Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) is putting out the message that those who are addicted can change their lives around.
“I want people to have hope and to know that services are available and they can get to the other side of this,” said DMHAS Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon.
The department’s annual report released last month shows it served almost 113,000 people in fiscal year 2016. That number is up from FY 2015, but they see that as a good thing because people are getting help.
“We believe as long as people are accessing services it does help to increase the likeliness of their moving into long term recovery,” said Delphin-Rittmon.
She said, “We're trying to let people know that addiction is like any other illness. People seek treatment for heart disease and so I think it's important that they seek treatment for this as well.”
The report also points out, within substance abuse programs, 46% of clients listed heroin as their primary drug. It’s the first year where heroin was reported more frequently than alcohol.
Delphin-Rittmon said of course that means it’s a priority for the department. “We spend a lot of our time, energy and resources really addressing this,” she said.
DMHAS recently received two federal grants: one will go toward medical assisted treatment and the other will go toward prevention efforts.
DMHAS is also teaming up with Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) on a new program that will connect people saved from overdose through the use of naloxone to a recovery coach when they’re still in the hospital.
“It won’t be just a one-time sort of contact with that person. The recovery coach will then do ongoing calls to try to connect the person to services and supports,” explained Delphin-Rittmon.
Recovery coaches are being trained right now and they hope to roll the program out soon.