Rhode Island’s Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) Coalition is a collaboration among diverse stakeholders—including emergency room doctors, child welfare advocates, religious leaders, educators, treatment centers and providers, prevention advocates, and other healthcare organizations—to expand access to drug and alcohol treatment in Rhode Island for everyone who needs it.

The Rhode Island CATG Coalition was officially launched in June 2009, and is supported through a generous grant from the Open Society Institute (OSI) of the Soros Foundation.  This grant is part of a $10 million national initiative supported by OSI to close the addiction treatment gap, expand and improve the comprehensiveness of treatment systems, and to improve the quality of treatment.  The Rhode Island grant is one of eight demonstration grants awarded across the country.

Mission & Goals

Alcohol and drug addiction is a health condition that requires treatment. Without treatment, addiction can lead to lost productivity, broken families, crime, costly incarceration, and even death. Approximately 100,000 Rhode Islanders suffer from addiction, but only 12% access the care that they need.

The mission of the Rhode Island Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Coalition is to close Rhode Island’s current addiction treatment gap by:

• Increasing the public’s understanding that addiction is a disease;
• Expanding access to evidence-based, high quality addiction treatment for all who need it;
• Expanding public and private funding and insurance coverage for those who need addiction treatment, but who cannot afford it; and
• Achieving greater efficiencies in how health systems respond to individuals with addiction.

Who We Are

Rhode Island’s Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Coalition is made up of a wide range of organizations dedicated to raising awareness and eventually closing the addiction gap.

CATG Coalition Members

• Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and his Substance Abuse Prevention Council
• Adcare Hospital
• Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England (ATTC-NE)
• AIDS Care Ocean State
• Amos House
• Beacon Health Strategies
• Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
• CODAC Behavioral Healthcare
• DATA of Rhode Island
• Family Service of Rhode Island
• Gateway Healthcare, Inc.
• Hospital Association of Rhode Island
• The Kent Center
• Lifespan Corporation
• Mental Health Association of Rhode Island
• The Miriam Hospital
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Rhode Island
• National Association of Social Workers, Rhode Island Chapter
• Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island
• Newport County Community Mental Health Center
• NRI Community Services, Inc.
• Phoenix House
• Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy
• The Providence Center
• Providence Housing Authority
• Providence Reentry Initiative
• RICARES
• The Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy
• Rhode Island College Institute for Addiction Recovery
• Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations, Inc.
• Rhode Island Hospital Emergency Department
• Rhode Island State Nurses Association
• Riverwood Mental Health Services
• SSTAR
• United Nurses and Allied Professionals
• University Emergency Medicine Foundation

CATG Executive Committee Members

• Gary Alexander, Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• David Balasco, Lifespan Corporation
• Becky Boss, Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals
• John Brett, SSTAR
• Kathryn Cates-Wessel, Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy
• Neil Corkery, DATA of RI
• Jeff Crawford, Providence Fire Department
• Elizabeth Earls, Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations
• Major Paul Fitzgerald, Providence Police Department
• Dale Klatzker, PhD, The Providence Center
• David Lewis, Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies
• Ann Martino, Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• Mark Montello, Lifespan Corporation
• Nancy Paull, SSTAR
• Craig S. Stenning, Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals
• Ken Williams, MD, University Emergency Medicine Foundation
• Brian Zink, MD, University Emergency Medicine Foundation

CATG Rhode Island Team Members

• Josiah D. Rich, MD, MPH
• Nick Zaller, PhD
• Laura Oliven Silberfarb, MPP
• Michelle McKenzie
• Caitlin Thomas-Henkel