(11-6-18) In a recently published article, Dr. Elinore F. McCance-Katz, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, explained how she and the Trump Administration intend to implement federal mental health and substance abuse programs. Her article in Psychiatric Services magazine’s October issue should appeal to both peer groups and supporters of Assisted Outpatient Treatment.
This is not an easy feat because several peer organizations oppose AOT, which they view as coercive treatment, and several AOT supporters question the value of peers, because several oppose AOT.
Before Dr. McCance-Katz took charge, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was perceived during testimony at congressional hearings as being strongly anti-AOT and strongly pro-peers.
Dr. McCance-Katz’s recent decision to reassign Paolo del Vecchio, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), was viewed by some of his supporters as a signal that the agency was shifting its focus from peer services and the recovery model of treatment in favor of a more traditional medical model. When Dr. McCance-Katz announced SAMHSA would re-examine the criteria it uses to declare a treatment program as “evidence based,” some peer leaders became nervous. Few scientific studies have been done about the value of peer services versus traditional services.
