DILLON WEST, LCDC, CCJP, was born in Chicago, Illinois, He moved to Houston Texas in 1984 after living in Texas for 26 years he considers himself a transplant Houstonian. Currently Dillon works as a Clinical Supervisor for an Inpatient Therapeutic Community Treatment Facility in the Criminal Justice system. He is also the program Director for Winner's Circle Peer Network Houston Chapter.
Dillon entered The field of Addiction by Divine Intervention; he was among the first graduates of the Texas Treatment Initiative program endorsed by the late Ann Richards (Governor of Texas), upon graduating he became a member of Winner's Circle Peer Network – a recovery support group. The Winner's Circle Peer Network is designed to assist formerly incarcerated individuals re-entering society. It also serves as a recovery vehicle for the community. One of the Winner's Circle primary focus is mentoring and coaching individuals re-entering from incarceration or treatment. Dillon has been going inside the Criminal Justice System and treatment facilities for 15 years mentoring individuals and provides recovery coaching as a continuum and care. He served as Chairman over the 20 Winners Circle Chapters across Texas for eight years and is involved in the National Winners Community which was modeled after the Winners Circles of Texas.
Providing peer to peer recovery models has been his passion. One of his favorite concepts is "In order to keep it, you must give it away". Dillon also has served as a trainer for the Therapeutic Community model treatment and is currently a Clinical Supervisor; his recovery coach skills currently serve both professionals and non-professionals in the communities.
PAT MALONE. As a business lawyer with a professional career spanning over thirty years in Austin, Texas, Pat has spent the last seven also volunteering as a trained Peer Support Specialist, sharing his recovery from alcoholism/chemical dependencies with co-occurring mental health problems in the hopes of helping others. Pat credits the recent creation of the Recovery Law Institute to the prolific writings of recovery movement author and historian, William “Bill” White, and to the guidance and support he received from the founders of Austin’s local peer support organization, Communities for Recovery, where his volunteerism in the recovery community began.
His recovery journey led Pat to put his expertise in law, business and government to better use by focusing his efforts on identifying systemic solutions for improving rates of recidivism and he aspires to help develop a model suitable for implementation throughout the state of Texas. In addition to working to launch the Austin Recovery Oriented System of Care Initiative, Pat currently serves as a task force member with the DSHS Texas Recovery Initiative and is one of the founding board members of Texas Recovers!, also serving as Board Secretary. Pat invites you to read more about his law practice by visiting www.malonelawaustin.com and more about recovery movement icon William “Bill” White by visiting www.williamwhitepapers.com. In the immortal words of Mr. White – Let’s Go Make Some History!
BEN GRAY BASS, Executive Director, El Paso Alliance, Inc. Ben Bass is the Executive Director of the Recovery Alliance of El Paso. Mr. Bass is in recovery and began at the Alliance as a volunteer. He has been director of the Alliance since May, 2002, and has led the management team in a successful membership drive, organizing and mobilizing the recovery community, community assessments, development and delivery of peer-based recovery support services and financial stability.
Mr. Bass is the administrator of the El Paso Alliance, Inc., a 501 [c] 3 corporation and produces federal reporting on GPRA, financials, quarterly reports and case studies. He is the chief executive of the corporation and is currently operating contracts with the State of Texas to deliver peer recovery support services for drug court offenders and probationers under Access To Recovery, and for the City of El Paso under the Homeless and Housing Services Program. The Alliance serves people with co-occurring disorders for CSAT under the Local ROSC program and develops and delivers peer support services under the Recovery Community Services Program.
