Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Program in Montrose County Helps Homeless Families Pursue Self-Sufficiency

    November 17, 2020 |

    Mountain Grown Community Radio (KVNF) |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Olathe, Colorado

    Haven House, a faith-based provider of transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness, offers a safe place to live while working to reunite families that face possible loss of child custody over their housing or substance-use status. Required classes in parenting and budgeting, plus job-search services and other classes, have helped more than 370 families over the past decade. Families, who often are referred to the program from the county's Child Protective Services agency, can remain at the house for up to two years if they comply with the rules.

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  • Biden embraces drug courts, but do they actually work?

    November 02, 2020 |

    The Boston Globe |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Drug courts can help some people with serious drug problems who face serious criminal charges, if such court programs are run carefully, based on evidence-based approaches. But, too often, such courts – which push criminal defendants into treatment as an alternative to incarceration – can do more harm than good. The proof of drug courts' effectiveness is mixed, and fairly thin. Thousands of such courts exist, based on widespread political support for an approach seen as less punitive. But many critics say the courts' track record overall is weak and their approach can be just another form of punishment.

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  • Hanging on: Covid gave Louisiana's addiction patients life-saving drug treatment by phone

    October 28, 2020 |

    The Current (Louisiana) |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Colfax, Louisiana

    When the coronavirus pandemic caused organizations and businesses to shut their doors, some medical practices, such as facilities that treat addiction, found relief by moving to telehealth services. In Lousiana, "emergency changes to federal and state telehealth regulations" allowed patients to seek therapy and other services via telephone and video, which helped them avoid exposure to the virus, yet still access the care they needed.

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  • This Addiction Treatment Works. Why Is It So Underused?

    October 27, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    A substance abuse program known as contingency management offers incentives to those who to stay in treatment and remain abstinent from the use of drugs. Although not all agree with the merits of the program and question the underlying morals of the concept, anecdotal accounts from participants and studies have shown that it can be "highly effective" in helping to treat substance abuse.

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  • Booking homeless Portlanders into jail is endless, expensive cycle that arrests don't curb, but housing does

    October 25, 2020 |

    The Oregonian |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Temporary housing providing drug treatment and other services to people experiencing homelessness appears to cut the chances that people arrested in Portland on minor charges will cycle repeatedly through the criminal justice system. In 2019, 250 people living in transitional housing were booked into jail, versus nearly 3,700 people still living on the streets. The rearrest rate for people living on the street is 87%, but 30 points lower for people with housing. Portland officials have been slow to provide alternatives to arrests and jail since a report in 2017 that most arrestees in Portland are homeless.

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  • They lost their brothers to addiction. Now they're tackling deadly stigmas head on, with humor

    October 22, 2020 |

    Los Angeles Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    Two women who lost their brothers to heroin overdoses launched the podcast "Last Day" to address death – by drugs and, in season two, by suicide – with a mix of humor, unsettling candor, and conventional-wisdom-busting storytelling. At first a modest startup, their production company now employs 17, topped the podcast charts with almost 4 million downloads, and has rolled out other programs on such topics as body image, bullying, the pandemic, policing, and loneliness. Many of the topics were proposed by listeners to "Last Day," who wanted their problems or questions to get the same treatment.

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  • Why Portugal decriminalised all drugs

    October 19, 2020 |

    BBC |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: Portugal

    When Portugal became the first country to decriminalize personal possession and use of small amounts of drugs, choosing to shift to treating drug abuse as a health rather than a criminal matter, the feared downside of turning the country into a drug-users' paradise did not materialize. Instead, HIV cases and crime dropped. Law enforcement resources could focus on major trafficking, while the health and social problems associated with the country's serious heroin problem could be addressed in a way that could begin to solve the problem. Up till then, arrests and prison had failed to have such effects.

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  • Second Largest Police Force to Stop Criminalising Drug Users

    October 16, 2020 |

    Vice |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom

    Four UK police forces have adopted drug-decriminalization policies over the past five years, diverting hundreds of cases toward treatment and harm-reduction counseling, and away from criminal convictions, fines, and incarceration. The policies, which apply even in cases involving heroin and cocaine, have been found to reduce drug offenses and conserve police resources for more serious crime. Based on those programs, West Midlands, the second-largest police force in England and Wales, is launching a one-year pilot project aimed at diverting 1,500 people's cases away from the criminal process.

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  • A Special Court Keeping Native Americans Out of Jail

    October 12, 2020 |

    70 Million |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Maine

    The Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court is a drug court, diverting people charged with drug offenses from possible fines and jail into therapy. But it has an added cultural element, providing traditional healing approaches alongside mainstream behavioral therapy. The cultural piece recognizes that Native Americans' historical trauma and disconnect from their culture can contribute to the problems that lead to addiction. The court is far less expensive than jail or prison, and its participants have not been jailed for failing treatment in more than two years.

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  • Short of mental health professionals, Nigeria tries a new approach

    September 29, 2020 |

    Devex |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Nigeria, Ibadan

    In Nigeria, a methodology known as task-sharing is helping to lessen the burden on the country's mental health care system. The premise of this model is to train "other health personnel, such as community health workers, to identify mental health issues and provide basic interventions, thus reducing the number of cases that are brought to the very few specialists." Although some do not believe it to be a long-term solution, the model is credited with being a good option in resource-constricted regions.

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