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Before 2016, Miguel Batiz spent countless summer days in his Holmesburg bedroom, using the computer, playing video games, and eating. Aside from trips with his mother and two younger siblings to ride bikes or visit nearby parks, he stayed home, nearly isolated. When the school year neared its end in 2016, his mother Dorothy Miller […]

Do you know someone who has a lived mental health experience and would be an excellent candidate for the Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) profession? Beginning Monday, July 5, through Friday, July 26, 2019, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services will accept applications for the Certified Peer Specialist Training Program. Applications must be […]

Paul Robbins recently spent about six months in Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (CFCF), a Philadelphia’s men’s jail, for drug-related charges. Robbins was on methadone when he was incarcerated, and he was able to remain on methadone throughout his time behind bars. The jail’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program for opioid use disorder allows inmates to continue treatment […]

Not all therapy is created equal. Years of scientific research have shown that some types of mental health treatment, like cognitive behavioral therapy, are more effective than others. But not all providers offer those treatments, and a new study shows just how challenging it can be to get them to switch. The study, published recently […]

Protesters marched down Market Street Tuesday to demand that Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health end its ban on smoking cigarettes at inpatient addiction-treatment facilities. The protesters say the ban dissuades people from entering treatment if they can’t smoke inside. They also say it makes people more likely to leave treatment early against medical advice and […]

Six months into a ban on smoking in all city-funded inpatient drug treatment centers, Philadelphia officials say the prohibition hasn’t impacted the number of people seeking or staying in addiction treatment — in fact, they say, more people are entering rehab. But advocates call the ban an unnecessary barrier to treatment in the middle of […]

CENTER CITY (WPVI) — Philadelphia health officials say the smoking ban at the city’s drug treatment centers isn’t detering people from seeking addiction help. They started the smoking ban at all city-run, in-patient rehab centers in January. Since then, they say the number of people seeking help at the facilities has gone up. Philadelphia’s Commissioner […]

Every morning at 8 o’clock, social worker Shane Randall gets an email telling him which addiction-treatment facilities have available beds that day. But Randall doesn’t work for a rehab facility, or for a homeless-services organization. He works for the Philadelphia Fire Department. His job is a part of a new partnership between the Fire Department […]