From The Desk of the IAODAPCA President

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Being Influenced by the Evidence

Il. Coalition of Family Based Treatment Providers & Allies

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National Professionals Day

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From the Desk of the President
Dan Lustig

Greetings To The IAODAPCA Membership

At the time of this writing I will have assumed the role as President of the Board of Directors.  Timing, they say, is everything.  At this time our field has taken a brutal hit financially.  Many organizations are closing their doors and staff is being laid off.  Many not- for-profit providers are facing dire financial situations in which budgets are being cut 70-80%.  

Reviewing my twenty years in this field, I cannot remember such draconian cuts to the vital services of substance abuse and mental health.   These cuts will create such a perfect storm scenario that human lives will be sacrificed.     I equate this experience to throwing cancer patients to the streets and refusing to give them their life-saving treatment.  I picture cancer patients roaming the streets in search of any available care, facing the locked doors of providers who can no longer afford to provide such services.
 
Our field has not only taken a financial hit, but we have received an emotional hit as well.  During this fiscal crisis, we are faced recognizing with the general public’s lack of awareness of and support for the amazing impact our work has on our communities.    As a field we know that substance abuse treatment works, that it is a chronic medical condition, and without certified clinicians to provide the treatment many clients will be left to fend for themselves and never find recovery.  As a field we strive to lend a voice to individuals who cannot speak for themselves due to their medical condition.   Yet, the current political and social climate has allowed our efforts to be dismissed.   

Over the past several months, many of us as certified clinicians have spoken on TV interviews and radio spots that addiction is treatable.  It begs the question:  Why now?  Why did we wait until our funding was decimated before we uniformly voiced our concerns and hopes for this field?  Why did we wait to speak out loud and clear that we should not be used as a pawn in politics or be the first area of budget cuts? 

Addiction impacts so many families that we can not delay speaking loudly and clearly that this illness will not go away and treatment is available.  So many organizations have always just scraped by financially, and yet are being told by many State lawmakers that there just aren’t enough dollars to increase funding for services.  While our State’s economic health is certainly important, its behavioral health deserves equal attention.

The addiction field has always demonstrated clear success in my book, and it is now more than ever that we must unite and begin to speak to our legislators, friends, and communities about our successes as clinicians and recovering individuals.  Let’s bring into the light a topic that was always in the dark and seldom discussed.  Let’s cheer for successes and learn from our failures.

I am humbled to join a hardworking team as the staff of IAODAPCA whose passion for this field we all can take as an example. 

Sincerely,

Dan Lustig, PsyD CAADC MISA II 

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