Public Policy
Three factors are driving C4’s return to an active policy role in America: looming changes in the financial structure for treatment reimbursement, the sixth wave of the Opioid pandemic, and the massive sea change in American attitudes toward behavioral health and societal wellness.
From inception C4, and its predecessor COB, focused on system design and policy advocacy in the United States. Notable successes include the innovative New Jersey welfare-to-work treatment system.
Through ongoing dialogue with senior members of the British political establishment, we played a pivotal role in the design and creation of the National Treatment Agency (NTA) for the Blair Government. In addition, C4 saw many geographic areas of great need and initiated projects in the Caribbean, Middle East and the Levant.
Behavioral Wellness
Over the past 20 years, C4 has been the leader in delivering the best educational content to addiction treatment providers, policy makers, and other stakeholders concerned about the worldwide and ever-growing addiction crisis.
In the past 4 years C4 has expanded its expertise beyond addiction, to include a wider range of behavioral wellness issues which in many cases are the root cause for an individual’s substance abuse. Issues such as suicide, depression, trauma, homelessness and stigma are a key element in C4’s strength-based approach to health which includes the mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing of a person.
Pre-Arrest Deflection
In 2017 C4 became a founding partner in the Police Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTACC), a group known as the voice of Pre-Arrest Deflection. PTACC is an opensource collaborative with 54 national partners who work in the growing field of pre-arrest deflection. This work directly reflects C4’s core values, as PTACC seeks to address issues of racial disparity. As the field of deflection grows across the country the belief is that pre-arrest deflection should be practiced with equality, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.
Pre-arrest deflection is an alternative to traditional arrest for individuals with substance use and/or mental health disorders, as well as for low-risk offenders. Deflection allows an individual to avoid the collateral consequence’s that result from arrest and contact with the criminal justice system.
Collaborating
C4 knows that attracting and partnering with diverse groups that often did not work together requires that they operate as honest, neutral brokers for good. Over the years we’ve worked diligently to maintain this reputation. As an organization, C4 believes that all ethically correct viewpoints should be honored and included in discussion and dialogue. Our subsidiary C4 Consulting does this important work every day. Visit C4 Consulting by clicking here.
Advocacy
From our earliest days, we’ve focused on public sector populations marginalized by race and or socio-economic circumstances. C4’s mission and core values drive us to “do the most for those with the least” as well as advocate for adequate resources. C4 has always sought to bring together coalitions of the stigmatized to step out of the shadow and demand their rightful role in society, using the afflicted and affected to compassionately influence the comfortable and otherwise oblivious.
Convening Disparate Groups
Convening groups to work side-by-side to solve societal issues is part of C4’s DNA. We focus beyond bringing groups with a common mission to the table but seek those who typically do not see eye-to-eye. By convening disparate groups, such as police and community organizations, or treatment providers and public payors, solutions become broader and more sustainable. We see that when all voices are heard, real solutions emerge. C4 is dedicated to offering solutions and continuing progress.
Mentoring Emerging Leadership
C4 has deep concerns about the lack of emerging leadership in the behavioral health field. There is a void of young, talented, motivated leaders willing to be mentored. This largely ignored issue leads, sooner rather than later, to a crisis in every area of the behavioral health and social wellness universes. As such, we’ve launched many initiatives to create knowledge transfer and mentoring programs. Leadership in this area remains a primary focus of C4’s activities.
