Executive
Committee
Debra
Gilmour, Executive Director
Tim Hartnett,
President; CODA
Barbara Seatter, Vice President; Cascadia
Tanya Pritt, Secretary; Milestones
Don
Ziegler, Treasurer; Serenity
Lane Rick
Treleavan, Immediate Past President; Bestcare
Treatment Services
Eric Martin, Member at Large; ACCBO
Sheila North, Member at Large; Depaul
Treatment Centers
Michael Bean, Member at Large; Emergence
Rick Jones, Member at Large, Choices
Rita Sullivan, Member at Large, On Track
Subcommittee Chairs
Richard Drandoff, Professional Development; ChangePoint,
Inc.
Judy Cushing, Prevention; Oregon
Partnership
Bart Murray, Rural Representative;
New Directions
Phyllis Stewart, Cultural Diversity; NARA
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| From
Executive Director's Desk |
August 2007
With a commitment to success, the Oregon Prevention, Education,
and Recovery Association (OPERA) advanced legislative priorities
in a manner not seen in recent memory. Prevention and treatment
providers converged in the Capitol on numerous occasions providing
testimony, visiting with legislators, and working with legislative
leadership to improve awareness of the disease element of addiction,
and the critical lack of funding for such.
With a greater understanding and willingness to tackle the tough
issues, legislators passed a budget that increased revenue for
treatment and prevention needs. This was a departure from the
past three biennia of budget cuts that saw a downward spiral
in the ability to provide services, just as the Meth crisis
was exploding.
While progress was made, a critical component was left on the
table at the end of the regular session-to increase the beer
tax for the first time in 30 years, with the express intent
to fund alcohol and drug prevention and treatment services.
A special legislative session is slated for February 2008. Discussions
are already occurring with legislative leadership related to
additional alcohol and drug prevention and treatment needs,
and how to fund them. OPERA will be front and center in those
discussions.
Several worthy State service providers whom lack a dedicated
funding source for their programs, will once again lobby for
a piece of the funding stream generated by a beer tax increase.
It is imperative OPERA members reiterate with elected officials
the necessity to increase the beer tax and dedicate those funds
to the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug addiction.
The correlation between alcohol and drug abuse and addiction
and the increased demands on the child welfare, health care,
law enforcement, and corrections systems is well documented,
and unmistakable. By investing new revenue generated through
an increase in the beer tax toward addressing addiction prevention
and treatment, we can begin to impact systemically the cause
of these service demand drivers.
With a financially significant investment in prevention and
treatment services, we will see families healthy and reunited,
a reduction in crime driven by addiction, and a higher degree
of community safety for all Oregonians. There is no greater
investment than that. |
Read More Executive Director Messages:
Spring 2008 | Spring 2007 | Winter 2007 | Fall 2007 |
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OPERA
is
a statewide, nonprofit association of private sector and tribal
entities who provide treatment, prevention and training services.
We are dedicated to ending addiction by ensuring the development
and maintenance of the highest quality statewide service systems. |
Mission
OPERA’s mission is to eliminate alcohol and drug problems
and their social, health and behavioral consequences through
use of evidence-based practices; partnerships with public and
private, social and healthcare providers; and advocacy for effective
budget and public policy. |
Vision
We envision a society in which alcohol and drug problems are
recognized as a public health issue that is both preventable
and treatable. We envision a society in which high quality services
for prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug problems are
widely available, and where prevention and treatment are recognized
as specialized fields of expertise. |
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