, surveillance and education. third, the bill would permit the national institutes of health to expand its research into children with diseases. the bill would allow health and human services to reward grants to increase the number of rheumatoid doctors. i have spoken to several who have discussed the importance of this legislation. unfortunately, those in need of rheumatoid doctors often have very few options. this bill is a very important first step. i'm a co-sponsor of the legislation and i urge my colleagues to support the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1210 as amended. those in favor say aye. those oppos

and make sense of life again. for information, treatment referral, and most importantly, help, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. what is the cost of drug and alcohol addiction? i lost my job. i lost my home. i lost my health. i lost my self-respect. i lost my freedom. if you have a drug or alcohol problem, remember treatment is effective and recovery is possible. for information on drug and alcohol treatment referral for you, or someone you know, call 1-800-662-help and see what you can save. i got my life back. [music] the path that my life has taken, it has allowed me to be able to parallel experiences with people. being able to talk to the homeless individual, because i've been there. i've been homeless. i've slept on concrete. i've looked for any type of shelter that i could, just for a moment, just for an hour. so i can relate to that. i have been imprisoned, you know, so i can relate to the individual fresh out of jail and, and their struggles. i can relate to veterans because i am a vet. so when you have that camaraderie, it's the same as if you're in a foxhole together. you know, as a military guy, you

department of health and human services. [music] our program is multifaceted. it incorporates both group treatment and individual treatment for asian and pacific islanders who are struggling with chemical dependency. we use incentives to keep people motivated in treatment and we use both sort of informal and formal interventions. i like the diversity of the clientele that we get here at team 360. regardless of ethnicity, each of their stories is so different from the next. but for some reason, when they come into group, they support each other and they know how to- there's just this warmth and this support, even though they are so different. it's just a very comfortable place to be at and i think there's a lot of open-minded individuals. so like if i come in, they are not going to be like look at that drug addict. just like the opposite, they are like out here willing to help you out. the challenge and the rewards of what i do in recovery is that i get to see individuals really improve their lives, not only in their recovery, but focus on their everyday stressor