in fact, we do have a faith-based program at samhsa. the objective is to educate members of the faith community about a wide range of issues-mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and trauma- because we find that the ministers, the rabbis, the imams, the religious leaders do want to know because they're unable to have a positive impact if they're not aware of some of these issues. we don't ask people to change their philosophical or theological beliefs. we do want them to be familiar with some of the negative consequences that do result from physical abuse, sexual abuse, a violation of trust that happens in households, as miss cain pointed out. and i think it's significant what happens when you tell. were you believed? were you told to keep those dirty little secrets in the house, as dr. harris said, and how you were soothed when you told. there's many folks that we've worked with, many women in the criminal justice system were very clear when they were told they were not believed. they were told to keep that secret in the house.

i know you started with the programs back in 1998 when samhsa- -was able to put together the first grand proposals that went out on the street for these services. well, that was called the recovery community support program, which changed to the recovery community services program in 2001. and so between 1998, there were advocacy grants that switched over to peer services, and the advocacy is still an important part of that, but, you know, samhsa had the foresight that if they harness the energy that was happening in the recovery community, they could sort of seize these organizations. so, 15 years later, if you look across the country and you see recovery community leaders, many of them came out of that 1998 cohort that samhsa provided the funding and the resources for. and so, in that 15-year span, amazing things have happened. so, rcsp-that's the name of what we call that grant-some are direct descendants of that, but that's filtered out to lots and lots of communities that haven't had those grants but have started that kind of organizing and those kinds of peer services all across th

also, you know samhsa did a train-the-trainer for trauma, you know, and, you know, one of the things is that, you know, trauma affects different people in different ways. same situation, but it will affect another person lifelong in a different way, so those are some other trainings also that i think that are really, you know, crucial in a development of a recovery-orientated system of care. very good. tom. recovery coaching-is it similar to peer-to-peer? recovery coaching is peer-to-peer, if it's done by peers. it's similar to a peer support specialist in the mental health arena. it's usually one-on-one, and it's, you know, it's a combination of a shared experience, role modeling, sort of accompanying somebody through the process of early recovery, and sometimes literally accompanying them. like, it may not just be going to the child welfare department, or sending them to the child welfare department, or to the community college, it's walking somebody through that process, which can sometimes be really intimidating in early recovery. so, having that guide, or that navigator, along c

under the new health care reform, the affordable care act, and some changes that are underway at samhsa there will be more support for financing sober housing, and we'll be able to see maybe an improvement of that system for these people. we've been, we also want to keep in mind, though, that samhsa, the va, working with hud, pursuing permanent supportive housing as an integral part of treatment strategy, it becomes then the services associated with the housing. what sober living housing offers is an environment. permanent supportive housing, however, may be not be as focused initially on recovery, and so we need to facilitate those services in those settings. because vouchers are being handed out by hud and these programs are being facilitated, but we do need to make sure that there's sufficient services available to address the psychological and-and the substance-related issues that a person may experience. and how do people gain access to that information in order for them to go and basically, i wouldn't say demand, but really negotiate for those types of services, barbara? well, the

so, i think to a certain extent- well, i think samhsa would disagree with you there, but- [laughs] other than that, we've got some very, very good programs, as a matter of fact. there are great programs, and i think those programs are very important. the point that i would make is that we have to maintain a focus in understanding that it's not just about prevention; it's also about recovery. and so, i think there are kids out there and there are young adults out there who would be willing to commit to that abstinence-based kind of environment to support other students, but i think also what we've got to do and we've got to remember is that there are going to be kids, young adults as well, out there that are not going to be able to commit to that until after they've been through the ringer. well, alison, given that he doesn't believe- [laughs] -or doesn't seem to believe that prevention, but talk to us about what does work in prevention, on the mental health side. well, you know, i laugh because i have to agree with both sides because we can't be naïve. quite the diplomat. well, that's my

well, we have eight strategic initiatives at samhsa. one of them is indeed trauma and justice, making it clear that we believe that we have to deal with trauma as an integral part of the behavioral health strategy to assist people in need of services. so the strategic initiative lead is lar quong dr. lar quong, appointed to that role by pamela hyde, the administrator of the substance abuse and mental health services administration, with the focus on working not only with issues of domestic violence but also working with the issues of the criminal justice system because, indeed, as i mentioned, it's not the abuse excuse, it is trying to break the cycle. we spend a lot of money reincarcerating individuals who have primary issues that have never dealt with, so especially in nonviolent situations. we wanted to break that cycle and, as dr. harris pointed out, we also want to create a workforce that has a stable appreciation of traumatic phenomenon so that, again, we don't blame the child, we don't blame the wife, we don't blame the spouse wh

empowerment center, we're one of three consumer-survivor technical assistance centers that are funded by samhsa, and we, one of the functions is to provide information resources referral. we have people calling us looking for recovery resources in their community. we connect them with peer-run organizations, hopefully in their state. and another thing we do is we help consumer, state-sorry-statewide, consumer-run programs to develop their advocacy and to develop their non-profit skills and to just become stronger advocates within their states. so that's- so, public educators. that, too, yeah. i mean, the functions run the gamut, yeah. but it's just basically, you know, providing the technical assistance to these groups to be the most effective advocates that they can in their states. very good. and that's a big piece of what we do. and when we come back, i want to touch more on the peer-to-peer coaching opportunities where people can get trained and become peer-to-peer support folks. we'll be right back. [music] every day, i seek a positive- direction for my life- through my accomplishments. an

for a copy of this program or other programs in the road to recovery series, call samhsa at 1-800-662-help, or order online at recoverymonth.gov and click multimedia. every september, national recovery month provides an opportunity for communities like yours to raise awareness of substance use and mental health problems to highlight the effectiveness of treatment and that people can and do recover. in order to help you plan events and activities in commemoration of this years' recovery month observance, the free recovery month kit offers ideas, materials, and tools for planning, organizing, and realizing an event or outreach campaign that matches your goals and resources. to obtain your copy of this year's recovery month kit and gain access to other free publications and materials related to recovery issues, visit the recovery month web site at www.recoverymonth.gov or call 1-800-662-help. [music]