Lobbying post #3

I had a hard time researching my topic much further than I had before. I just couldn't find anything about the funding for drug and alcohol recovery programs. But with some help from Ms. Laufenberg, I found that there is a division of the Philadelphia city government called the Office of Addiction Services<http://www.dbhmrs.org/office-of-addiction-services>, a part of the Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services<http://www.dbhmrs.org/about-us/>. The Office of Addiction Services (OAS) does actually fund many programs dealing with drug and alcohol issues. 

This was a big deal for me. Now that I knew where the existing funding for these programs was coming from, I could start to find out whether it was enough. We found a list of mental health and substance abuse resources on the website for the Mayor's Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders<http://www.phila.gov/reentry/SA_MH.html>. I formulated some questions and went down the list, calling each relevant program. These are the questions I decided to ask the recovery programs after I explained who I was and why I was calling:

1. Have you been able to sustain your program using the funding that you are receiving from the government?

2. What are some of the other funding sources you have?

3. How would you benefit from more government funding? (Would you be able to provide more holistic treatment?)

4. Is there anyone you could recommend me to talk to who is also concerned about this funding?

Most of the numbers I called were actually out of service. However, I did end up speaking with a few people. I first spoke with someone from CATCH Inc. and from Interim House. Both of those conversations left me with a sense of frustration. When I asked what they could do with more funding, I heard ideas of community integration activities, education and job skills, safe housing, parenting help and better therapy and counseling. Holistic treatment seemed to be a luxury, to expensive to be attainable. 

It was nearing the end of the day when I received a call back from the director of social services at an organization called CORA<http://www.coraservices.com/>, where I had left a message with a secretary. CORA focuses on children and family, an area where addiction prevention is equally important as treatment. I spoke with this woman for a while and learned a lot about some of the needs of programs like CORA. While the government does provide funding, it is most definitely not enough. They only fund certain things, and many things that are crucial to holistic treatment are not included in the funding. After speaking with me for quite some time, she told me that she would like to invite me to a meeting about the topic the next day! She told me her name, Mary Doherty, and told me that she is a member of the advisory board of the Office of Addiction Services. I still can't believe how this worked out. I got permission from my teachers, made the confirmation call, and found myself at CORA services at 2pm thursday afternoon.

Of course I didn't know what to expect, but I never could've imagined the next few hours. It turns out that the meeting was a government committee of about six women who are in the process of writing a document to request increased funding for intervention services for Philadelphia's children and youth. They are working on exactly what I am interested in lobbying for. I listened to them discuss the issues and key people for about two hours, taking copious notes and soaking in the information. I was just amazed that I had the opportunity to witness firsthand exactly what I had tried so hard to understand. Then, as the meeting was coming to a close, I was surprised even further. 

Ms. Mary Doherty asked me if I could shed some light on the topic. (I still don't quite know how to address her, because all the women treated me with such respect that I felt like an equal.) All of a sudden, I found myself the center of attention, being asked question after question that I wasn't sure I had the answer to. They wanted to hear from me, a high school student, the member of the population they are trying so desperately to reach. They wanted to know why do teenagers go get help? Why don't they? Who do they feel safe talking to? Where to they feel safe asking for help? If they have gone through an addiction, what worked? What didn't? I didn't have a clue. But I told them, I could ask. So Ms. Doherty is going to email me a bunch of questions and I'll post a survey on SLA talk, or maybe even on facebook or something. Hopefully we'll get a lot of responses. :] As far as lobbying goes, I'm going to ask the committee specifically what direction I should take with it, who I should contact and what I should ask for. I've been invited back to the next meeting, which will be in January. I'm so excited for where this is going to go, and thankful for this amazing opportunity I've been given.