Recently, a bipartisan group of House members introduced the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 3.0, which aims to further bolster efforts to address substance disorders, primarily by increasing federal funding authorization levels for programs across various federal agencies. Similar to the Senate companion bill (S. 987) introduced in March, the House version includes several provisions :
Improving Treatment for Pregnant, Postpartum, and Parenting Women(Sec. 202) which would reauthorize SAMHSA's pregnant and postpartum women (PPW) program and proposes giving preference to grant applicants that: 1) allow clients to receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT); 2) provide culturally competent care; 3) ensure flexible lengths of stay in the treatment program; and 4) use peer recovery advocates.
Improving Substance Use Disorder Prevention Workforce (Sec. 211), which would create a grant program within SAMHSA that would address a large unmet need: supporting our nation’s primary prevention workforce. In particular, the grant program would help State alcohol and drug agencies support recruitment, professional development, and training to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in the substance use disorder (SUD) workforce; enhance or establish initiatives related to credentialing or other certification processes for prevention; and partner with elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, or institutions of higher education to generate interest in careers in SUD prevention and more.