We offer our sympathies and support to the victims, families, staff, community and all impacted by the recent tragedies in Chardon, Ohio, Jacksonville, Florida, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  SAMHSA has reached out and stands ready to provide that support.
SAMHSA has many resources to assist with coping with the aftermath of such tragedies. Please see SAMHSA’s website to access these materials.
We should continue to work to prevent violence in our schools and communities. SAMHSA has been a leader with the U.S. Department of Education through its Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative. Find out more at: http://www.sshs.samhsa.gov/
We can all do our part to help prevent such …

This post is one in an ongoing series of blog posts introducing SAMHSA’s Recovery Support Strategic Initiative.
By Mary Blake, Coordinator, Community Dimension of Recovery, SAMHSA Recovery Support Strategic Initiative Work Group
Relationships are at the core of recovery. People heal and grow with the support, guidance, and encouragement of others. People with lived experience of behavioral health conditions—or peers—are a critical source of recovery support. Peers have “been there” and can help people feel heard and understood, while fostering a welcoming and accepting community for supporting recovery.
In Alfred’s case, peer support …

We are excited to announce a new national health observance that is just months away. SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week (NPW) 2012, to be held from May 20 to 26, 2012, will help bring communities together through local events and celebrations that focus on the prevention of substance use and abuse and the promotion of mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being. These local events will be part of a new national movement to raise awareness around these important behavioral health issues.
National Prevention Week supports the concept that effective prevention of mental and …

Cross-posted from Aids.Gov

Written By: Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Our colleagues at SAMHSA have just released a new Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP), Addressing Viral Hepatitis in People With Substance Use Disorders. This is an important and helpful step toward achieving the fifth goal of the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, which calls on us to ensure that persons who use drugs have access to viral hepatitis …