Recovery Friendly Community

We are proud to announce that the Town of West Harford was recently designated as a Recovery Friendly Community.  We support those who are in recovery from substance misuse and/or mental health disorders by 1) raising awareness of the nature of such conditions, 2) promoting health and recovery by reducing stigma and discrimination and 3) building or improving the environmental factors necessary for recoveries to flourish.  Expected benefits of a Recovery Friendly Community may be reduced substance use, reduced overdoses, reduced crime, an improved sense of compassion, humanity and citizenship and positive statewide visibility.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) defines recovery as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential” and notes that there are “four major dimensions that support a life in recovery: health, home, purpose, and community.”

In Connecticut, residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdose than a motor vehicle accident. Most of these deaths are linked to overdose of prescription opioid painkillers and illicit opioids. According to the CDC, the 2020 Connecticut age-adjusted rate for drug-induced mortality was 39.1 per 100,000 population compared to the 2020 national rate of 28.3. One in four people will experience a mental health disorder and they do recover.

The Recovery Friendly Community Initiative helps to build consensus among stakeholders and momentum for change while focusing our efforts on several key ideas:

• Empowerment – The Initiative is based on empowering people in recovery at all levels within the system and offering hope that they can lead self-determined and fulfilling lives, directed toward achieving their highest potential.
• Individualized and Person-Centered – The Initiative focuses on providing culturally competent and individualized care and support chosen by the person in recovery to meet his/her unique needs.
• Built on Cornerstones – It builds on work that has been occurring in the behavioral health community over the past several decades, but also expands that work into new and exciting areas (e.g., use of peer supports).
• Systematic Emphasis – Using recovery-oriented standards, practice guidelines, performance monitoring and contracting language, it systematizes how we conceptualize, implement and operate services and supports.
• Quality and Outcome-Oriented – It emphasizes outcomes and incorporates the best available practices from scientific literature and from the informative experiences of people in recovery.