40 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2019
RECOVERY ADVOCATES
FIGHTING FOR SOBRIETY
Recovery advocates lead the charge on the state capitol last year for Advocacy Day 2018.
BY EDEN LAIKIN AND PATRICK MCINTYRE
People who are struggling to get
their child into drug treatment,
fighting with insurance companies
over fairness of coverage for rehab,
or having a negative experience
with a so-called “sober home” are
joining forces with other recovery
advocates.
And the movement is exploding.
The Long Island Recovery Association
(LIRA) is a Hauppauge-based,
grassroots recovery community
organization. It advocates on behalf
of individuals in recovery seeking
help for addiction-related illnesses,
along with their family and friends.
It’s also dedicated to eliminating
negative public perception, ending
discrimination, and removing barriers
to recovery, including those
that exist in treatment, housing and
employment.
“I saw how difficult it was to find
help and how expensive treatment
is,” one member who’s the mother
of a college student now in recovery
said at a recent group meeting. “I’ve
met people who had to mortgage
their homes and still couldn’t afford
treatment. They don’t know where
to turn. No one should die because
they don’t have enough money for
treatment. A lot of our advocacy
really does work.”
LIRA was created in January 2000
to give a voice and visible presence
to the Long Island recovery community,
which until then had primarily
remained underground. Each year,
the group has organized a trip to
Albany to call on state lawmakers to
address the addiction crisis in New
York State.
While only about two dozen LIRA
activists made the first trip to Albany
19 years ago, more than 1,000 advocates
are expected to descend upon
the state capitol on March 20 tourge
passage of bills that would bolster
efforts to fight the opioid crisis.
“Today and every day going forward
the recovery community has
cemented our presence as a constituency
of consequence, not only
in New York but in communities
across the country,” says Richard
Buckman, a founding LIRA member
and its immediate past president.
This year, LIRA is advocating for
certification of recovery homes so
that individuals in early recovery
are afforded a safe, supportive living
environment. The organization is
asking the state to fund a recovery
outreach center in each county statewide
and to establish recovery high
schools, which have been shown to
dramatically improve recovery outcomes
for teens. They want assurances
that anyone in need has 24/7 access
to detox, treatment, and recovery
support services as well as proactive
interventions to assist those in crisis
after opioid overdose reversal.
THE
OPIOID
CRISIS
They plan to urge Gov. Andrew
Cuomo and the state Legislature to
continue working to enforce parity
laws in New York State and to hold
insurance companies accountable
so that people seeking help have
access to at least 30 days of inpatient
treatment.
They support lawsuits that hold
opioid manufacturers accountable
and demand that revenue generated
by such lawsuits be earmarked to
support prevention, treatment, and
recovery.
Lastly, they want to educate the public
about the power and promise of
recovery.
“This is a day we can combine our
voices best to be heard,” says a LIRA
member in long-term recovery.
LIRA’s many advocacy victories
date back to its first successful
campaign in 2000, when members
pushed for an act to amend the Insurance
Law in relation to family
member coverage for the treatment
of alcoholism and substance
abuse.
More recently, between 2014 and
2016, the group pushed strongly for
increased funding to the state Office
of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
Services (OASAS) budget, resulting
in “millions of additional dollars
to support recovery services that
provided funding for the opening
of the THRIVE recovery center
here on Long Island and more than
a dozen other centers statewide,”
Buckman said.
“The legislature needs to hear us,”
says an addiction professional who
makes the trip each year. “There’s
a huge recovery movement. We
show up, we recover, and we vote.
We have a voice.”
To join LIRA’s March 20 Stand Up
for Advocacy Day in Albany, call
631-552-LIRA to reserve a seat on
the bus.
PRESS HEALTH
"No one should die because they don’t have
enough money for treatment,"
says a member of the Long Island Recovery Association.
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