CRAFT Connect Founders Represent State of Utah at Addiction Policy Forum National Conference
(April 25, 2018) Kristin and John Garbett, Founding Partners CRAFT Connect attend the 2018 national Addiction Policy Forum Conference in Washington, D.C as family recovery representatives for the State of Utah. As part of the conference they meet with Utah’s congressional delegation to lobby for a policy shift and funding to support the Model of Family Care.
Hello Jessica, Jay and Laura (national leadership Addiction Policy Forum,)
I wanted to let you know that there Kristin and John Garbett who work and volunteer for Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA), that will be attending the APF Family Day event for the first time this week in DC. These truly are dedicated and passionate family voices representing Utah Families who have been affected by addiction and they are all champions to help families recover! Together this team has developed a 12 session CRAFT Family Program Workbook that follows the Get Your Loved One Sober, Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading and Threatening book, an evidence based model authored by Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D. and Brenda L. Wolfe, Ph.D.
As of May 1, 2018 USARA has trained over 30 CRAFT Family Support Peer Coaches who will be facilitating an ongoing series of a 12-week CRAFT Family Support Groups in 8 counties throughout Utah, both in rural and urban areas. All of the Family Peer Coaches are trained about the use of Naloxone and we have free kits available to give them. This effort was made possible through 21st Cures Act, funding for State Targeted Response to the Opioid Epidemic allocated by our Single State Authority, Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
They are excited about attending APF Family Day, and they will be available to visit Utah Senators and Representatives as needed. They are under the impression that APF staff will be setting up these meetings. If that is not the case will you staff be able to guide them with who they should visit and the critical issues they would best advocate for.
Thank you for hosting this event. I look forward to hearing about it from our USARA team.
Mary Jo McMillian, Executive Director USARA