"Housing & recovery are joined at the hip"

In today's edition of The New York Times, Odyssey House President Dr. Peter Provet comments on a recent article examining New York City's response to an earlier investigative report (A Choice for Recovering Addicts: Relapse or Homelessness, May 30, 2015) on the deplorable conditions of three-quarter homes. 

 

Housing for Addicts

To the Editor:

Your investigative report on "three-quarter" homes (front page, Aug. 3) exposes flaws in a system that places vulnerable people with substance abuse and/or mental disorders in living situations with providers who at best do nothing to support their recovery, and at worst propel them toward drug use and chaos through crowded, substandard living conditions.

It is troubling to all of us who provide treatment services that people who leave our programs with the tools to live sober and independent lives are just one bad placement away from falling back into addiction. But the fact is that housing and recovery are joined at the hip.

Within long-term recovery, however, stable housing is necessary but not sufficient. Quality outpatient and recovery services are essential to maintaining successes achieved in what can otherwise devolve into a chronic relapsing disorder. That some corrupt providers may exist should not obscure the fact that hundreds of others offer critical community-based services that allow thousands in recovery to flourish.

PETER PROVET

President and Chief Executive

Odyssey House

New York, April 3, 2014

Drug abuse in the elderly

In his letter in Saturday's New York Times, Odyssey House President Dr. Peter Provet writes that the number of those who fit the criteria for substance abuse is expected to double in the next five years.

The people included in " More Older Adults Are Struggling With Substance Abuse" (Business Day, Oct. 4) are to be commended for coming forward to speak about a growing problem that affects the well-being of millions of Americans.

For too long, addiction has been dismissed as a moral failing, and sufferers have been blamed, shunned and arrested. The stigma of addiction is such that many older people whose lives have unraveled because of alcohol and/or drug abuse do not get the help they need until a crisis alerts caregivers to the urgency of the situation.

For the lucky few with access to private insurance or resources to pay for treatment, the prognosis is positive, and the long-term health, economic and family struggles can be reversed. But this is not the case for the overwhelming majority of older adults, and the situation is likely to get worse, as the number of those who fit the criteria for substance abuse is expected to double over the next five years.

Public treatment programs that offer a range of low-cost residential, outpatient and peer recovery services are a necessary and wise investment.

PETER PROVET

President and Chief Executive

Odyssey House

Dr. Provet on Robin Williams

Robin Williams' death tragically underscores how depression combined with substance abuse create a common ground for suicide. Fame, fortune - and in Mr. Williams' case, comedy - cannot prevent such self-inflicted tragedy.

Stigma still pervades meaningful societal consideration of suicide. Akin to substance abuse, it is commonly seen as an individual's choice and as such engenders less empathy and concern than other forms of mental illness.

Science is illuminating important truths - both pertaining to the frequency and demographics of suicide and its biological/genetic basis. For example, suicide is a leading cause of death among people with substance use disorders. It has been convincingly demonstrated that mood disorders, such as depression and manic-depressive illness, also greatly increase the risk of suicidal behaviors. Prevention strategies must continue to explore and identify the genetic, biological, hormonal, and social correlates of suicide.

Mr. Williams gave so much of his life to making others feel joy and laughter.  Hopefully, his death will encourage us to learn far more than we currently know about suicide and help us to reduce the increasing frequency of this voluntary, final act.

Peter Provet, Ph.D.
Odyssey House President & CEO
Board Member, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention

Mentally Ill, in Prison and Outside

In Saturday's edition of The New York Times, Odyssey House President & CEO Dr. Peter Provet is one of several experts commenting on a recent article examining the growing number of people with severe mental illness who are coming into contact with the criminal justice system in the absence of adequate health care services.

To the Editor:

In "Police Confront Rising Number of Mentally Ill" (front page, April 2), there is no mention of the intersection of drug abuse and mental illness, and how such use exacerbates psychiatric symptoms and leaves the individual far more unstable, symptomatic and volatile (though not necessarily more violent.)

As services for the mentally ill retract, greater disturbance will be evidenced, and increased demands will be placed on emergency personnel, police officers and prison guards. Unfortunately, it often takes a tragedy to secure adequate treatment funding to confront one of our biggest social challenges: the degree to which self-harm and harm to society are compounded by untreated and undertreated substance abuse and mental health disorders.

PETER PROVET

President and Chief Executive

Odyssey House

New York, April 3, 2014

Working in Recovery: How do we know what works? We ask questions

By Gary Harmon, Ph.D.
Vice President, Director of Research & Grants

As the substance use disorder field continues to evolve and move closer to a medical model, Odyssey House is poised to remain a leader.  The ability of the agency to retain the essential elements of treatment from its roots over 45 years ago, combined with cutting-edge and new research-supported treatment, has led to a model that we know works. 

Personally, I take great satisfaction in the quality of the services we provide and the excellent treatment outcomes that are produced.  Since my role often involves viewing our clients, programs, and services as data on a computer screen, I always make sure to remember that every number represents a person; someone who came to Odyssey House in need of help; someone with a dream or hope of a better life.  Keeping that important principle in mind helps to ensure that I never stop asking that very important question:  “How do we know what we do works?” 

Entering into the substance use disorder field six years ago, I was eager to apply my background in public health to one of the greatest problems facing our society.  I have worked with disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations for my entire career but this field presented an entirely new set of challenges and barriers.  It was clear from the start that our clients and residents were not only battling with drugs and alcohol, but most were also beset with poverty, trauma, mental illness and homelessness.  One of the reasons that I was attracted to Odyssey House was the organization’s approach to research and data.  Employing a full-time director of research and grants signaled to me that the agency had a value for exploring what was most effective for our clients and residents.  At that time, the agency had begun to implement several Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs), and was participating in a National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trial Network research study. 

