[Introductory music]
The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, or OASAS, provides this podcast as a public service. Thoughts and opinions expressed do not necessarily represent or reflect those of the agency or state. This is "Addiction: The Next Step."
Host Jerry Gretzinger
00:22
This is Jerry Gretzinger, your host of another episode of "Addiction: The Next Step" brought to you by the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports. And you know, June is Pride Month, and we always take time here at OASAS to commemorate that month. It's a very special month for us to celebrate and make the most of certainly, and it is a time that we celebrate diversity. We recognize our lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer plus communities, and we are committed to ensuring that there's equitable treatment for people of all walks of life.
00:51
And certainly, access to addiction, prevention, treatment and recovery services is important for one and for all, and this is a month where we want to make sure that's indeed what we're doing: make it available for all, and joining me today to talk about one of those ways that we ensure that is Laura Combs. She's the executive director at New Choices Recovery Center. Laura, thanks for sitting down with us today.
Guest Laura Combs
You're welcome
Host Jerry Gretzinger
And, so, I know we have you in here because New Choices Recovery Center is an OASAS-certified prevention and treatment program providing many services to this community. So let's start with, maybe, a basic question because maybe some people don't realize, don't know, what are some of the accommodations that need to be made, can be made, are helpful to be made for this community when we're talking about services like these?
Guest Laura Combs
01:38
It's really important for people to feel comfortable to express who they are and, whether that be through the name that we're using, the pronoun identifier, so having people walk in the door and feel like I can be here and I can be who I am and be recognized for that, and that's through signage, that's through the way we handle things. If people come in and they tell us things like I don't go by this name, that's on my insurance card. So we think about how do we handle that in such a way that the person feels comfortable.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
02:12
Yeah, so that's interesting. Let's start with that. So somebody walks in, and they may use a different name that they're comfortable with, but it doesn't necessarily match what's on their insurance card. So how do you address that, then?
Guest Laura Combs
02:24
So, we address that in a couple of ways. All of our forms allow for that. So, you can add the name that you would like to be referred to by. And then another just twist when you think about it because our medical records are connected to insurance, and so if you're printing, for example, a group list, it prints out the name of the person with insurance. And so if you're printing, for example, a group list, it prints out the name of the person with insurance. And then, if somebody walks in and they're signing themselves in, they don't want to be associated with that name. So our mechanism for that is you just ignore that name and you write in your name.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
03:00
And you know, I think before we started recording, you and I talked about how there's so many things that can be done, should be done, done to make people feel at ease, to make them feel comfortable, and certainly, you know, when they are seeking services like those that we provide, we want to be able to make them as comfortable and as at ease as possible, right, because it's a difficult thing for people to want to make this step and start seeking these services. So this is great, that there's extra, you know, consideration being given, so we work on that, to let people use the names that they're comfortable using. What else I know you and I also had talked about certain things like you know, again, things that many people take for granted, but even, you know, restrooms and such.
Guest Laura Combs
03:38
Yeah, so we have several multi-stall restrooms in our facility, and we had a lot of staff discussion and, believe it or not, that was one of the most contentious things in terms of staff having different views. Like anybody should be able to use any restroom they want or no, some people might be traumatized if someone from a different gender came in. So we did, at first, created a really nice sign like if you're not comfortable here, let one of the staff know, we'll bring you to a single-stall bathroom. And then we consulted with a member of our community, the Pride community, who said you know what? Just make it simple. Just say if you're not comfortable in this restroom, please go to the back hallway and use a single stall facility. And that seems to have worked and made everybody feel comfortable.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
04:27
How long has New Choice has been doing this now?
Guest Laura Combs
04:30
We've been doing this for three or four years. Where we really started to think, take a deeper dive and really where this started for New Choices was the murder of George Floyd, in terms of us taking a real look at diversity issues and people feeling comfortable. And we started doing some work, formed a group we call it DICE, Diversity, Inclusion and Cultural Equity, and did a lot of education and training and looking at our policies and procedures around different areas. And then when OASAS came up with the LGBTQ plus designation, we started working on the application before it was even finalized. They first put out a draft application, but we had staff that were really motivated to work on this and so really started to look at all our procedures.
05:22
But the other way that it came to light at our program is several years ago, we had a request for a transgender man to woman to come into our community residences, and that got everybody thinking and talking, and you know how do we manage that, and this person wanted to be in the women's residence and at the time this was new to us and we talked to the person about you know, know their comfortable level in terms of other women in the house knowing, and they were like no, I want them to know before I come.
05:59
So that was the process that we used. At this point, we've evolved to the point where we ask the person who's applying to come in our residences where they would feel most comfortable. We don't talk to other people that are living there about it, but what we do is that when we screen people to come into our community residences, we're very clear that we work with anyone who meets the requirements for our program, who is committed to their recovery, that there are no exceptions to that, and if you're coming into our program, you need to be comfortable to live with whoever happens to be there, as long as they're being safe and working on their recovery. So we're pre-setting people coming in to the fact that this is a place where everyone is accepted and welcome.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
06:49
And it sounds like some really great developments in recent years in this end. And so I just, I wonder, too, because if you go back, you said, you know, like how many years ago it was when the individual wanted to be in the residence. But between that time and now, I mean the difference that you see in, you know, increasing this level of acceptance for who people are, for whoever they want to be, and what the feedback is you've gotten from them.
Guest Laura Combs
07:17
It's wonderful. We've had some great success stories with people who say I never felt comfortable in another program and I feel comfortable here and I feel supported here. And that doesn't mean that we still don't have a lot to work on as a society and that we still don't have participants who will say, well, I don't feel comfortable with this. And we let people know you know we'd be happy to support you and a different choice, but we're not going to change. You know our policies, and also, just the tone of our facility is acceptance and support.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
07:58
And so I would imagine too, you know we're always encouraging people that especially, you know, with the services that OASAS likes to make available to everyone across the state of New York. You know, prevention, treatment, harm reduction, recovery for any type of addiction needs, we want everyone to be able to reach out and access those, and this just sounds like it takes a whole other approach, another level, I guess, in making people feel welcome to do that, because you know it's addressing all those other needs.
Guest Laura Combs
08:25
Absolutely, I think, being part of the community as well, supporting our pride organizations at their events, being there so that there's that connection as well with substance use disorder treatment and prevention, with organizations that are advocating.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
08:43
And I know you said that you've heard some really wonderful feedback and some good success stories and certainly we're not where we need to be but we're on the path. But I would imagine, too, you've probably had some other folks come out and say I'm here because I heard this is how you're doing it, yes, absolutely. Well, I think probably the best message is if you have any questions, certainly you have a very great policy of being able to take any questions, any concerns and working with people through them.
Guest Laura Combs
09:09
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, all right.
Host Jerry Gretzinger
09:11
Laura, thank you so much. I just want to say that this is great, you know, and again, for Pride Month, I think this is a great thing for us to be able to promote there and let people know about. So, again, this is Laura Combs. She is here with us today, and we want to thank you for coming out here from New Choices Recovery Center and remind people that also, if you have any questions at all about the services that OASAS makes available across the state of New York, you can go to OASAS.ny.gov, and we'd like to make that as helpful and accessible for you as possible as well. Laura, thanks again for joining us, and everybody, thanks for listening to this latest episode of "Addiction: The Next Step." I'm Jerry Gretzinger, your host, and we will talk to you next time.