A New Partnership Brings a Promising New Addiction Recovery Service to Recovery Homes Across America

LONDON, Ky., Oct. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fletcher Group, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the capacity and quality of recovery housing, today announced the expansion of its collaboration with SMART Recovery, thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Elevance Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health Inc.

More than 150,000 Americans rely on recovery homes each year. The Fletcher Group specializes in providing evidence-based, best-practice technical assistance to recovery homes across America. Through its partnership with SMART Recovery, the Fletcher Group helps connect recovery houses with SMART Recovery's Successful Life Skills program, a structured curriculum that uses evidence-based methods to help people find within themselves the power to change. Once recovery housing staff and residents are trained, they learn to conduct their own ongoing group sessions in the future.

To help make the Successful Life Skills program more widely available to recovery houses across the country, the Elevance Health Foundation's grant will allow the Fletcher Group to offer SMART Recovery's program to recovery homes at no cost for participation. The goal is to have the program implemented within the next three years at 150 recovery houses in six states: California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.

"Housing plays a critical role in recovering from opioid and other substance use disorders," said Dr. Ernie Fletcher, Fletcher Group founder and chief medical officer. "But many recovery houses struggle to provide their residents with professional services. Thanks to the generous support of the Elevance Health Foundation, we can now make SMART Recovery's training program available to far more houses than we could otherwise."

Fletcher Group CEO Dave Johnson is excited by the potential. "SMART Recovery has a proven record of success all over the world," says Johnson. "There's no reason it can't have the same success here. We just need to get it to the recovery homes that need it."

The grant is part of Elevance Health Foundation's overall commitment of up to $30 million over the next three years to support programs that address mental health, with an emphasis on substance use disorder. With an ultimate goal of advancing health equity, the Foundation is focusing on programs that work to address an array of care and service options, including prevention and early intervention, crisis response and intervention, long-term intervention, and community resources and recovery supports.

"Our country's opioid epidemic impacts millions of Americans each year. That's why it's important for those in recovery to have access to stable, sober housing options," said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, chief health officer of Elevance Health. "Through this partnership, the Fletcher Group will be able to provide SMART Recovery's training program to facilities, helping equip individuals with skills and resources to have lifelong success."

To learn more about SMART Recovery's Successful Life Skills program, visit https://www.smartrecovery.org/. To sign up for the program through the Fletcher Group, visit https://www.fletchergroup.org/2021/10/01/smart-recovery/

Media Contact:
Richard Faylor
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SOURCE The Fletcher Group