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Addiction is a major issue across the country. In 2009, an estimated 23.5 million Americans ages 12 and older required treatment for substance use. The annual total estimated societal cost of substance abuse in the U.S. is nearly $511 billion. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2020, mental and substance-use disorders will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide.
South Florida is a major center of addictions recovery. Florida Atlantic University’s School of Social Work, now 45 years old, has graduated thousands of students at the undergraduate and master’s degree level, and has a long track record of educating students to practice in the field of addictions. Every year, FAU social work students commit the equivalent of $3.5 million in unpaid practicum activity across six south Florida counties and more than 230 field sites. Many have an explicit addictions treatment focus; and many more have clients who have multiple problems that include addictions.
There are a number of social work scholars, and others affiliated with the FAU School of Social Work, who have long worked in the addictions field. In early 2015, the FAU School of Social Work established an Office of Substance Misuse, Mental Health and Recovery Research with the following priorities:
1. To foster internationally recognized research that will garner external financial support and the international attention of interdisciplinary scholars
2. To act as a center of addictions treatment research for south Florida
3. To promote excellence in addictions treatment, including the delivery of courses, workshops, and other activities for social work and allied disciplinary practitioners in addictions
4. To mobilize knowledge in the broader community regarding addictions and addictions treatment services
5. To encourage visits by internationally respected scholars and practitioners, who could contribute to the Center and enhance its teaching, knowledge mobilization, and research missions.
Considerable fund raising has been initiated, and to date we have secured major contributions from such generous donors as Life of Purpose Treatment, Sober Living, Lumiere Detox Center, KIPU Systems, and Infinity Behavioral Health Systems, among others.
Over the medium term, our Office will be focused on securing funding for:
1. A funded research chair who would bring national and international prominence to the missions of the Office, School of Social Work, and university
2. An activities coordinator support staff who would assist the School’s Director in administering the Office, and in coordinating knowledge mobilization, research, and teaching activities
3. A number of visiting senior practitioner fellows, who would contribute to the Office’s teaching, research, and knowledge mobilization initiatives
4. A certified addictions professional certificate program that would train social work and allied disciplinary personnel for direct practice in addictions treatment
5. A number of visiting scholar fellows and scholar fellows, who would contribute to the Office’s teaching, research, and knowledge mobilization initiatives
We expect our Office to have a major impact within and beyond the university. We envision a lot of activity, and a lot of very positive collaboration within and beyond the university. Addictions are a very real, and important issue for our region and state. And FAU is at the forefront of a number of very good things in this field.
