December 16, 2023

Attached please find a letter we signed on to that was drafted by the Addiction Policy Forum as part of a national campaign to compel Congress to reauthorize the SUPPORT Act.  

Background:  Recently, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions advanced SUPPORT Act reauthorization legislation, while the House passed its version. The bill includes reauthorization of several programs originally passed in 2018, including workforce related provisions aimed at recruiting and retaining treatment providers for substance use disorder. The two chambers still need to reconcile the differences between each bill version, making it unlikely that it will fully pass before the new year since both chambers are wrapping up for the year this week.

Importantly, the Senate version of the SUPPORT Act has added language that would establish a new Office of Recovery, and background screening for peer support specialists from the PEER Support Act (but don’t confuse the PEER Support Act with the PEERS in Medicare Act which was introduced in both the House and Senate yesterday – confusing!) The list of Senators and Representatives championing peer support on both sides of the aisle is growing rapidly.

View text of the SUPPORT Act here.