If the title does not repulse you, I think there may be something wrong with you. That is the point of this post. The headline is what a medical professional told former Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs Gary Tennis when he asked the person what should be done with people … Continue reading Take the Drug Addicts Out to the Hospital Parking Lot and Shoot Them
Author: billstaufferpa
William Stauffer has been the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Recovery Organization Alliance (PRO-A), the statewide recovery organization of Pennsylvania. He is in long-term recovery since age 21 and has been actively engaged in public policy in the recovery arena for most of those years. He is also an adjunct professor of Social Work at Misericordia University in Dallas Pennsylvania. He holds a Bachelors in Social work degree from Cedar Crest College and a Masters Degree from Kutztown University.
William Stauffer has initiated numerous workforce expansion initiatives for persons in recovery. A major focus of his work has been aimed at moving our entire SUD care system towards a five-year care paradigm to dramatically expand the numbers of Americans in Recovery while saving lives, resources, and communities. Mr. Stauffer has been a staunch advocate for strong SUD Patient Privacy Protections at both the state and federal levels for many years. He ran a recovery house taskforce for the Pennsylvania that helped inform PA Act 59 of 2017. In 2018, he testified in front of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging on the opioid epidemic and older adults, and in 2019, he conducted a hearing with the PA House Human Services Committee to expand recovery opportunities for young people.
He is co-chair of the public policy committee for Faces & Voices of Recovery and the 2019 recipient of the Vernon Johnson Award Individual Recovery Advocate of the year. Mr. Stauffer was also the 2002 Recipient of the Lecie G. Machell prize in Social Work and, prior to taking the position of executive director of PRO-A , received Pennsylvania Recovery Organization Alliances award of the Recovery Advocate of the year, in 2008.
The Recovery We See
The Dress visual illusion There was this thing going around the internet a few years called “the Dress,” millions of people around the world saw it and chimed in on what color that they perceived the dress to be. It has its own Wikipedia reference. People either see a black and blue dress, or white … Continue reading The Recovery We See
Many Pathways, One Cause
One of the projects I am working on currently is to do interviews with people who attended the historic 2001 Recovery Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota. I am doing it to develop a deeper understanding of what was occurring at the time and how it all came together. The better we understand such things, the … Continue reading Many Pathways, One Cause
Healing Moral Injury in our SUD Community & Care Service System
In late April, I wrote a piece on moral injury in our SUD care system. Moral injury, as identified in this Scientific American article is the psychic fallout of “morally injurious events, such as perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress [one’s own] deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” It would … Continue reading Healing Moral Injury in our SUD Community & Care Service System
2001 St Paul Recovery Summit Blog Series – Article 2
David Whiters, PhD - Reflections on the historic 2001 Recovery Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the start of the New Recovery Advocacy Movement Forward: In taking on this project to document individual accounts of the historic 2001 recovery summit in St Paul I began to ask around about who attended the summit and how … Continue reading 2001 St Paul Recovery Summit Blog Series – Article 2
Will We Ever Steer Towards A Favorable Sea Change and Strengthen Recovery Efforts?
This week I ran across a wonderful STAT News article by Dr David Eddie and Dr John Kelly “People recover from addiction. They also go on to do good things,” it was published a few days ago. One of the motivators for me writing this blog article is to draw attention to it in hopes … Continue reading Will We Ever Steer Towards A Favorable Sea Change and Strengthen Recovery Efforts?
Recognizing Moral Injury Within the SUD Care System
I am not sure the first time I heard the term moral injury, I suspect it was probably in the context of military service members in combat situations in which they have to do things or witness things that wounded their souls. I have deep respect for persons who serve and understand that I have … Continue reading Recognizing Moral Injury Within the SUD Care System
Attempting to Strengthen Recovery Capital Against a Tide of Disenfranchisement
My organization, PRO-A recently joined 36 other state and regional recovery community organizations across America and sent this letter to Congress to educate them on the woefully inadequate funding for grassroots recovery community organizations. Disparate funding is the norm even as Billions of supplemental dollars flow out to the states. Even when these allocations specifically … Continue reading Attempting to Strengthen Recovery Capital Against a Tide of Disenfranchisement
Reflections on the historic 2001 Recovery Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the start of the New Recovery Advocacy Movement Article One – The Thoughts of Recovery Historian Bill White
Background: History is incredibly important to how we understand ourselves, where we came from, where we stand now and to assist us in determining our pathways forward. Few things are more important to me than understanding the New Recovery Advocacy Movement and to support efforts to move us towards an expanded recovery community across America. … Continue reading Reflections on the historic 2001 Recovery Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the start of the New Recovery Advocacy Movement Article One – The Thoughts of Recovery Historian Bill White
A System that Fails to Retain its History or Prepare for the Future
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana The other day I was on a zoom call and I could see a poster of local recovery history behind one of the persons I was talking to. I asked about it, and he told me he had stumbled on the … Continue reading A System that Fails to Retain its History or Prepare for the Future