What we learned about the Opioid Crisis at the 2017 ICCA Conference in Seattle

The Opposite of Addiction is not Sobriety.  This may have been the most powerful statement we heard at the ICCA conference where researchers and practitioners of many fields and backgrounds came together to learn, share information and knowledge; pushing each other to keep learning and doing more in our pursuit to do what works best.  Community Corrections has never been short of challenges and barriers.  It is encouraging to see dedicated professionals working hard to break through.

The conference encompassed workshops surrounding some of these challenges, including the opioid crisis, relapse prevention, housing and employment, and our jails being filled with a large amount of people with significant mental illness and trauma.  While there were many outstanding workshops at the Seattle conference, in this blog we will talk about discussions and community corrections solutions with relationship to the opioid crisis.

The Opioid Crisis

Who are some of the people who have been impacted directly by this crisis? 

Our reflections of APPA 2017 from the inside, outside and beyond.

Last month we found ourselves positioned in a good space as we went about setting up our booth at APPA’s 42nd Annual Training Institute, held this year in a particularly exciting place, New York City. We were positioned on the Expo floor at a busy nexus of booths and buffet tables, and our team reconnected with and met practitioners from all over the country. Each brought their knowledge, progressive nature and passion for EBP. We attended several interesting sessions as well, which highlighted important challenges facing the corrections industry.

The Big Apple proved the perfect backdrop for APPA, and we explored some of the city’s unique places. Following are a few highlights from inside the conference, activities outside it, and challenges going forward.