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This page is for use by the advocacy committee for sharing information and ideas.

Person responsible for maintaining this page is: Jacqueline Parry

 

 

 

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Committee Members

Stand Up For Recovery Day 2018 (FOR-NY Event)

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Jacqueline’s Outline

  • What is advocacy?
    • Advocacy is defined as “taking a position on an issue, and initiating actions in a deliberate attempt to influence private and public policy choices”. The Columbia County Pathways to Recovery Advocacy Committee should therefore focus on two types of advocacy. Firstly, CCPR should push for legislative change on the state and federal levels by developing an organizational platform regarding all issues, familiarizing themselves with policies, and lobbying legislators. Secondly, CCPR must develop strategies for influencing shifts in community opinions related to the stigma associated with substance abuse disorder and treatment methodologies.
  • What might legislative advocacy entail?
    • For effective legislative advocacy, CCPR must first develop organization level platforms on all major issues to determine which bills should be advocated for and which new policies should be recommended. For example, CCPR should establish an official position on existence and access to safe injection sites, access and affordability of naloxone, syringe exchange programs, medication assisted treatment, cross section between criminalization of drug use and barriers to treatment, comorbidity for substance abuse disorders and other mental health issues etc. Official positions should be based on existing NYS policies, pending policies, and recommendations for new policies based on personal experiences navigating treatment. All positions should be posted on the CCPR website (please see “changing community opinions” for further explanation).
    • Once positions have been established, CCPR can engage in state and federal level advocacy. A subcommittee of the Advocacy Committee should be dedicated to state legislation, with one advocate acting as the lead on lobbying NYS government. This involves researching existing and pending NYS policies and determining what new policies should be in place. This subcommittee should also research which other NYS RCOs and non-profits share CCPRs advocacy goals and are working toward lobbying for the same bills. Connections should be established with those organizations. The CCPR state level lead should plan to make connections with legislators, organize CCPR members to testify at committee bill hearings, and work with the CCPR Events Committee to organize community letter writing and petition signing events.
    • A second subcommittee will be responsible for researching and developing strategies for federal level lobbying, with one advocate acting as the lead on lobbying the federal government. This involves researching existing and pending federal policies and determining what new policies should be in place. This subcommittee should also research which other national RCOs and non-profits share CCPRs advocacy goals and are working toward lobbying for the same bills. Connections should be established with those organizations. This subcommittee should track and schedule meetings in Washington, D.C. with NYS Senators and Representatives. It should also make connections with RCOs from other states and determine which policies are effective in other communities and obtain suggestions for RCO improvement and insights for new advocacy goals
  • What might changing community options entail?
    • For effective strategies to be developed for changing community opinions, a baseline needs to be established for existing community attitudes. This can be established by conducting a phone and door-to-door survey. Survey questions should be developed by the advocacy committee to determine what the community already knows about addiction and treatment. Having established a baseline, strategies can be developed for targeted education and outreach efforts.Additionally, relationship should be established with Columbia County Health Department and efforts should be coordinated and positive rapport should be maintained.All official policy positions should be posted on the CCPR website. Each position should be succinctly summarized with research citations provided so that all members of the community seeking information can educate themselves and better understand CCPRs advocacy goals.
  • What does successful advocacy look like from an RCO?
  • What are some examples of RCOs advocating? What are their programs?
  • How does it play out on the local level? State level? National level?
  • How do RCOs advocate for their organization, specifically, on these levels? How about for their cause?
  • How do RCOs connect with one another to strengthen their voice and have a bigger impact?
  • Who do they target when advocating for legislation change at the state level? National level?
  • Who do they target when pushing for changes in local and community attitudes?
  • What changes CAN be made at the local level? State? National?
  • What policies impact access to care and who controls how they are written?
  • What are the different types of organizations (in addition to RCOs) that are working on overdose prevention and treatment?
  • How do they work with RCOs to advance advocacy goals?

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New Items

  • NYS Heroin Task Force
  • CCPR 2018 Advocacy Goals
    • Recovery Community & Outreach Center in Columbia County (RCOC)
    • Detox & Rehab Services in Columbia County (both inpatient & outpatient)
    • Sober Support Services
      • Recovery Coaches
      • Peer Advocates
      • Sober Events & Activities for the community

 

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