Landmark Legislation To Support Families of Persons With SUD Introduced in House and Senate
After decades of advocacy by nonprofits and experts in the field, organizations supporting families of SUD sufferers may at last be set to receive federal funding. The new, bipartisan legislation would provide $25 million in grants to such organizations over the next five years. It should allow them to improve and expand their efforts to help families navigate the complex landscape of support and recovery options for their Loved Ones.
It’s been a long time coming—and it’s not law yet—but for the first time in U.S. history, there’s a strong chance that federal aid is coming for organizations and community groups supporting families of persons suffering from substance use disorder (SUD).
The Family Support Services for Addiction Act was introduced in mid-March by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). A house version of the same bill is being advanced by Representatives David Trone (D-MD) and Daniel Meuser (R-PA). According to the press release from Senator Gillibrand, the Act would provide $25 million “for financially strained mental health care and substance use disorder support programs and ensure resources are available to families helping people recover from substance use.”
The act is drawing praise from numerous family support organizations. Patty McCarthy, CEO of the nonprofit Faces & Voices of Recovery, writes that the legislation “will provide much needed guidance and resources for families to navigate systems that are often confusing and challenging.”
Allies in Recovery’s own CEO, Dominique Simon-Levine, had this to say about the act: “In all my years of work in this field, I have never seen the words “resources for families of people with SUD” strung together, other than in our own writing. The times they are a-changing.”
For more information on the Act, read the full press release from Senator Gillibrand’s office.
