Drug overdose deaths are decreasing in New Hampshire, but overdoses continue to kill hundreds of people each year. NHPR recently spoke with a number of people in recovery in Manchester about what they think is needed in the state right now.
“[They] just bring you in for 30 days, and then 30 days kick you out,” Ramon Duran said. “Thirty days is not enough to heal somebody. I think if we were freely able to go to recovery whenever we need it without stressing out about some kind of insurance or a choice of where they put you or not put you.”
NHPR’s Rick Ganley spoke with Randy Stevens, the Executive Director of Hope for New Hampshire Recovery about what’s working and what more could be done to help people with substance use disorders. This interview was part of NHPR’s remote broadcast from the Airport Diner in Manchester ahead of Election Day.
Transcript
Now the year isn't over, but the number of people overdosing in the city is significantly lower than it was at this point last year – 357 compared to last year's 697. What do you think is leading to that decrease in overdoses overall?
Well it's multifaceted. We have a lot more Narcan distribution and harm reduction services being accessible within the city and the state. We also have, you know, a push for more treatment. We have more peer support specialists. We need many more than we have, but we're seeing an increase in all of these areas, right? So we're hiring more staff to help people support people. And then we're, you know, making harm reduction and other services more accessible.
Yeah, we just heard from some people saying that there are some gaps in accessing services. As you said, things have improved dramatically. Things are working, but you're in recovery yourself. What barriers do you still see for people getting help in Manchester and New Hampshire, more broadly?
In general, we need longer term treatment. I heard a gentleman say that 30 days is not enough. He's absolutely right. We need six months to 18 month programs where we can relearn how to be fully functioning adults in those environments before we get to society, where we have to, you know, act according to social norms and not recidivise or go back to drugs or alcohol, reuse, anything like that.
It's kind of relearning a lot of ways to live your life in 30 days does sound like a very short period of time.
It's holistic. We have so many other areas. It's not just the addiction, it's not just the mental health. It's so many other parts of our lives that affect those – that cause those things to spiral.
Now, how could the state address those barriers to help more people with substance use disorders – whether they are in recovery or not?
Well, they can fund longer term programs. We can push Medicaid to extend the three month limit that they have for PHP programs, and IOP and residential treatment. We can extend that. We need to extend that. We know that it's not working. Everybody knows it's not working. So, you know, we need people to be out there and advocating for policy change that allows us to treat people longer.
What are some of those bottlenecks? I know you alluded to a little bit, but, you know, hiring staff. I know that's a real issue. It has been for years getting enough staff, getting enough services, getting people enough, not only resources, but what do you need from the state to make that happen?
Workforce development, really. I mean, I need to be able to train people and be able to pay people adequately so they want to stay in the profession. And the problem is you got peer support – we're a wealth of knowledge and information and compassion and love, and we can support so many people. And yet we are the lowest paid of all the positions in mental health and behavioral health. And, you know, we're at the same level as somebody coming out with no training out of high school. You know, it's the same pay scale as a behavioral health technician.
