Georgia HB 584
Georgia Victories
Georgia HB 584
New legislation in the State of Georgia will transition oversight and authority over multiple recovery and mental health facilities to the DBHDD.
This legislation will go into Law on January 1, 2026.
Georgia HB 657
Georgia Victories
Georgia HB 584
Introduced February 2026, this bill aims to amend Georgia's mental health laws to establish comprehensive guidelines for recovery community organizations (RCO) and certified peer specialists in substance use and mental health recovery by defining quality care requirements and designating a statewide RCO to coordinate services.
Georgia Victories
Georgia Victories
Georgia Victories
Though the new House Bills are a victory towards progression in Georgias recovery and behavioral health system,
it is a Pyrrhic Victory.
- One that came at too great a cost.
The damage is not only already done but also must be acknowledged with full accountability and courage rather than cowardice.
If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.
the problem
Peers and advocates in recovery communities are working together to resolve this critically unaddressed and under reported issue of repeated predatory behavior in recovery community organizations (RCO's) in the state of Georgia.
These programs are intended to support not, leave peers vulnerable to abuse. Predatory behavior or “13th-stepping” happens when experienced members, staff or leadership resort to tactics such as, but not limited to manipulation, gaslighting, love bombing, excessive admiration, coercion, blame shifting, sexual exploitation, brainwashing, mental, physical, religious/spiritual or emotional abuse to maintain power or control of a peer.
Not only are many peers uneducated on what predatory behavior is or how to report it, but many do not due to fear, shame, guilt, embarrassment, cognitive dissonance, retaliation and more.
Individuals who are new to recovery are often in the most broken and vulnerable time of their lives. This is why individuals exhibiting predatory behavior should not have access to peers in recovery.
Even trained peer specialists can become perpetrators or fail to report misconduct. Too many survivors remain silent, unaware of their rights, uninformed on how to report misconduct and experience trauma in unsafe recovery programs.
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
The solutions
- Create more safe, trauma-informed recovery spaces for women and children.
- Provide peers in every recovery program with a sufficient onboarding process to gain knowledge of the code of ethics, peer rights and how to safely report misconduct
- Educate & empower peers with trainings on what should and should not be allowed in spaces of vulnerable individuals in recovery.
- Establish an easy access submission link and hotline for safe reporting in every RCO in the state of Georgia.
- Mandate accountability from peer support specialists, program leaders, program affiliates, organizations and agencies on a local, state and federal level that exhibit or enable predatory behavior.
- Mandate that all recovery programs in the state of Georgia visibly display the code of ethics.
- Mandate that all recovery and behavioral health programs, organizations and agencies in the state of Georgia adhere to a quarterly survey of review by peers and staff to be submitted to SAMHSA, as well as establish public review submissions for every RCO in Georgia.
- Amend all recovery certification programs to include predatory behavior analysis of a peer support specialist, facilitator or program associate. Seize predatory and victim blaming rhetoric in certified peer support training manuals and training. As of March 2026, these amendments do not exist in the statewide CPS Project or Peer Support Certification training manuals, certification trainings or annual mandated peer ethics trainings.
- Provide spaces of support and healing for peers that have experienced recovery program abuse and exploitation, as well as the children of survivors - inclusive of trauma informed therapy (Specifically CPTSD & EMDR) and alternative support and compensation for the psychological, emotional, physical and financial damage; paid for by the state of Georgia.
- Immediate revocation of certification(s) of any peer specialist, facilitator, affiliate or program leader exhibiting predatory behavior of any kind and immediate removal from one's position, seizing access to vulnerable peers in recovery.
- Seize local, state, and federal funding (taxpayer dollars) to recovery programs exhibiting predatory behavior, causing harm to vulnerable peers in recovery.
- Push for policy and legislation that ensures recovery community organizations are held fully accountable for ethical violations to remain safe, and secure for generations to come.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Report Recovery Program Abuse
Click below to report abuse or misconduct in your area. You may submit anonymously for your comfort. This is a global issue. Anyone with a story is welcome to submit their experience.
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
If you are experiencing a crisis, please contact 988 or visit 988lifeline.org
Get involved
Join the Cause
Click below to become an advocate. Stand in solidarity with those in need of a voice and those in need of critical support.
Recovery abuse workshop
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Why This Matters
Recovery is not limited to substance use or mental health challenges. People from all walks of life seek healing. And every single one of them deserves safety.
Recovery spaces should be places of hope, not hunting grounds for predators. The damage of recovery program abuse is deep, lasting, complex and unacceptable.
Georgia proudly promotes the motto “Recovery Out Loud.” But when it comes to addressing misconduct, abuse and exploitation peers are pressured to suffer in silence. That contradiction must end.
We will no longer remain silent about abuse or the enabling of abuse. Peers deserve better. Predators do not deserve to prey in peace.
Don’t praise us for being brave enough to tell our recovery stories out loud, then expect us to be cowards and keep this part of our journey a secret.
We will speak out — about all of our recovery — because somebodies got to do it!
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
No one should have to recover from their recovery.
Resources on predatory behavior in the system of recovery.
13th Step PodcastThe 13th Step FilmPsychology Today: Women & RecoverySexual Assault of Women in Recovery - AtlantaHuman Trafficking in Drug Resource Center - PhillyUnderstanding 13th Stepping: UKRehabs: A Cautionary TaleRecovery Reform AbolitionistDeprogram AA: Sobriety BestieRecovery Rebellion: Burn the Stigma'sAuthenticity of Recovery SMEverything you need to know
#nomoresilence
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