NAADAC Reveals Action Plan for Resolving Gaps in Service

For Immediate Release - Alexandria, VA

Donovan Kuehn
703-741-7686, ext. 125
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Having overcome the dangers of combat, many veterans are finding themselves facing a new battle: obtaining treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, has just released a Working Paper entitled Improving Access to Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Services for Veterans and their Families to provide solutions to this challenge.

The Working Paper was developed by a special NAADAC Public Policy Committee task force composed of former servicemembers and addiction-focused professionals from across the United States. The paper proposes five strategies to address the issues facing veterans and their families.

1. Encouraging the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense health care systems to reach out to civilian resources when it will improve recovery service delivery.

2. Creating new, inclusive and population-specific prevention and treatment strategies that address the needs of returning veterans, particularly of the needs of female servicemembers.

3. Improving access to addiction services to family members of servicemembers and veterans.

4. Increasing training in stress-related diseases for addiction focused professionals, and educating other mental health professionals to identify substance use disorders when co-occurring with PTSD.

5. Using NAADAC's network of 8,000 addiction-focused professionals to promote improved addiction prevention, intervention and treatment for active duty servicemen and women, veterans and military families.

"This Working Paper was developed in response to the problems that NAADAC members experienced on the ground when treating veterans and their families," said Daniel Guarnera, Government Relations Liaison for NAADAC and the National Association for Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP).

"It reflects addiction professionals' commitment to advocating for the clients they serve, and their willingness to become part of the solution to a real public policy challenge."

"There has been a lot of talk about veterans' health care over the past few years, and that's a good thing," said Peter Formaz, NCAC II, LAC, of Helena, Mont., chair of NAADAC's Veterans Task Force and a former U.S. Marine. "This paper declares that no discussion of health care for vets is complete without fully addressing addiction as well."

A copy of the Working Paper can be obtained from NAADAC's website, www.naadac.org, or by calling NAADAC at 800.548.0497.