With more than three quarters of men and women in Connecticut prisons diagnosed with moderate to extremely serious substance use disorders, Executive Director Beth Hines and Program Operations Director Sue Gunderman carried a message of compassion for formerly incarcerated people to addiction treatment and recovery support professionals at the 54th New England School of Addiction and Prevention Studies Conference held at Worcester State University on June 6, 2023.
Community Partners in Action is grounded in the belief that people can change and have the right to be treated with dignity and benefit from a decent standard of living. Our model for reentry was built in close collaboration with the cities of Hartford and Waterbury and our extended network of 40+ service providers, including accredited treatment facilities that help people address their drug and alcohol use, and associated mental health needs.
We employ Peer-to-Peer Case Managers with lived experience who support formerly incarcerated individuals who have a substance use and/or mental health diagnosis. CPA is a Second Chance employer hiring people with lived experience including case managers and others uniquely qualified to support those returning to society.
At the conference, Executive Director Beth Hines also spoke about the importance of language and replacing stereotypes with humanizing language:
