SAMHSA is this like a NATSAP

[hanzomon4]

Well?

I'm curious because I have something in mind, if SAMHSA is like a NATSAP or basically an enemy in the fight against child abuse I won't bother with them.

[Che Gookin]

Cafety is all hot and bothered about samsha.adfjas;d whatever you call it.

Not sure what that says, but there you go.

[Ursus]

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
http://www.samhsa.gov/

A cursory look through indicates that it is primarily a government organization involved with substance abuse treatment policy.

I did a search in their data base and came up with several hits for General Bruce McCaffrey, who often operates as a spokesperson for CRC Health Group, but who also is the Director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, so that should not come as much of a surprise.

I then did a search for CRC Health Group and came up with a 71 page document titled GUIDELINES FOR THE ACCREDITATION OF OPIOID TREATMENT PROGRAMS, dated 20 July 2007, which notes that Thomas Brady, M.D., M.B.A., VP and CFO of CRC Health Group, Inc. was one of the Accreditation Guidelines Expert Panel which met in Oct.-Nov. 2005 as an advisory influence in the creation of said guidelines.  This still does not say much.

It is my impression that they are concerned with substance abuse issues primarily, and with troubled teen industry issues but incidentally, in so far as they are attached to substance abuse.

Overall, I came away with an overriding personal impression of "Big Brother is watching you and knows how to help you, and will do so once your stats cross our desk, whether you like it or not."  That may well be because I'm a cantankerous old bear who clearly suffers from delusions of Orwellian tenor.  'Nuff said.

[Ursus]

To get a better idea of where they are coming from, check out this subsite of SAMHSA, which lists and briefly describes approved, effective, and promising programs.

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/]www.nrepp.samhsa.gov
for "Approved," browse:  FIND INTERVENTIONS
for "Effective" or "Promising," browse: LEGACY PROGRAMS

================================

http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisori ... 13637.aspx


National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices Adds Information on Former Model Programs Initiative to Web Site

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is expanding its National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices Web site by providing information from the agency’s Model Programs Initiative.

NREPP (www.nrepp.samhsa.gov) is a searchable online registry of mental health and substance abuse interventions that have been reviewed and rated by independent experts. The registry assists local organizations in identifying interventions that have been scientifically tested and can be readily disseminated to the field. Organizations can search for interventions that fit the needs of their communities.

The registry originated in 1997 in SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Procedures under this earlier registry were developed to review, rate and designate programs as model, effective, or promising programs.  Based on extensive input from scientific communities, service providers, expert panels and the public, the procedures were revised, resulting in the launch of the new NREPP and its Web site in March 2007.

Updated summaries for programs previously labeled as model programs will be found under the “Find Interventionsâ€

[Che Gookin]

Sounds like a big pile of badger shit to me. More big brother knows best crap and two big servings of it please.

[hanzomon4]

Umm... Good stuff, they only recommend an RTC setting in two of the accepted 49 accepted treatment models(for youth). The legacy page has some disturbing stuff like Treatment Foster Care(sounds like host homes to me), but that information should be looked at as historical reference only so....

I do want to know what if any the influence the key players have in SAMHSA.  Key players as I understand is Sembler and his band of holy drug warriors, I'm sure I'm leaving out folks so e-d-u-m-a-c-a-t-e me.


Basically is this a neutral group that would listen to us if we made a stink?

[Ursus]

Doesn't sound so neutral to me.  Sounds like Government-Think and status quo, especially given the high percentage of military personnel in the executive ranks.

But... I could well be wrong.

[Deborah]

No

SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health services delivery system.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=171230#171230
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 115#148115
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=207756#207756
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=181813#181813

They support "Therapeutic Foster Homes"
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/teens.cfm
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=210624#210624
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?=&p=249119

They prefer community services (really push drugs) over "costly" residential program
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publicat ... efault.asp
They do provide grants to residential programs
http://www.earmarks.omb.gov/earmarks/ea ... 40483.html

http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=205508

[hanzomon4]

Damn, one devil for another eh?

But for the TTI devil this group may be useful, I'll explain when I have better idea where I'm going with this.

Thanks Ursus and Deborah

[Anonymous]

SAMHSA is a government agency.  Nothing at all like NATSAP.  Like all drug-related government agencies, it has its biases, but it actually does respond to the research and does set decent standards for acceptable care and is working to make addiction treatment more evidence-based.

Therapeutic foster care is for kids who need to be removed from their abusive parents-- it has nothing to do with "host homes" and is typically highly regulated.

[Deborah]

Just like the industry they claim to support science/evidenced based programs and initiatives.
But, in 2005 they granted around $10 million to "Teen Screen", which wasn't listed in their programs.

Here they give U of S Florida $98K to impliment TS, an "experimental" program
http://www.psychsearch.net/samhsa/contract.pdf

Charles Currie (appointed by Bush), Adm of SAMHSA set up the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (Teen Screen to direct billions in the drug company's pockets), then split when the heat was turned up.

Who else is behind NFCMH?
Pfizer
Eli Lilly and Company
AstraZeneca
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 206-8.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 6, 2006

Press Briefing on the President's Fiscal Year '07 Budget and Low-Income Programs
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Room 66

PARTICIPANTS
Jim Towey, Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Claude Allen, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy

MR. ALLEN: Good afternoon. I'm Claude Allen, Domestic Policy Advisor to the President.

DIRECTOR TOWEY: And I'm Jim Towey, Director of the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

Q In terms of the mental health sector, there are a bunch of conservative groups who argue mental health guides are medicalizing character, and in such light they feel that under this administration the mental health industry has been getting money for TeenScreen and for converting character flaws or behavior decisions into medical problems. They cite the new Freedom Commission, the SAMHSA support for TeenScreen and various other things.

Is there anything in this budget that would suggest you are moving to support character and community-based efforts on character and behavior, rather than the mental health industry?

MR. ALLEN: I would say probably the one that stands out to me most directly where we're focusing on helping young people avoid risk behaviors would be the Helping America's Youth Initiative,  http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/
which is targeted at at-risk youth who are at risk of getting involved with alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex and violence, particularly with the focus on young boys and their getting involved with gang activity.

I believe it's $150 million -- $50 million over three years, $50 million -- a
three-year initiative, $50 million that really is working to identify
science-based, research-based, evidence-based ways of working with young men and women, boys and girls, to help them navigate life successfully by equipping them with skills to address these risk behaviors.
http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 403-3.html
http://guide.helpingamericasyouth.gov/p ... ool-rf.cfm

[hanzomon4]

No guest TFC is for kids with behavior problems who "can't" live in the home. It's supposed to provide a less restrictive setting then RTC, Jail, and the like. I believe you have it confused with something else. It has all the potential for abuse that's been documented in regular foster care along with the disadvantage troubled kids have claiming abuse. It's very much like a host home in purpose.

[Anonymous]

Go to SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator here:

http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/

and click on Utah

Type Provo for the city name and run a search. You get 101 hits of within 100 miles of Provo, UT.

Number 9 on the list is Provo Canyon School.

[hanzomon4]

Yup that's the site that got me thinking about SAMHSA, ignorance me thinks. Enlighten them? Yes, but how?