Non-profit with ties to SAMSHA opioid chief scores big grant
Summary and Analysis…
This article reveals that a small New England non-profit received a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) approximately six times the size of grants the non-profit handled in 2016. The non-profit, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), has a close association with Elinore F. McCance-Katz, the recently appointed Assistant Secretary for Mental Health for SAMSHA.
The article states that during the time period when the grant was awarded, dozens of other companies received notice that their contracts would be terminated. It also raises questions about McCance-Katz’s preference for the “medical model” over the “recovery model” and quotes her disparaging the recovery model.
Some concerns are expressed concerning McCance-Katz’s anti-recovery model stance:
“Her [McCance-Katz] appointment raised concerns among other practitioners who support what is known as the ‘recovery model,’ addiction treatment that emphasizes more community supports — like job-training and placement — and strengthening family ties.”
Excerpted from whowhatwhy.org
The Trump administration has awarded $24 million in grants to a small New England nonprofit group with ties to President Donald Trump’s opioid czar — Elinore F. McCance-Katz — a WhoWhatWhy review of government documents reveals.
The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), based in East Providence, RI, has been awarded $12 million per year for each of the next two years — the largest government grant the AAAP has ever received, an analysis of government records shows. AAAP will be paid to distribute and monitor billions in federal funds designed to help states cope with the opioid epidemic.
The grant comes through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency run by McCance-Katz. She is the AAAP’s former president, one of its 26 distinguished fellows, and is still listed as an associate editor of its house journal.
The grant also comes at a time when McCance-Katz is slashing spending to other outside providers as part of a decades-long struggle over differing approaches to mental health. The AAAP approach is the “medical model” of mental health. (See below).
