The Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance, PRO•A, was established in 1998 to give a voice and focal point to the statewide recovery community in Pennsylvania.

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, February 3rd. PRO-A's Bill Stauffer will be discussing current issues and dialog with th...
02/02/2026

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, February 3rd. PRO-A's Bill Stauffer will be discussing current issues and dialog with the Recovery Community and allies.

To Register for The CALL: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkc-yqpzkuE9zK4qvzHhf1N8EVXyZ_wGIs?fbclid=IwAR2wdT_5LAH5UqYn7RMwtXrZBCM5N54slnSl3UVCgAYN5w-Q7PYAbrdvCvs #/registration

What is it: PRO-A the statewide recovery community organization holds statewide weekly ZOOM call to support Recovery Community Organizations and members of the recovery community and strengthen recovery focused efforts across Pennsylvania.

All in PA are welcome to participate on THE CALL. Our Goals:

To understand what is happening to you, your organizations and your local community right now.

To support our fragile care recovery care system and support for our communities across Pennsylvania.

To help support each other and seek solutions for caring for ourselves and our community members as we strengthen recovery capital at the individual, family and community levels.

PRO-A Training Institute is pleased to highlight one of the many training opportunities we offer. Each training can be t...
01/29/2026

PRO-A Training Institute is pleased to highlight one of the many training opportunities we offer. Each training can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization or combined with additional modules to create a comprehensive learning experience. Training fees are determined based on the number of continuing education hours provided.

Explore our full catalog of trainings at: https://pro-a.org/training/

To schedule a training or request additional information, please contact Patricia Baranowski at patti.b@pro-a.org

Will We Ever Move Beyond an Acute Crisis Orientation? The Absence of Recovery Research and Emerging DrugsWhile xylazine ...
01/29/2026

Will We Ever Move Beyond an Acute Crisis Orientation? The Absence of Recovery Research and Emerging Drugs

While xylazine has shown up sporadically in the drug supply for a generation, it emerged more consistently around ten years ago in Philadelphia. It then became prevalent nationally. A decade in, one might reasonably expect an evidence base addressing recovery process following exposure to fentanyl–xylazine combinations. Instead, the literature focuses almost exclusively on acute care interventions. If we fail to focus on getting people into long term recovery, we should be honest about the outcomes we pursue, which are short term amelioration in a turn style process of ever increased chronicity and eroding outcomes that get more expensive at every turn.

Recent publications illustrate this pattern clearly: Management of Xylazine Withdrawal in a Hospitalized Patient (Journal of Addiction Medicine, 2022). Describes a hospitalized patient and makes no mention of counseling or support strategies.
• Xylazine in Overdose Deaths and Forensic Drug Reports (JAMA Network Open, 2024). Examines xylazine in overdose/fatality data yet makes no mention of clinical treatment or long-term recovery/remission.
• “Xylazine in the Opioid Epidemic: A Systematic Review of Case Reports and Clinical Implications” (Cureus, 2023) A review of case reports/clinical implications of acute overdose, with no mention of long term recovery / remission.
• Xylazine-associated Wounds: Clinical Experience From a Low-barrier Wound Care Clinic in Philadelphia (Journal of Addiction Medicine, 2024)clinically describes chronic wound complications in people exposed to xylazine. Important for long-term morbidity but does not track clinical care or remission trajectories.
• Xylazine Toxicity (StatPearls 2023) provides information on toxicity and longer-term complications of repeated exposure but no mention of clinical care or remission / recovery focused strategies.

The same pattern is repeating with medetomidine. First detected in the street drug supply in 2021, it rapidly became common on our streets. The emerging literature focuses on severe withdrawal syndromes, emergency responses, and short-term clinical management in hospital settings. There is nearly zero meaningful exploration of recovery pathways or sustained outcomes in current literature. This narrow focus reinforces a societal narrative that recovery is rare possible but not probable, that the best we can offer is a bandage. That is neither scientifically justified nor ethically acceptable.

