Recovery Community Services Program

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSAs) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) established the Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) in federal [Page 766]fiscal year 2003 with the award of 10 grants of up to $325,000 annually to two types of organizations. Five awards were made to recovery community organizations, which are staffed and led primarily by persons in recovery and their family members. These organizations provide peer-to-peer recovery support services. The remaining five awards were made to facilitating organizations to assist recovery groups in forming independent recovery community organizations.

The 2003 cohort of RCSP grantees focused their efforts on engaging and serving a variety of target populations, including adolescents, women, persons with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, persons with AIDS, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Island Americans, Hispanics, ex-offenders, homeless persons, and individuals newly in recovery. Since the inception of the program, 33 grants have been awarded. In 2004, $11,190,236 was awarded to eight organizations over 4 years. Five were recovery organizations, and three were facilitating organizations. In 2006, seven additional 4-year RCSP grants with funding of approximately $350,000 annually were awarded. In addition, in 2007 SAMHSA-CSAT made available $2.9 million for up to eight awards of up to $350,000.

Peer-to-peer recovery support services are the hallmark of the RCSP. Designed and delivered by individuals who are themselves in recovery, peer-to-peer recovery support services are nonclinical and nonprofessional services that support individuals in initiating, consolidating, maintaining, and enhancing recovery. SAMHSA-CSAT described the purpose of the peer-to-peer services provided under RCSP grants as promoting timely reengagement in treatment when relapse occurs and as supporting sustained recovery and improved quality of life. SAMHSA has also noted that peer-to-peer recovery support services are an embodiment of the concept of social support. Both active and perceived social support have been found to be important to recovery, as has the ability to elicit and receive support. The RCSP provides a mechanism for encouraging use of and facilitating access to social support. RCSP grantees are encouraged by SAMHSA to develop a mix of services across four broad categories:

• 1.
  emotional support, which is often provided through services such as peer mentoring, peer coaching, and mutual aid groups;
• 2.
  informational support, which includes a variety of peer-led services, including life and job skills training, citizenship restoration, educational assistance, and health and Wellness information;
• 3.
  instrumental support, which includes practical assistance in areas ranging from completing entitlement, employment, or school applications to achieving transportation, clothing and basic needs assistance, or childcare; and
• 4.
  affiliated support, which assists individuals in developing social skills and in developing new social networks within the recovering community, faith communities, and broader social groups.

RCSP emerged from a predecessor program, the Recovery Community Support Program, which was established by SAMHSA-CSAT in 1998. The Recovery Community Support Program funded community organizations to mobilize recovering communities at the local, state, or regional levels. Among the goals of the program were raising public awareness about alcohol and drug use disorders, treatment, and recovery; addressing stigma; and improving treatment. SAMHSA-CSAT funded 30 recovery communities during the program's 4 years. Grantees advocated for establishing peer-to-peer recovery support services as an adjunct to treatment, giving rise to the RCSP program in 2003.

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