Supporters of the federal Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) received a scare this week when reports indicated that the program was going to be eliminated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

But SAMHSA officials said that while cutting the program was discussed during internal budget talks, no decision was ever made, and a subsequent letter-writing campaign by recovery advocates helped ensure that the program would continue.

The $2.5 million grant program -- established in 1998 as the Recovery Community Support Program and renamed in 2002 -- makes approximately 7-8 awards of $350,000 each year to "develop, design, deliver and document" peer-driven recovery support services, with the goal of preventing relapse and promoting long-term recovery from addiction. Nonprofits, governments, and schools are eligible to apply for grants.

Pat Taylor, campaign coordinator for Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR), said concerns about possible plans to eliminate FY2006 funding for RCSP arose about a week ago during a routine review of funding opportunities on the SAMHSA website, which reported that no RCSP grants would be made this year. FAVOR quickly turned to legislative ally Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), co-chair of the House addiction treatment and recovery caucus, whose office contacted SAMHSA about restoring the funds. FAVOR also issued an action alert urging its members and other recovery advocates to write or call SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Director H. Wesley Clark, and their members of Congress to ask that the program to be continued.

Late this week, SAMHSA announced that RCSP would be fully funded for the coming fiscal year. "We were in the process of drafting a letter [to Curie and Clark] from allied organizations, but before we could get it out, SAMHSA changed their minds," said Taylor. "We're really pleased they restored it."

"We successfully mobilized the recovery community because the RCSP program is the only federal program that supports a variety of innovative efforts making it possible for people who are no longer using alcohol or other drugs to live full and productive lives," added Meryln Karst, chair of the FAVOR board of directors.

Mark Weber, SAMHSA's associate administrator for communications, told Join Together that RCSP's funding wasn't actually restored -- because it was never cut in the first place. "We had some discussions about how we could make up some shortfalls, and RCSP and many other programs were discussed," he said. "Unfortunately, someone heard in those discussions instead that we were not [funding the program]. That was never the case." Weber acknowledged that the SAMHSA website "absolutely did" say that the program would not be funded, but he characterized that as an error.

Weber said that when Curie became aware of the uncertainty about RCSP's future via the recovery community's letter-writing campaign, he told his staff that the program should "absolutely not" be defunded. "The cornerstone of Curie's administration has been the focus on recovery," said Weber, "and that's what these particular grants are all about."

Taylor said that peer-driven RCSP-funded programs in places like Texas, Connecticut and Colorado have helped create a "community of recovery" by opening recovery support centers, providing job training, and liaising with local drug courts. By serving family members as well as recovering individuals, and showcasing treatment success stories, the RCSP grantees are helping to "change societal attitudes on recovery," she said.

The next round of RCSP grants should be available by late winter or early spring, Weber said.