New Hampshire's Grant is Part of National Initiative to Increase Access to Treatment

Exeter, NH -- The Open Society Institute (OSI) today announced a $300,000 grant to match a comparable award from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to New Futures, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization working to reduce underage alcohol problems and increase access to treatment.

New Hampshire's treatment gap has been described by some as a "chasm."  It is estimated that slightly more than 100,000 residents meet the criteria for a substance use disorder diagnosis but our State's publicly supported treatment system can only accommodate approximately 6,000 clients per year.

This alarming chasm in New Hampshire mirrors a national problem. In 2007, 232 million Americans needed treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, but only 10 percent of them were able to get treatment for this chronic health condition. The vast majority of those who need help are unable to get addiction treatment, either due to lack of health insurance, inadequate insurance coverage, or a lack of treatment services in communities.

The grant to New Futures is one of eight demonstration grants totaling $4.8 million awarded to organizations across the country, including a university research center, a state government agency and advocacy groups. The grants are part of a $10 million initiative supported by OSI to close the treatment gap, expand comprehensive treatment systems and improve the quality of treatment. The initiative aims to mobilize public support for expanded treatment by increasing public funding, broadening insurance coverage and achieving greater program efficiency.

"If this disease had any other name, the residents of New Hampshire would not tolerate seeing thousands of neighbors, family members, and coworkers remaining untreated," said Victor A. Capoccia, director of the national Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap initiative. "Addiction is a chronic health condition, and it can be treated effectively. This important initiative in New Hampshire will enable more residents who need addiction treatment to get it."

New Hampshire's Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Project (CATG) will focus on increasing resources through better insurance coverage and public financing, increased advocacy and communication regarding the tremendous cost incurred by not closing the Treatment Gap, and demonstrating addiction service system improvements in two regions of New Hampshire.  Key stakeholders in this effort will include the Citizens' Health Initiative, the State's Department of Health and Human Services, The Governor's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment and service providers.  The project's advocacy and communication efforts will reach out to many additional stakeholders including the "recovery community."

Trudie Young, a resident of Windham, NH, and a treatment advocate, said, "It's a good news day!  The name Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap says it well. I have witnessed the immeasurable positive life changes of recovery. Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap strengthens that possibility and hope for those in our state.  I am filled with excitement at such an image."

New Futures was selected from a pool of 35 applicants after a competitive, rigorous selection process. Each proposal was evaluated by a panel that included national experts in addiction treatment advocacy and financing. Twelve organizations were selected for full-day site visits. A review team then evaluated the projects' strengths, financing, and advocacy strategies and recommended the final eight. The CATG project's staff has a combined total of 45 years in the treatment of addiction and related disorders.

Joe Diament of New Futures and New Hampshire's CATG project director, added, "I know how effective a similar project was in Baltimore.  Closing New Hampshire's treatment gap will generate positive outcomes and lower costs in so many related systems: health care, justice, child welfare, and the private sector's workforce.  Most importantly, it will save and rebuild lives."