Association of Vocational Rehabilitation in Alcoholism and Substance Abuse

AVRASA was established in January 1980 at a statewide DSAS (now OASAS) meeting held upstate at Grossinger's Hotel. A gathering of individuals casually got together to examine their shared worry about the absence of professional restoration activities in treatment. The general accord and worry amongst the gathering was that the treatment field was annulling its duty to help customers plan for societal re-entrance.The gathering's underlying objective was to examine the likelihood of shaping a focal association with objectives, goals and a mission. Six distinct names for the association were proposed however none of them were correct. Doris Jackson (Daytop Village) expressed that the gathering was a promoter for the use of professional recovery for substance abusers in treatment. The name AVRASA was picked and Lester Futernick (Odyssey House) was picked as director. Sylvia Maples (Project Return) was picked as First Vice Chairperson. The main AVRASA meeting was held at the Urban Coalition. Nine individuals went to. Inside six months, twenty-two individuals were speaking to a large number of the treatment programs. Inside two years, AVRASA was spoken to at national meetings and was a power in the treatment