Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee (SURSAC)
SURSAC was enacted through legislation in 2021 and codified in RCW 71.24.546. The committee includes a panel of individuals with lived experience, legislative representation, and subject matter expertise related to behavioral health community needs, harm reduction, outreach, treatment, and recovery support services. The committee provides policy recommendations to the legislature. View the roster.
Receive updates on SURSAC work and plan implementation.
SURSAC meetings and materials
How to offer public comment during meetings
- If you want to provide feedback during the meeting, mention this in the chat at the beginning of the meeting.
- There will be designated time for public feedback in the last 5-20 minutes of the meeting, depending on how many people want to share
- Each person will have three minutes to provide their feedback.
- Non-committee members will remain muted during the meeting until it is time for them to share feedback, if requested.
- Feedback that is not provided during the meeting can be submitted via email.
- For further information, please refer to our norms and expectations.
2025 meetings
If you are unable to attend an upcoming via Teams, you can watch the live recordings on TVW. Past meetings also have a recording via TVW.
| Date | How to join | Meeting materials |
|---|---|---|
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Safer supply work group June 13 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
HCA, Health Management Associates (HMA) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), will host a community meeting to present and discuss policy recommendations submitted by the Washington safer supply work group to the Washington state legislature. All are welcome - especially individuals and organizations involved in harm reduction, behavioral health, public safety, and community engagement. At the meeting, HMA will present the work group's final recommendations, provide education on safer supply programs and facilitate a live Q & A session. |
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July 7 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. | |
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August 4 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. | |
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September 8 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. | |
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October 6 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. | |
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November 3 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. | |
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December 8 9 to 11 a.m. |
Joins Teams meeting. |
Past meetings
- 2025
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Meeting Date Meeting materials SURSAC June 2 SSWG May 19 - HCA, Health Management Associates (HMA) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), hosted a community meeting to present and discuss policy recommendations submitted by the Washington safer supply work group to the Washington state legislature.
- View the meeting presentation (05/19/2025)
SURSAC May 5 SURSAC April 7 SSWG April 7 Community webinar on safer supply recommendations - HCA and Health Management Associates (HMA) hosted a webinar immediately following the April SURSAC meeting to present the findings and policy recommendations of the safer supply work group. The session included expert insights from Dr. Addie Palayew and featured robust community discussion on overdose prevention strategies and harm reduction models.
- View the webinar summary (04/07/2025)
- View the webinar recording (04/07/2025)
SURSAC March 3 SURSAC February 3 SURSAC January 6 - 2024
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Meeting Date Meeting materials SURSAC December 2 SURSAC November 4 SSWG October 3 SSWG September 23 SURSAC September 9 SSWG September 5 SURSAC August 5 SSWG August 1 SSWG July 11 SURSAC July 1 SSWG June 6 SURSAC June 3 SSWG May 23 SSWG May 9 SURSAC May 6 SSWG April 25 SSWG April 11 SURSAC April 1 SSWG March 28 SURSAC March 4 SURSAC February 5
SURSAC January 8
SURSAC recommendations
Since 2023, SURSAC has recommended several measures, many of which were adopted per 2E2SSB 5536, to help individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) access outreach, treatment, and recovery support services. These measures are intended to be:
- Low barrier.
- Person-centered.
- Informed by people with lived experience.
- Culturally and linguistically appropriate.
Plan recommendations
- Plan recommendation 1 (Recovery housing incentives and vouchers)
- Plan recommendation 2 (Legal advocacy)
- Plan recommendation 3 (LGBTQIA housing)
- Plan recommendation 4 (Training Foster Parents of Children with SUD)
- Plan recommendation 5 (Paraphernalia Law)
- Plan recommendation 6 (BHASO RNP data)
- Plan recommendation 7 (Health Hubs)
- Plan recommendation 8 (Education/Employment Support)
- Plan recommendation 9 (WRHL and asset mapping)
- Plan recommendation 10 (Diversion Referral programs)
- Plan recommendation 11 (Initial SUD Engagement and Measurement)
- Plan recommendation 12 (Stigma Reducing Outreach in Schools)
- Plan recommendation 13 (Data Infrastructure for Diversion, RNP, and Services)
- Plan recommendation 14 (Safe Supply workgroup)
- Plan recommendation 15 (Rural Access and Expansion of OTPs)
- Plan recommendation 16 (Recovery Housing Zoning)
- Plan recommendation 17 (Good Samaritan Law) This recommendation was deferred.
- Plan recommendation 18 (Continuum of Housing)
Safer Supply Work Group (SSWG)
The safer supply work group (SSWG) concluded its activities as of October 2024. In alignment with its statutory mandate, the work group completed a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape related to safer supply strategies. Preliminary recommendations were submitted to the governor and relevant legislative committees on December 1, 2023. The final report, incorporating the work group’s conclusive findings and recommendations, was delivered on December 1, 2024.
SSWG meeting schedule complete
The final meeting for SSWG was October 3, 2024. The schedule of meetings is now complete.