The Alliance operates a peer run residential recovery facility that serves individuals exiting a detox hospital or homelessness and guides them into the recovery community through immersion in the culture of recovery.Mr. Bass is a Recovery Advocate in service to people seeking recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. He is the current vice president of the board of the El Paso Coalition for the Homeless; a member of the board of directors of Faces and Voices of Recovery in Washington, DC; is on the Advisory Board of the Gulf Coast Addiction Technology Transfer Center at the University of Texas at Austin; served as the director of the Recovery Coalition of El Paso; on the Social Service Advisory Board for Centro De Salud La Fe; is a current member of the Intergroup Committee of El Paso; served as the president of the board of El Paso Alliance; as a member of the board of the West Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; El Paso's Mayor's Blue Ribbon Panel To End Chronic Homelessness In 10 Years; and the Texas Department of State Health Service's Texas Recovery Initiative task force member. Mr. Bass has published in 2009 in Family Community Health Journal a paper called Faith Based Programs and Their Influence on Homelessness. Mr. Bass has led the development and execution of a five-point plan for sustainability for the corporation.
He is the sole employee of the board of directors and reports to them on a monthly basis. Prior to becoming director he was a board member. He has experience in advertising, marketing, technology, business planning and consulting and in the operation of a small business. Mr. Bass has lived in El Paso, Texas since 1963.
ROBERT S. MILES Current Licenses: as of July 1, 2010Board Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, ADC III # 8441-0989 (Expires 9/30/11) (since September 1989)Advanced Addiction Counselor, AAC # 1838 (Expires 12/01/12) (since November 2000)Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, LCDC #1843 (12/01/12) (since January 1992)Certified Compulsive Gambling Counselor, CCGC #0465-1293 (Expires 5/31/12) (since December 1993)Certified Prevention Specialist CPS #1227-1197 (Expires 11/30/11) (since November 1997)Texas Certified Tarrant County Adult Probation Officer (1992) retired 2000.Degrees:M.A, Counseling – Amberton University May 2002- Garland, TexasB.S. Abilene Christian College May 1961- Abilene, TexasAssociates Degree Pre-Law Arlington State College (now UTA) May 1959- Arlington, TexasArlington High School May 1957- Arlington, TexasHonors:Senator Harold Hughes Legislative Advocate Of The Year (1998-NAADAC Washington D.C.); Alcohol and Drug Counselor on the Year (1994 and 2002-Fort Worth Chapter of TAAP); State of Texas Alcohol and Drug Counselor of the Year (2002-TAAP); 2003 nominee for National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor of the Year (NAADAC); Texas Criminal Justice Adult Division Commendation for Outstanding Educator (1998-Texas Criminal Justice Dept.), Texas Teen Senator Paul Wellstone Legislative Advocate of the Year (2004), Grapevine Valley Treatment Center "Golden Heart Award " (2010), Sierra Tucson "Pillar of the Community" (2010). Professional:Currently:Texas Association Of Addiction Professionals (TAAP) –Legislative Chairman (15 Years) leading and Advocating for funding in Austin and Washington D.C. for funding for Treatment, Education and Prevention. Legislative Chairman for the Fort Worth Chapter of Texas Association Of Addiction Professionals.
Annual Metamorphosis Conference (Addiction Conference) Committee 23 years. State of Texas Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force 4 years. Curriculum advisory Board of Weatherford College -Weatherford, Texas , Tarrant County Community College-Fort Worth and Eastfield College-Dallas, Texas, Texas Youth Advocacy Board of Directors (8 years).Community:Director of the Arlington 4th of July Parade 7 years. (Parade 3rd largest in the USA) on the Board of Directors since 1995.Original member of the Arlington High School Alumni Band 7 years (play clarinet).
JOE POWELL LCDC, CAS Professional BiographyJoe Powell is a licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a Certified Acudetox Specialist who has treated people with addictions and co-occurring mental illness and substance use problems. He has 17 years of clinical experience, and is in his twentieth year of recovery from addiction and alcoholism. Mr. Powell currently works as Executive Director for the APAA – Association of Persons Affected by Addiction, an organization for individuals and families seeking or in recovery. APAA is funded by SAMHSA/CSAT.Joe Powell started the first African American NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) in Dallas, Southern Sector and is now, active board chairman. NAMI-DCAA serves families with loved ones that have mental illness. He is currently on the national Board of Directors for Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR)., The National Leadership Council (NLC) of Behavioral Health for African Americans, National Alliance of Multi-Ethnic Behavioral Health Association (NAMBHA) and was awarded the Prism Award by Dallas Mental Health Associated in Sept2004. He sat on the Co-occurring Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Report to Congress committee in Washington DC .in 2004 and on the Social Work/Substance Abuse Advisory Board at Eastfield College. He is originally from Harlem N.Y.C., from a family of seven brothers andone sister. Mr. Powell siblings also suffered from addictions; Four siblings have serious mental illness.
