SAMHSA Program to Advance Recovery Knowledge

SAMHSA hosted the inaugural SAMHSA Trailblazers in Advancing Recovery (STAR) Awards, honoring recovery champions from across the nation, including leaders with lived experience of mental health and/or substance use conditions, youth and family members. The STAR Awards also recognized organizations that have demonstrated commitment to promoting equitable and inclusive access to wellness and recovery supports for people with mental health and/or substance use conditions.

SAMHSA also awarded a special posthumous recognition of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Co-Founder of The Carter Center, to commemorate her invaluable leadership and enduring legacy in mental health advocacy. The award was accepted by Eve Byrd, Director of Mental Health Programs at The Carter Center.

Watch a recording of the STAR Awards Ceremony (1 hour, 53 minutes).

Learn more about the honorees!

SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery offered a follow-up session to our June 28 webinar on Psychiatric Advance Directives. With this second session, we spent 90-minutes building on what we covered in the initial offering, diving deeper into topics requested in feedback from the first session: legal questions related to PADs, the details of what to do with your PAD once complete, and discussion on organizing community-based trainings on completing PADs.

For a reminder of what we covered in the first webinar please review, Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) to Promote Community Living (1 hour, 2 minutes).

Speakers:

• Rayshell Chambers, MPA, Painted Brain
• Harvey Rosenthal, CEO, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery
• Kiran Sahota, Concepts Forward Consulting
• Marjorie T. Scher, Esq., Epstein Becker & Green PC
• Luke Sikinyi, Director, Public Policy and Public Engagement, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery
• Marvin Swartz, M.D., Professor and Head, Division of Social and Community Psychiatry, Duke University School of Medicine
• Ryan Tempesco, Program Manager, Doors to Wellbeing
• Kaely Whittington, CPRS Training Coordinator, On Our Own Maryland

During this event, SPARK and our local, state, and federal partners offered presentations and dialogue on peer specialist workforce development with a focus on role integrity, retention, and quality.

Watch a recording of this June 28, 2024 event (1 hour, 2 minutes).

In honor of the 25th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery hosted an event with support via the OR’s SAMHSA Program to Advance Recovery Knowledge (SPARK) to share how psychiatric advance directives (PAD) can promote community living! This event described the benefits and challenges of completing a PAD, highlighted the role peers can play in advancing PAD usage, and shared tools and innovations. Provider, advocate, and peer perspectives were included.

We invited people with mental health conditions, their families, peer support specialists, and health and behavioral health professionals—including state and county providers—who want to learn more about psychiatric advance directives. We provided opportunities for questions and answers and to connect with others around the country.

A psychiatric or mental health advance directive (PAD) is a legal tool that allows a person with mental health and co-occurring substance use condition(s) to state their preferences for treatment and services, particularly during crisis situations, and can protect a person’s autonomy and ability to self-direct care.

Speakers:

• Ira Burnim, Senior Counsel, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
• Rayshell Chambers, MPA, Painted Brain
• Elisha Coffey, MSW, CPS, Vice President of States Advocacy, Mental Health America
• Matthew Federici, MS, CPRP, CEO, Copeland Center for Wellness & Recovery
• Neeraj Gandotra, MD, Chief Medical Officer, SAMHSA
• Harvey Rosenthal, CEO, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery
• Kiran Sahota, Concepts Forward Consulting

SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery convened SPARK and local, state, and federal partners on Peer Specialist Workforce Development including growth, specialization, and emerging practice trends on May 22, 2024. Watch a recording of this event (1 hour, 29 minutes).