National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week

The Scope of Substance Use Disorders
in America and What is Being Done

Every year in March, the National Institute on Drug Abuse sponsors the National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week®(NDAFW), which takes a scientific look at substance use disorder (SUD) and addiction in ways meant to educate, explain, and empower individuals, especially young people, to take control and make good decisions about their health.

In its report Substance Use and Co-Occurring Mental Disorders, the National Institute of Mental health defines SUD this way:

…a treatable mental disorder that affects a person’s brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications. Symptoms can be moderate to severe, with addiction being the most severe form of SUD.”

The same report also notes that those with SUDs might also have concurrent mental health disorders, while people with mental health disorders might also be struggling with substance use.

Those mental health disorders can include anxiety disorders, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, personality disorders, and schizophrenia, among others.”

As shown in the infographic, SUD is a pervasive issue across the country, one that requires empathy, compassion, technical skill and knowledge, and funding for the myriad programs designed to help.

The Substance Abuse and mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services charged with leading “public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation and to improve the lives of individuals living with mental and substance use disorders, and their families. SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.”

SAMHSA has created several programs to support those dealing with SUD and mental health issues. But state agencies charged with the same mission might be overwhelmed with the task of navigating the regulatory and legislative landscape while creating meaningful programs to meet their communities’ needs with cost-effective efficiency.

Those state agencies, and the people who work in them, need a knowledgeable partner to help create and implement programs in their communities, such as sober homes or home and community-based services (HCBS).

How Myers and Stauffer Can Help

Established in 1977, Myers and Stauffer is a nationally based consulting and certified public accounting firm. For nearly 48 years, we have worked exclusively with local, state, and federal government health and human-services agencies to help them accomplish their most critical goals for the nation’s most vulnerable people.

Backed by disciplined professionals who meet the highest ethical and compliance standards, our Consulting team provides a range of services and works in numerous program areas that can help, including behavioral health services, clinics and health centers, HCBS, waiver programs, and grant programs.

Our experience affords us an uncommon perspective and granular understanding of the challenges related to designing, developing, and implementing the solutions our clients need most for their health and human-service programs. Together with our insight into state programs across the nation, we offer a constellation of value-added competencies our clients are unlikely to find elsewhere.

Consider the following case study, which illustrates the skill and expertise of our Consulting team, led by a former Medicaid director, to deliver grant and waiver services to one state client deploying grant funds to support SUD and opioid use disorder (OUD) services, along with mental health services.

Case Study: Myers and Stauffer Consulting Work Supporting SUD

Overview of the Project
Our state client was awarded a planning grant under the SUPPORT Act: Section 1003 to increase substance use provider capacity. Through this grant, the client set goals to engage the community to assess capacity; develop and disseminate comprehensive perinatal care practice standards; modify the Medicaid methodology and rate structure for mental health, SUD, and OUD services; increase capacity through provider education and collaboration; expand medication-assisted treatment (MAT) policies; and gather data for state and federal reporting.
Project Director’s Role
During the engagement, Jerry Dubberly, PharmD (principal) was responsible for the development and maintenance of a master work plan for the grant activities. He supported the coordination of activities across multiple state agencies, other grant initiatives, and key stakeholders, and the review of best practices in specific SUD areas of focus. Dr. Dubberly also assisted with developing and implementing a communications and stakeholder engagement process. He and his team drafted reports to federal agencies regarding progress of the planning grant activities, as well as the draft demonstration application to implement and test the results of the planning grant. As part of this engagement, he also led the design, development, and submission of a Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver to expand access to SUD treatment.
Significant Accomplishments/Impact of the Overall Project
Myers and Stauffer supported an 18-month planning phase and developed a demonstration application which was subsequently approved by the federal government and is currently allowing the state to participate in a 36-month implementation of the demonstration. Myers and Stauffer helped design and improve access to SUD services. Additionally, Myers and Stauffer’s contributions to strategic planning and design resulted in a Section 1115 demonstration waiver designed to expand access to SUD treatment throughout the state. This waiver is currently with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for review and approval.

Myers and Stauffer’s services touch virtually every aspect of government-sponsored health and human services. We take to heart the mission at the core of what government health and human services programs deliver: affordable, accessible services for our most vulnerable citizens.

We help our clients meet their goals, one engagement at a time, and each is a rewarding chapter in our effort to support government-sponsored health and human-services programs. We build our entire professional practice around our mission, and the values that inspire them inform all we do on our clients’ behalf.

Moreover, we approach our engagements as purpose-driven missions underpinned by integrity, compassion, and vision. We want to give our clients the confidence they need about our work and assure them of the quality they expect in our processes. We invite you to join us in our work of helping serve the nation’s most fragile populations.