Blog: Reclaiming Futures

It's not too late to add your voice in support of National Recovery Month 2013 and promote the benefits of prevention, treatment and recovery for mental and substance use disorders.
Forsyth County Reclaiming Futures is leading the way this September in Winston-Salem, N.C. with:

• A city proclamation, signed by Mayor Allen Joines,
• A free community event on September 28, with food, music, activities, and exhibits
• Wonderful photography through the lenses of teens in treatment.

I encourage you to visit Facebook to see the powerful images of teens' choices, their motivations for recovery and hopes for the future.

Recovery Month promotes the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible.
What are you doing to help spread the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover?
It's not too late. Add your community's voice to the celebration now at Recoverymonth.gov. You'll find the following helpful resources:

• Proclamations
• Press materials
• Fast facts, glossaries and guides
• Infographics

Congratulations to Reclaiming Futures Montgomery County!
Under the leadership of Honorable Anthony Capizzi, this Juvenile Drug Court was recently awarded $975,000 from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The three-year Drug Court Expansion grant supports Montgomery County's efforts to unite juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Through this grant, Ohio will be able to serve an additional 45 families per year and 135 over the grant's three-year span.
Together, they are improving drug and alcohol treatment and connecting teens to positive activities and caring adults.
There is statewide interest in Ohio to expand the Reclaiming Futures model beyond the four current sites. If you know community leaders interested in breaking the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime, or philanthropies investing in juvenile justice reform, we'd like to hear from you. 
For more information about bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community, please call Susan Richardson at 503-725-8914 or email susan.richardson@pdx.edu.
Map at right illustrates current (blue) and potential (orange and green) Reclaiming Futures communities in Ohio. 

Despite the fact that synthetic marijuana use is soaring around areas like Hardin County, Ohio, we continue to successfully break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime using our proven six-step model. At a recent site visit, we found that Reclaiming Futures Hardin County has: 

• Strong, committed teamwork that uses a holistic, seamless, coordinated system of support for teens
• Effective, solid partnership with Ohio Northern University – good evaluation and site analysis with the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) data, and impressive internship development
• Cohesion: Probation, Behavioral Health Services and Recovery School all under one roof
• Superb GAIN rates, particularly upon follow up
• Many Evidence-Based Treatment options
• Well-implemented service coordination, with many positive pro-social activities (fishing, scrapbooking, archery, 4-H club, and community service opportunities) 
• Great local partnerships, for example, teen financial literacy training with the local credit union 
• Strong sustainability strategy
• Good representation at Juvenile Treatment Court staffing/team meeting, with input from many partners around the table
• Good communication with parents, evident by their attendance at the Juvenile Treatment Court hearing and positive interactions during family updates and high school graduation celebration at court
• Excellent feedback from youth and parents during interviews after court
• Wonderful community activities and exceptional fundraising events

Kudos to the Reclaiming Futures team in Hardin County, Ohio!

Leaders in Hardin County, Ohio, are using the proven Reclaiming Futures six-step model and strong collaboration to break the generational cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime in their community.
In the video below, Wade Melton, program director of Hardin County Juvenile Court and director of Hardin Community School, describes how Reclaiming Futures positively impacts his work:

Stay tuned for an update about my recent site visit to Hardin County, Ohio.

Greetings from the road! I've just headed out of National Harbor, Md., where I have spent most of this week with over 4,000 treatment court professionals at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals 19th annual training. 
I've been busy hearing about the most promising practices in our fields of juvenile justice reform, mental health and adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teaching the Reclaiming Futures model to break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.
For me, some of the highlights of the world’s largest conference on substance abuse, mental health and the criminal justice system, included:

• Hearing the Reclaiming Futures "shout out" from OJJDP Administrator, Robert Listenbee, Jr.
• Meeting the dedicated staff and leaders who are making a difference in the lives of young people every day.
• Learning how drug courts can help address health disparities, alongside Reclaiming Futures staff and fellows.

Thank you to the community leaders and experts in juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment and mental health who contributed to a successful 2013 Leadership Institute in Asheville, N.C., May 7-9, 2013.
I'm pleased to share the presentations, plenary sessions and fellowship discussions that made up this working conference to help communities break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.
Please take a moment to browse the topics and share the proven approaches and best practices for communities adopting, implementing and sustaining the Reclaiming Futures model as the standard of care in communities across the nation.
Here is a sample of the topics:

• Behavior Change Drivers by Michael Clark, Center for Strength-Based Strategies
• Rest Stop: Self-Care and Leadership Survival by Laura Nissen, Special Advisor, Reclaiming Futures National Program Office, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Portland State University
• One Faith Community at a Time by Michael Dublin, Consultant, Faith Works Together Coordinator
• Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN): An Introduction & Opportunity to Ask Questions, Michael Dennis and Kate Moritz, Chestnut Health Systems
• How to Manage Yourself and Others Through the Stress of Change by Kathleen Doyle-White, Founder and President, Pathfinders Coaching

We'd like to hear from you. If you attended the Leadership Institute, what new skills, perspectives or strategies will you use? What insights will reinforce your efforts?
Please share ideas, photos and resources from the 2013 Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute, using the following hashtag via Twitter: #RFutures13

Tom Begich, coach and former project director in Anchorage Alaska, describes how Reclaiming Futures has transcended anything they ever imagined to create a safer, healthier community. 

• Crime and substance abuse rates are down
• Graduation rates are up 
• Evidence-based practices are driving change

Through Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County, and the Promising Artists in Recovery (PAIR) mentors, Mia stays sober and finds beautiful things to photograph around every corner.