LIRA Newsletter 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
LIRA
Long Island Recovery Association
PO Box 262 Franklin Square NY 11010-0262
Spring 2012
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ROCK N RECOVERY III
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LIRA TIDBITS
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LIRA & The Town of Babylon hosted the 3rd
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LIRA,
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Annual Rock N Recovery celebration at the
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bringing the nationwide Faces and Voices of
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Town Hall Annex in North Babylon back in
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Recovery (FAVOR) Science of Addiction &
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September 2011. An estimated 275 attendees
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Recovery Training to Long Island on May 5th,
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partied into the night at our free event, while
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2012. This two part 6 hour training features a
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enjoying a sumptuous hot Italian buffet and
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train the trainer component to help attendees
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celebrating National Recovery Month.
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prepare to deliver the training to other
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LIRA presented our Friend of Recovery Award
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community groups. Remember to register
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to Mary Silberstein Division Director of
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quickly on the FAVOR
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Chemical Dependency services at Pederson
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limited to only 40 participants. There is a
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Krag. Mary has been an ardent and loyal LIRA
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discounted fee for LIRA members and
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supporter for more then 10 years.
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scholarships are available for those in need.
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Once again LIRA’s board opted to present two
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www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org
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separate recovery community scholarship
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Ask the Doctor
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awards of $500.00. Kerry Ann K. and Mark B.
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LIRA members and many of our provider
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were chosen from a pool of nominees by the
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friends participated as treatment and recovery
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selection committee and these awards will help
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specialists in this community forum hosted by
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support their work and educational goals.
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North Shore
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LIRA would like to acknowledge the following
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Boulton Center in Bayshore. This well
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publicized event was well received by the
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individuals for their time and energy, helping to
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audience and attendees had time for individual
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make our annual event a huge success:
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Q&A sessions at the end of the presentation.
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Commissioner Madeline Bayton of Town of
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Communities of Solution (COS)
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Babylon Human Services, Richard Buckman,
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LIRA members continue to serve with this
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Gene Foley, Larry Gise, Eugenia Karahalias,
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group of community leaders that has
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Ed Olsen, Anthony Rizzuto, Craig Sehlhoff,
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accomplished much already. With a major
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Bruce Till, Debbie
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focus on prevention and our young people this
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had a major contribution from students in the
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collaborative effort is making a big impact
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Chemical Dependency CASAC training
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across Suffolk County.
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program at Suffolk Community College.
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SBIRT Screening Brief Intervention and
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Many supporters donated funds, goods or
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Referral to Treatment
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resources valued from $50 - $250.00 and all
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Did you know that use of SBIRT screenings
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were acknowledged on our scroll of honor.
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can help curtail drinking among some of those
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See the complete donor list on our web site.
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questioned. Seems just asking someone
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LIRA’s work is made possible with the support
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about their drinking is enough to compel some
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to
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of our members and friends. Please consider
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Help has arrived for our provider friends: A
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supporting LIRA by making a 100% tax
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urine drug test is now available to detect the
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deductible contribution. Make checks payable
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presence of synthetic marijuana (K Spice)
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to Friends of Recovery LI and mail to
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which had become a major clinical concern.
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PO Box 262 Franklin Square NY
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RECOVERY IN ACTION 2011-12
A contingent of LIRA members participated in the FOR-NY statewide recovery advocacy day in Albany on February 7th, 2012.
The enthusiastic crowd was addressed by several prominent speakers including, Father Peter Young, State Senators, Neil Breslin, Tom Duane and pictured below
In September 2011 FOR-NY joined with NCADD, ASAP and OASAS to host the statewide recovery rally and celebration in Albany which was supported by LIRA. FOR-NY is working diligently with other entities regarding the final phases of taking over responsibility and authority for Recovery Coach training’s in NY State.
In addition FOR-NY reps are in active discussions regarding future training plans plus a framework for supervision and certification of recovery coaches. FOR-NY has conducted several coaching academies across the state this past year and two additional 5 day trainings are scheduled this spring for Albany and Brooklyn.
As of today more the 300 coaches have been trained across the state including several LIRA and FOR-NY board members.
A rousing thank you to Laura Elliot-Engel for her vision and leadership in taking FOR-NY to new heights. We also appreciate Michelle Cleary, Field Director of FOR-NY. Since coming aboard Michelle has been visiting across the state and came to Long Island and attended a LIRA meeting this past winter. She is a real go getter and we are pleased that she will be staying on in a part time capacity. Both of these women have made valuable contributions to the recovery community.
