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Counselor Education Funding Bill Before Congress
March 18, 2005

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Funding Tips & Trends 

A bill geared toward educating addiction counselors and enhancing education for treatment providers was reintroduced in Congress last week, the Legal Action Center reported.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) introduced the "Health Professionals Substance Abuse Education Act" in the Senate, and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) introducing a companion bill in the House.

The act, if passed, would set aside $9 million per year from 2006 to 2010 for the Addiction Technology Center's counselor-training programs and the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse's (AMERSA) Interdisciplinary Faculty Development Project. Another $6 million will go to support alcohol and other drug addiction fellowship programs, courses, and their insertion into existing curricula to educate health professionals at institutions of higher learning.

An additional $6 million would be apportioned to "establish centers of excellence" at universities and medical centers nationwide for the exploration and implementation of alcohol and other drug prevention research into health practices.

The legislation mirrors a measure originally introduced by Biden in 2002.