Family Drug Support USA Brings Renowned International Model to New Jersey

TRENTON – In response to New Jersey’s overdose crisis, a group of impacted parents and advocates are launching the Family Drug Support USA program, in New Jersey. 
According to a release, the launch kicks off Oct. 2, with a listening session to hear directly from New Jersey families affected by overdose and the punitive drug war. 
The Family Drug Support program offers support, evidence-based strategies, and coping tools to improve health and wellness of families impacted by substance use and fatal overdose. The program is a project of the nonprofit Families for Sensible Drug Policy (FSDP). It is the first U.S introduction of the innovative, successful family drug support model pioneered by Tony Trimingham, in Australia, since 1999.  
FSDP co-founder Carol Katz Beyer is the force behind bringing family drug support to the U.S., starting with New Jersey. Carol was honored and privileged to represent the family voice in the 2019 Global Commission on Drug Policy annual report. Her testimony about losing two of her beloved sons to fatal overdoses was featured—along with only six other people from around the world—to spotlight the harms inflicted upon our families through prohibition and the War on Drugs. 
“Families have a vital role in the development and resolution of how substance use impacts their home—for far too long our families have not been afforded the opportunity to engage as active participants and problem-solvers. We are told to practice “tough love,” but tough love fails our children, again and again. Family Support USA offers a different approach, one of radical love and harm reduction, to our families,” stated Beyer, parent advocate and co-founder of Families for Sensible Drug Policy. 
Family Drug Support USA offers an alternative to the “tough love” model of family support, which tells families that they are enabling or co-dependent if they do not want to leave their child without a safe space to sleep or access to food and support once they learn their child is using illicit drugs. Family Drug Support USA helps families learn and tailor best practices like motivational interviewing and harm reduction to suit their unique needs, in an environment of support and non-judgement. 
“As someone who has personally struggled with problematic substance use and lost a child to illicit drug toxicity, finding Family Drug Support has been a gift I only wish I had when the ‘experts’ were telling us the only answer to SUD IS tough love and abstinence-only programs. Family Drug Support promotes loving, common sense,“ stated Mary Kay Villaverde, parent advocate and leader at Families for Sensible Drug Policy. 
“One of the biggest barriers for people who use drugs is stigma: external and internal. We fear that our families, friends, and support systems will judge our choices, especially if we return to use after a period of lauded abstinence. That shame and stigma leads us to use in secret, adn use behind closed doors when we return to use” stated Caitlin O’Neill, director of Harm Reduction Services at the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition. “We die behind those closed doors, without letting someone know to look out for us. Stigma-free support from our loved ones allows us to let them into our process and care for us the way they instinctively know how to.”
“This year alone, over 2,000 families in New Jersey have lost their loved ones. Behind every fatal overdose, behind every person who is incarcerated for their substance use, is a family that is grieving, a family that deserves support. We are honored to partner with Families for Sensible Drug Policy to bring family support to New Jersey,” stated Jenna Mellor, founding member and Executive Director at the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition.