The Case for SPENCER’s Law:

National Standards for Addiction Treatment and Recovery

The ongoing opioid and substance use crises have revealed systemic gaps in the safety and accountability of recovery housing and treatment facilities across the United States. 

• Private actors operate without sufficient oversight, leading to unsafe conditions, inadequate care, and poor outcomes for individuals in recovery.

• Vulnerable individuals face barriers such as stigma, lack of transparency, and inconsistent access to evidence-based services.

• Current regulations at the state level are fragmented and fail to address systemic issues.

 

SPENCER’s Law (Safe, Person-Centered, Evidentiary, Needs-based Care for Effective Recovery) is named for a 24-year-old young man who, while undergoing treatment, tragically lost his life due to systemic failure. SPENCER’s Law aims to create federal safety and quality standards and oversight to ensure facilities adhere to safety, transparency, and evidence-based care practices, addressing systemic gaps while enhancing outcomes. 

 

• Guardrails for Safety: 

  • Establishes discharge protocols and harm reduction measures across the continuum of care to safeguard patients in vulnerable transitions.

• National Quality Standards to improve sector performance

  • Precedent in other countries

  • An outgrowth of the patient safety movement

• Accountability: 

  • Ensures ethical practices through accountability, protecting patients from negligence and exploitation, and providing grounds for legal recourse.

  • Ensures the use of evidence-based practices in recovery programs.

  • Empowers federal agencies to enact national safety standards in recovery housing and treatment facilities with statutory authority.

  • Enables patients to seek remedy through legal means, promoting natural enforcement.

• Better Care Coordination:

  • Relaxes specific HIPAA-related barriers to streamline communication and coordinate with other providers, improving efficiency and outcomes.

  • Supports person-centered, integrated care with mental health providers.

  • Aligns with federal priorities to reduce regulatory burden and incentivize excellence in care.

  • Utilizes government levers to improve private-sector accountability with minimal financial burden.

 

 Why This Matters:

• The opioid crisis remains a national emergency, with overdose deaths being the leading cause of death for individuals under 40 in Colorado. Every day, 290 people die nationwide-- 3 in Colorado.

• Overdose deaths now surpass both suicide and car crashes as a leading cause of death in the United States. Recent overdose death declines may lead to complacency.

• The economic burden of the crisis is staggering, estimated at $1.5 trillion annually in the US. The crisis impacts individuals and families and strains the economy.

• Treatment Challenges: Fewer than half of the individuals entering treatment programs complete them. Relapse Rates of poly-substance use and co-existing disorders are high, while we have a short-term treatment model with many dangerous transitions.

• MAT is effective in reducing overdose mortality by up to 50%, yet it remains underutilized, with only about 20% of patients receiving it. This gap suggests a need for systemic reforms to ensure broader access and integration of effective treatments.

 

 Fiscally Responsible and Impactful: SPENCER’s Law is one of the most impactful and cost-effective reforms legislators could take to tackle this crisis.

• Grounded in Harm Reduction Success: Expands it along the continuum of care, providing immediate life-saving tools while improving long-term system functionality.

• Focused on improving outcomes for long-term savings. Ensures safer transitions and reduces preventable fatalities,

• Utilizes a lever of government to change private sector behavior with minimal upfront costs for oversight and training, yielding long-term savings through improved outcomes.

• Bipartisan Appeal: Saves lives, is fiscally responsible, and holds private actors accountable. An immediate, impactful solution, showing a commitment to addressing the national emergency. 

• Cost-Effective: Minimal upfront costs for oversight and training yield significant long-term savings and societal benefits.

• Foundational: The principles are foundational for addressing broader mental health challenges. SPENCER’s Law represents a critical step toward fixing a broken system and improving the quality of behavioral health care in the country.

 

Call to Action

• Delaying action will cost lives and worsen the economic burden.

• By supporting SPENCER’s Law, legislators can join a bipartisan effort to codify national safety standards and protect millions of Americans in recovery.

 

Questions for Policy Makers

• How can Congress lead in responding to the opioid crisis, declared a national emergency?

• What standards must be codified to ensure patient safety across recovery facilities?

• Why is now the time to act, and what are the costs of delay?