He now has been married for 18 years to his wife, Sylvia Kemp-Powell, (Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army) and has two sons, Max (19) and Tery (15).Affiliation, Awards and Certifications:Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, LCDC, since 1991Certified Acudetox Specialist, CAS, since 2000Mental Health Association (MHA) Prism Award 2004Mental Health of America Texas, Board of DirectorsTexas Association of Addiction ProfessionalsNational Alliance on Mental Illness Community Recognition Award (NAMI)Founder and Board Chairman for Dallas/NAMI-DCAA Southern Sector since 1998National Faces & Voices of Recovery, Board of DirectorsNational Alliance for Multi-Ethnic Behavioral Health Association (NAMBHA)National Leadership Council for Behavioral Health for African AmericansTexas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP)National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD)Recovery Month Planning Partner/SAMHSA/CSAT/APAADallas Katrina Task Force, Cultural Committee ChairpersonAddiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), Gulf Coast – National advisory Board
Tricia Hanson Sapp
Tricia currently serves as the Director of Texas Recovers! Tricia completed the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) first Recovery Coach Training of Trainers as part of her involvement with the Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) and Task Force member of the Texas Recovery Initiative (TRI) since 2010.
Tricia Hanson Sapp has worked in the addiction profession through the Criminal Justice System for over 28 years. She started as an Adult Probation Officer and spent 20 years managing and coordinating substance abuse programs for over 20 Criminal Courts. As a clinician and coordinator, she trained counselors, interns, and probation officers. She was responsible for the Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration Program, including drug education, screening, assessment and referral process for over 25,000 offenders. Tricia developed several grant programs including residential treatment aftercare and high risk youthful offender program; in addition she managed a Alcohol Recovery Center that served 2000 DWI offenders each month, and implemented specialized group therapy for victims of violence, sexual trauma, developmentally disabled, and co-occurring disorders.
Tricia has served on many boards and advisory councils including Board of Director for NAADAC, The National Association of Addiction Professionals, Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP), Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals (TCBAP), Texas Addiction Professionals Peer Assistance Network (TAPNET) , and Texas Teens for Legislative Change; Attorney Generals Task Force, Texas Recovery Initiative Task Force, Workforce Committee for Drug Demand Reduction Advisory Committee (DDRAC) and Coalition for Workforce Development. She has also been involved as a volunteer in the coordination of over 30 professional conferences for various groups including NAADAC, Safe City Commission, TAAP, and Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Tricia Hanson Sapp has extensive involvement with Texas Association of Addiction Professionals since 1999 serving as a State Board of Director and serving on the State Executive Board since 2004. As President of TAAP (2009-2011), her focus on goals resulted in a substantial increase in revenue, increased membership, development of the student committee, a close working relationship with the Department of State and Health Services and the Association of Substance Abuse Providers involving the Coalition for Workforce Development, along with the coordinating and chairing the largest legislative conference and historical legislative year for addiction professionals.
Tricia has actively worked with the National Association for Addiction Professionals, NAADAC, in many different capacities and committees for the past 6 years. In addition she has participated in each National Advocacy in Action Conferences held since 2002 and presented during NAADAC conferences. She has worked extensively on national and state advocacy issues for the addiction professionals and those that suffer from addiction. Her passion and leadership in the field of addiction has enabled state and national organizations working together towards legislative changes that help those suffering from the disease of addiction, as well as influence policy regarding issues that affect the addiction profession. She continues to build alliances and develop partnerships for advocacy to be truly effective. She believes we must continue efforts toward reducing the stigma of persons with addictive diseases, and educate our community, legislators and healthcare professionals about chemical dependency, the value of funding treatment, recovery support services, and the professionals who provide it.