RECOVERY HOUSING
Representatives of LIRA, LICAN and the QCSC along with a dozen or so others from various community agencies have been appointed to the Sober Homes Oversight Board established by the Suffolk Legislature. Our friends will bring some solid experience, keen insight and a well informed voice for the recovery community.
While much progress has been made the past two years through the involvement of Suffolk County none of this would have been possible without the steadfast commitment and years of dedication, leg work and public action by our community activist folks comprising the LICAN housing team. Dating back more then 10 years some of these people made significant contributions and laid the groundwork and have since moved on; others have joined in or stayed the course for the duration. We say thank you to Rev. Nils Blatz, Rev. Kennedy McGowan, Gary Butchen, Michael Stanley, Roscoe Reynolds, Beth Brockland, Liggia Guerrero, Kathy Ayers Lanzillotta, Frank Walsh, Mary Silberstein, John Haley, Bob King, Tommy Koch, Mary Ann Maddock, Midge Thompson, Marcia Lucas, Dave Cohen, Richard Buckman, Millie Andino, Jeannie Appelman, Gene Foley and Anthony Rizzuto. A note of thanks to Dick Koubek and the Suffolk County Welfare to Work Commission for a thorough job in researching the issue in earnest and adopting most of our ideas in the recommendations section of their report to the County Legislature. You can access the full Sober Homes report on the LIRA web site. NYC area advocates have reached out to LIRA for assistance in addressing the growing problem of sub-standard housing and unscrupulous operators. We have shared our experience and provided direction as the problem has grown dramatically of late.
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
LIRA members visited with our State Senators in Albany and joined with FOR-NY on a visit to the governor’s office to meet with his staff. All of us encouraged support for recovery centers and improvements in coverage for addiction treatment in insurance law. We continue to push for treatment authorizations and length of
stay determinations being made by addiction treatment professionals. In addition we joined with the provider movement and urged support for one uniform definition of “medical necessity” for NY State insurance law.
911 Good Samaritan Law enacted:
This important legislation will help save lives by offering limited immunity for those using or in possession of small amounts of drugs who call in to report an overdose and seek medical attention for the individual in distress. You can read the full details and implications of the Law on our web site LIRA-NYS.org.
Healthcare reform is making a positive impact on addiction treatment. The Affordable Care Act mandates inclusion of alcohol and other drug treatment & mental health coverage in the essential benefits of the required state insurance exchanges. In addition the Federal parity guidelines for addiction and mental health treatment must also be included. Combining these factors with the expansion of the Medicaid pool should help to cover some of the 21 million Americans in need of treatment.
Senator Duane reinforced his commitment to continue working with us to help remove barriers and end discriminatory practices.
Many key law makers are addressing the prescription drug issue as a priority. Several initiatives have taken root to address this serious issue in a comprehensive manner including: improvements to statewide prescription data bases, closer scrutiny and prosecution of suspicious physicians and doctor shopping drug seeking individuals. In addition new safety measures & education have been implemented for pharmacies and additional training for addiction treatment professionals to include regular use of pain management consultations for those taking narcotics while simultaneously battling addiction are being recommended.
In March 2012 the Suffolk County Legislature passed a bill banning the sale of synthetic marijuana, marketed as K- Spice, fake weed “legal” herbs etc.. Soon after this action the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used
its emergency powers to make it illegal to sell by classifying these substances as Schedule I Drugs. We applaud these steps as good and necessary to protect our young people. If you know of a business that continues to sell these substances you can report these violations directly to the DEA @ 877-883-5789.
Suffolk Legislative Minority Leader John Kennedy met with LIRA members and pledged continuing support of our goals, including establishing a local Recovery Center.
OASAS
The OASAS Recovery Implementation Team (RIT) continues to meet quarterly with the overall purpose of the group remaining the same; the integration of a recovery oriented system of care in NY State.
LIRA & FOR-NY are part of the statewide Behavioral Healthcare Organization (BHO) workgroup which commenced last summer with a SAMHSA funded policy retreat. The workgroup is tasked with informing policy makers in the interest of the recovery community, helping to align NY with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Best wishes to Sandra Marnell who recently retired from OASAS. Sandra was a lead trainer of Recovery Coaches across NY State. She continues to remain active as an advocate.
LIRA MEMBERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ed Olsen is a candidate for President of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (Be sure to support Ed)Richard Buckman was selected as Social Worker of the Year by NASW Nassau for 2011Anthony Rizzuto was appointed to the Suffolk County Sober Homes Oversight Board. Maxine Materowski, relocated to Florida where she is busy working as a recovery coach. NancyBeckett-Lawless has been selected to receive our 2012 Friend of Recovery Award. Congratulations! to these Recovery Champions
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