What makes a college campus recovery-friendly? Are there tools that would help Connecticut campuses of all sizes foster an environment where students are comfortable asking for help instead of feeling stigmatized? Save the date and join fellow students, staff, and faculty from colleges across Connecticut to discuss how we can evolve our campuses to be increasingly supportive of students in recovery from addiction and/or other mental health and behavioral disorders. A Student Health and Wellness offering, this initiative has been endorsed by the CT Alcohol and Drug Policy Council and received funding via the CT Healthy Campus Initiative. The event will be held on UConn’s Storrs campus for in person attendees, and there is an option to attend online. You can note your selection on the registration form. A link will follow two days prior to the event.
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Check In
9:00 - 12:15 noon The Case for Change
Speaker I: Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use
- Dr. Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon is currently Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She previously served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and served in this role for six years. Prior positions held at DMHAS include Deputy Commissioner, Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the department’s Office of Multicultural Healthcare Equity. In her role as Commissioner, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon was committed to promoting recovery oriented, integrated, and culturally responsive services and systems that foster dignity, respect, and meaningful community inclusion.
Speaker II: Haner Hernandez, Ph.D., CPS, CADCII, LADCI
- Dr. Hernández is a person in long-term recovery from addiction and is committed to eliminating health disparities by participating in processes the build equity. He has served as a consultant to a number of local and state health departments with a focus on disparities, building health equity, addiction treatment, and recovery supports. He also consults with and teaches a number of courses at the New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center at Brown University and the National Latino and Hispanic Prevention, Addiction, and Mental Health Technology Transfer Centers funded by SAMHSA. Currently he serves on the steering committee of the national Peer Recovery Center of Excellence. Dr. Hernández serves as faculty at the New England School of Addiction Studies since 1998 and the School of Best Practices for over 10 years. Dr. Hernandez has presented at several state, national and international conferences. He serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Board for Voluntary Certification of Drug and Alcohol Counselors.
Recovery Friendly Campuses Assessment Tool
12:15 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch (provided)
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Table Talk and Breakout Groups
2:30 - 4:00 p.m. Resource Fair
For more information, contact: Sandy Valentine at sandy.valentine@uconn.edu