Link –

“What remains in diseases after the crisis is apt to produce relapses.” ― Hippocrates Our SUD evidence base tends to be myopic and crisis oriented. It is focused on first aid and short-term stabili…

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, January 27th. PRO-A will have Guest Karyn Stevenson talking about Substance Use Treatmen...
01/26/2026

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, January 27th. PRO-A will have Guest Karyn Stevenson talking about Substance Use Treatment Month and what she is seeing in the field of treatment and substance use.

To Register for The CALL: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkc-yqpzkuE9zK4qvzHhf1N8EVXyZ_wGIs?fbclid=IwAR2wdT_5LAH5UqYn7RMwtXrZBCM5N54slnSl3UVCgAYN5w-Q7PYAbrdvCvs #/registration

What is it: PRO-A the statewide recovery community organization holds statewide weekly ZOOM call to support Recovery Community Organizations and members of the recovery community and strengthen recovery focused efforts across Pennsylvania.

All in PA are welcome to participate on THE CALL. Our Goals:

To understand what is happening to you, your organizations and your local community right now.

To support our fragile care recovery care system and support for our communities across Pennsylvania.

To help support each other and seek solutions for caring for ourselves and our community members as we strengthen recovery capital at the individual, family and community levels.

PRO-A WORKS Project will be doing a 4-part training series with Keystone Contractors Association, available both in pers...
01/25/2026

PRO-A WORKS Project will be doing a 4-part training series with Keystone Contractors Association, available both in person—with lunch provided—or online. The first series of the training is this Wednesday, January 28th! All individuals affiliated with the trades industry or labor unions are invited to participate

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-2026-construction-seminar-series-building-a-stronger-workforce-tickets-1978280812163?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwY2xjawPXGyRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE2ZWNpY3lQM2lEUXhUNllvc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHhOrDLrKwbC7zF1BVtB4n8xruhXXVdS0cxjGCjFICZCtvQWLXukdTfKvtg_0_aem_bylnBn1-Ir-FP-VVP6m5ww

Construction is a tough industry and this monthly seminar series tackles the real mental health facing our workers.

Jim O’Connor: Federal policy ignores the most perilous weeks of addiction treatment - Guest Commentary 12/25/2025Federal...
01/22/2026

Jim O’Connor: Federal policy ignores the most perilous weeks of addiction treatment - Guest Commentary 12/25/2025

Federal policy is beginning to reflect these needs. Agencies are signaling support for recovery housing models that include clear participation expectations and drug and alcohol-free environments when clinically appropriate. Recovery community organizations and peer specialists are also gaining wider recognition as essential partners. Their ongoing guidance helps people stay engaged after treatment and provides continuity during the long process of rebuilding stability. Tens of thousands of people leave short-term residential addiction treatment programs each year in the United States, but the period immediately after discharge is where the system often breaks down. Many leave without income, transportation, a housing plan or reliable follow-up care, and the first weeks carry the highest risk of relapse or overdose.

Yet they have already shown commitment by completing treatment and engaging with clinical staff. Federal and state systems should meet that investment with a second stage of support that includes long-term recovery housing, peer guidance, practical skill-building and structured daily expectations. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is also placing more attention on transitional housing with structured services. Programs that combine case management, routine skill-building, preparation for steady employment and consistent daily structure help residents stabilize more effectively. Strong coordination with health providers and community recovery organizations creates a more reliable and connected system of care. Connections to workforce partners are another important part of the solution. Regular work gives people a routine they can count on and helps them keep moving forward in their recovery. A steady paycheck brings stability and lets residents handle more of their own responsibilities. Employers gain workers they can depend on, and the community benefits from a stronger, more consistent workforce.

Federal agencies are preparing new guidance on recovery housing, transitional housing and long-term recovery supports. The shift comes at a time when communities face growing pressure from rising addiction, repeat overdoses, and a widening gap between treatment and stable housing. Programs serving p...