The acceptance of new, data-driven interventions shows that Odyssey House is staying ahead of the field in terms of best practices and the most effective treatment services, and the commitment to research and implementation of EBPs has only grown. We now employ more than 12 different data-driven interventions throughout the agency, and we have recently participated in several clinical trials with both New York University and Columbia University. As an evaluator on several grant projects supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, I have seen from the data that the programs we implement are effective.

The first questions I asked of my colleagues upon entering the field was, “What do we do?” and “How do we know what we do works?” Although simple questions, it was clear to me that the answers were much more complex and the results more rewarding.

Working in Recovery is an occasional series of guest blog posts by Odyssey House clinical, administrative, and research experts.

A time when marijuana is legal

In response to Bill Keller's column, "How to Legalize Pot," in The New York Times, Dr. Peter Provet comments on the implications of legalizing marijuana.

A Time When Marijuana is Legal

To the Editor:

Bill Keller suggests that legalization of marijuana is a foregone conclusion. The voters in Washington State and Colorado have proposed that one way out of an intransigent public health problem, costly law enforcement, spiraling prison costs and reduced tax revenues is to legalize a known addictive substance.

It is wishful thinking, however, to believe that a government-regulated marijuana marketplace will raise enough money to offset the harm that today’s highly potent drug inflicts on communities across America.

The only chance we have to get ahead of the coming epidemic is by adequately financing treatment programs so the infrastructure of marijuana production, distribution and retail is matched by broad-based community services.

PETER PROVET
President and Chief Executive
Odyssey House

Working in Recovery: Running residential programs

Comprehensive treatment with wraparound medical, educational, vocational, and housing supports

By Justin Mitchell, Vice President & Director of Adult Residential Services

From our humble beginnings of 17 individuals coming together to form a community focused on living drug free, Odyssey House has developed into a multi-service entity providing a safe haven for the neediest New Yorkers. From the newborn child to the elderly man or woman, Odyssey House is equipped to meet the specific needs of a wide range of clientele struggling with substance use disorders, mental illness and homelessness.

Today’s Odyssey House has adopted an increased focus on evidence-based services, including parenting and trauma interventions; licensed early educational services such as Early Head Start; adult basic education; on-site medical and dental clinics; and an ever-expanding supportive housing portfolio. 

I joined Odyssey House in 2002 as a rehabilitation counselor with the goal of assisting clients in developing the skills necessary to reintegrate into their community and become productive members of society. Over the past 10 years I have had the chance to work in various positions and departments within Odyssey House, providing me with a unique opportunity to affect change on a client, a staff, and an organizational level.

Today, I am responsible for the residential treatment programs that are core to Odyssey House’s 46 year history. It is my job to ensure that the 500 adults and children we serve every day receive the best quality treatment; maintain compliance with various city, state and federal regulations; and develop methods to enhance our treatment programs to meet the changing needs of our clientele. 

During my years at Odyssey House, I have learned that the clients most successful at staying clean are the ones who are most committed to the treatment process. Odyssey House, at its foundation, remains a self-help program that encourages individuals to maximize their time in treatment to address a wide range of social, physical and spiritual needs. I expect, and encourage, clients to take an active role in their recovery, creating individualized treatment goals that include abstinence from drugs and alcohol, educational and vocational milestones, employment, financial self-sufficiency, and independent housing.  

But my job at Odyssey House is not merely an administrative one. I have a central belief that our role as models for right living can have the greatest impact on clients. As staff we are here to inspire hope in our clients: hope that by making a commitment to honest reflection and meaningful change, one can regain control and redirect the path of their lives. By demonstrating patience, positive communication skills, a strong work ethic, and genuine care and concern, we provide an example of how to be good family members, parents and citizens. Every day, we demonstrate how to give back to our community. 

In treatment, every day provides a new opportunity to be successful. As we continue to think about how long-term residential treatment fits into a changing health care environment, it is important to remember that for our clients, success may come slowly and can take many forms. For our young adults it may be achieving their GEDs; for clients struggling with mental illness it can mean the independence of community-based housing; for our mothers it can mean family reunification; and for our elderly it can be gaining a sense of integrity as they recover from a lifelong addiction.  

Working in Recovery is an occasional series of guest blog posts by Odyssey House clinical, administrative, and research experts.

Investing in jails to reduce recidivism

In a letter in the New York Times, Dr. Peter Provet comments on a private funding initiative to reduce recidivism among adolescent men incarcerated at Rikers Island.

  

Investing in Jails

To the Editor:

Re "Goldman to Invest in City Jail Program, Profiting if Recidivism Falls Sharply" (news article, Aug. 2):
While we applaud creative financing for social service programs, we need to be careful how we build systems for identifying appropriate metrics for success, given these complex social behaviors where relapse and recidivism are a frequent part of the process.

That said, nonprofits are eager to partner with private industry when the goal is to augment government money.

Typically, private foundations serve this role, and with their support many organizations run innovative and results-oriented programs where a return on investment, in the form of improvements in the lives of the program participants, is built into the project.

That this initiative takes it a step further by providing an investor with a financial incentive to tackle difficult societal problems is a challenge the nonprofit sector is demonstrably ready to meet.

PETER PROVET President and Chief ExecutiveOdyssey HouseNew York, Aug. 4, 2012