Red Cross Directs Shelters to Allow Addiction Counseling - JoinTogether.org - Red Cross Directs Shelters to Allow Addiction CounselingJoinTogether.org - 9 hours agoResponding to reports of addiction counselors being barred from working in Red Cross shelters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Red Cross officials issued a letter saying that shelter managers "must allow substance-abuse counselors to enter the shelters in order for people with substance-abuse problems to receive appropriate counseling."
Susan Hamilton, who directs the Red Cross' post-disaster mental-health team, wrote to Brenda Bruun at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Emergency Response Center on Sept. 11 to outline the Red Cross' policy on addiction counseling. Hamilton said that counselors and social workers who show proper identification must be allowed in shelters "in order to track cases and to reconnect their clients with available local resources."
"To not do so could impede the recovery of clients affected by Hurricane Katrina," wrote Hamilton.
She also said that shelters must allow the formation of 12-step programs, and that local mental-health officials should be welcomed to work alongside Red Cross relief workers.
Samantha-Hope Atkins, head of Baton Rouge, La.-based Hope Networks, said that some Red Cross shelters had barred Alcoholism Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous from entering, citing security risks. Some churches that housed storm refugees also have been less-than-welcoming to volunteers distributing copies of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and other addiction-related literature, she said.