Important Paper on an Operational Definition of Recovery Published by Dr John Kelly and William Stauffer Dr John Kelly a...
01/20/2026

Important Paper on an Operational Definition of Recovery Published by Dr John Kelly and William Stauffer

Dr John Kelly and William Stauffer have published an important journal article on moving towards a measurable definition of recovery. Utility or futility? Toward an operational definition of addiction ‘recovery’ was published in December 2025 in Addiction Research & Theory. It is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes interdisciplinary scholarship on the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological foundations of addiction science. It emphasizes critical analysis, theory development, and integrative perspectives that advance understanding of substance use, behavioral addictions, and recovery across clinical, social, and policy domains.

Kelly and Stauffer argue that addiction science has relied on inconsistent, imprecise, and often ideologically influenced definitions of “recovery,” which has constrained scientific progress and limited clinical and policy relevance. The article documents how recovery has been variously defined as abstinence, treatment completion, symptom reduction, or psychosocial functioning, producing conceptual ambiguity and preventing meaningful comparison across studies. Drawing on models from other chronic health conditions, the authors critique binary and static conceptions of recovery and show how poorly specified recovery constructs weaken outcome measurement, distort policy evaluations, and undermine system accountability.

The authors propose an operational, empirically grounded framework for defining recovery that emphasizes sustained remission, functional improvement, and durability over time. Rather than treating recovery as a single end-state, the framework conceptualizes it as a dynamic process that can be measured using explicit thresholds across multiple domains, including substance use, health, and functioning, and evaluated over clinically meaningful time horizons. Kelly and Stauffer contend that adopting such an operational definition would strengthen research coherence, enable valid comparisons across interventions, and better align scientific measurement with the lived experiences of individuals with substance use disorders, shifting the field from rhetorical debate toward testable, policy-relevant science.

Dr. John F. Kelly is an American psychologist and leading addiction researcher who serves as the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is the founder and director of the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles on addiction and recovery and has served as a consultant to major U.S. federal agencies as well as the World Health Organization and the United Nations.
William Stauffer is the Executive Director of PRO-A with nearly 40 years of practice experience. He is a nationally recognized writer focused on advancing recovery-oriented processes and policy-relevant approaches to substance use disorder recovery. He was the 2019 recipient of the American Honors Recovery - Recovery Advocacy Award, he has testified twice in front of the US Senate on matters related to recovery and is an adjunct Professor at Misericordia University.

Journal Article Utility or futility? Toward an operational definition of addiction ‘recovery’ Link -

The ‘recovery’ construct has received growing scrutiny over the past 20 years as individuals and organizations have tried to define what ‘recovery’ is, or should contain, as something distinct from...

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, January 20th. PRO-A's Nikki Weir will be discussing 'Dry January'.To Register for The CA...
01/19/2026

Join us on The CALL on Tuesday, January 20th. PRO-A's Nikki Weir will be discussing 'Dry January'.

To Register for The CALL: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkc-yqpzkuE9zK4qvzHhf1N8EVXyZ_wGIs?fbclid=IwAR2wdT_5LAH5UqYn7RMwtXrZBCM5N54slnSl3UVCgAYN5w-Q7PYAbrdvCvs #/registration

What is it: PRO-A the statewide recovery community organization holds statewide weekly ZOOM call to support Recovery Community Organizations and members of the recovery community and strengthen recovery focused efforts across Pennsylvania.

All in PA are welcome to participate on THE CALL. Our Goals:

To understand what is happening to you, your organizations and your local community right now.

To support our fragile care recovery care system and support for our communities across Pennsylvania.

To help support each other and seek solutions for caring for ourselves and our community members as we strengthen recovery capital at the individual, family and community levels.

Address

900 S Arlington Avenue Suite 254A
Harrisburg, PA
17109

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Our Story

The Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations - Alliance was formed in 1998 to bring together the recovery community of Pennsylvania. We are the statewide recovery community organization of Pennsylvania. Our Mission: To mobilize, educate and advocate to eliminate the stigma and discrimination toward those affected by alcohol and other substance use conditions; to ensure hope, health and justice for individuals, families and those in recovery.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recoverypeepz/

Website: http://pro-a.org/