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���������� Note: Starkly missing from all of the public debate and public policy proposals to fix our broken mental health system is the essential importance and effectiveness of recovery-focused practices in engaging and assisting even the most distressed individuals and families.

Accordingly, with strong support from our Board, ���������� has joined a number of national colleagues in helping to form and support a new Recovery Now! coalition that is composed of people in recovery, advocates, family members of loved ones with mental health conditions, and concerned community members.

Recovery Now! will provide a non-partisan, non-political resource that will work to “identify and promote proven approaches to end cycles of preventable relapses, hospitalizations, incarceration, and homelessness; advance concrete strategies to prevent and address mental health crisis; and will advocate for greater availability of comprehensive community-based services that promote wellness and recovery through the integration of mental health, addiction and medical care.”

See our new website at , the great work of campaign partner Leah Harris of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery.

We expect and need recovery proponents, whether you be individuals, agencies, organizations or alliances, to be part of this historic campaign that is being formed at this critical time.

Join Recovery Now! today at .

Our campaign is currently financed on a shoe string: help us grow strong by making a contribution to our pass through sponsor, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, at . To donate, mark donations for general support and include a notation “For Recovery Now” in the recognition box. We need and appreciate your support!

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CONTACT: David Lerner, Riptide Communications, 917-612-5657

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Advocates Launch Campaign to Advance Recovery-Focused Mental Health Care

Campaign Unveiled as Congress Considers Major Mental Health Reforms

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February 18, 2015 (Washington, DC) – As House and Senate Democrats and Republicans focus on comprehensive mental health reform, and a by the Kennedy Center for Mental Health Policy and Research indicated that 71% of Americans are calling for “significant “ or “radical” changes in the way that mental illnesses and addiction are treated, leading mental health experts and advocacy groups have announced the formation of the . The campaign has been created to address the crisis in our mental health service system and the personal crises faced daily by individuals and families in great distress.

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“Mental health policy reform is rightly a top priority for Congress and the country,” said Bob Bernstein, executive director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. “We want to ensure that any reform advances the science of what we know works: accessible, recovery-oriented, community-based treatments and supports.”

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The campaign promotes the hope and promise that people can and do recover from even the most serious mental health conditions when they are provided a full array of both treatment and recovery supports. ��“The data is clear: approaches that promote stable housing, employment, crisis respite and empathetic connections to others are as critically important as medical services to help individuals move from crisis to recovery,” said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the ���������� Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.

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“Recovery is real. I’m living proof, and so are thousands of others. Now is the time for major change, so that all Americans living with mental health and substance use conditions have a decent chance at recovery. Together we can shift our current climate of fear and despair to one of hopefulness and possibility,” said Leah Harris, Recovery Now! campaign coordinator and director of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery.

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Added Phyllis Vine, a family activist and author of the book Families in Pain, “All families should advocate for recovery-oriented mental health reform, including peer and family support, which give our loved ones the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in their communities.”

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Recovery Now! brings a needed focus on recovery into the national conversation about the mental health care. The campaign will identify and promote proven approaches to end cycles of preventable relapses, hospitalizations, incarceration, and homelessness; advance concrete strategies to prevent and address mental health crisis; and will advocate for greater availability of comprehensive community-based services that promote wellness and recovery through the integration of mental health, addiction and medical care.

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Organizations supporting the campaign include the��,��, the��,��the��,��and the ���������� Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.

Spokespersons are available for public comment on mental health reform.

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