Purpose and Scope of the Meeting As part of its ongoing effort to encourage the faith community to address the problem of chemical dependence and its harmful impact on children and families, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) con- tracted with the Johnson Institute (JI) and the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) to conduct an explor- atory meeting of experts to consider the training of religious leaders about these issues. The meeting took place on Novem- ber14-15 in Baltimore, Maryland. Partici- pants agreed that the pervasiveness of alcoholism and other drug addiction in our society, and their deleterious effects, point to a need for clergy equipped to deal with the issue. They also agreed that community- based religious institutions are ideally situated to help chemically dependent individuals and their families. And yet they acknowledged that a wall of silence still surrounds the problem, with the result that individuals and families too often do not seek help.

This meeting was a first step of a larger project, the goal of which is to develop educational strategies tailored to the particu- lar situations of priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and other individuals responsible for the religious nurture of individuals.

Assessment of Clergy Training on Addiction and the Family

Participants reported that the offerings of clergy training institutions in the United States and Canada vary greatly, with some institutions providing little specific instruc- tion on addiction, while others offer com- plete curricula on the subject. However, they agreed that existing programs deal primarily with the disease in individuals, with little or no training on helping children and other family members. Several participants ex- pressed the opinion that the environment in seminaries today is not conducive to ex- panding the offerings in this field. They called for a process of “curricular subver- sion,” using faculty members with a commit- ment to the subject as change agents.

Core Competencies and Curriculum Development

Given the diversity of faith-based organiza- tions, participants agreed that a multi-level set of “core competencies” should be devel- oped; that is, a listing of the basic knowl- edge and skills clergy need to help addicted individuals and their families, categorized according to the different opportunities of clergy in different situations. As a prelimi- nary step in developing these core compe- tencies, participants attempted to identify the elements of knowledge and skills that should be imparted in each of the most common “tracks” or categories of seminary instruction: (1) generalist, pastoral (2) specialist, professional master’s degree, and(3) youth and children’s religious educa- tion. They listed educational tools and resource guides that should be available for each curriculum category.

The panel recommended that the Clergy Training and Curriculum Development project be carried forward, and suggested steps that should be taken in order to do so.

Recommendations for Next Steps

The steps the panel recommended are only provisional, because at each step new knowledge will be obtained which may suggest a modified plan. The next recom- mended steps are:

Phase II – Core Competencies

a. Convene a consensus panel of experts in seminary training on issues of addiction and the family, to develop the broad outlines of a set of “core competencies” for the clergy who will deal with these issues.

b. Develop the set of “core competencies,” with input from additional individuals and from relevant professional organiza- tions (e.g., organizations of pastoral counselors and addiction prevention and treatment professionals).

Phase III – Information Dissemination

Phase IV – Development of Curricula/Tools

a. Develop model curricula for the pastoral, addiction counseling, and youth ministry tracks.

b. Develop tools for such curricula; for example, lists of resources, videos, PowerPoint presentations, and fact sheets.

c. Develop plans to distribute the curricula and tools.

Phase V – Integration of Training into Seminary Programs

a. Create a mechanism for integrating training on these issues into seminary programs, so that clergy will be enabled to acquire the knowledge and skills implicit in the core competencies. Such a mechanism can take many forms, but might include:

1. For each major denomination, identify a “Mentor” to spearhead the project within that denomination. This individual would be an expert in addiction studies or pastoral care who could guide seminary professors in their efforts to develop or imple- ment programs and courses. For large or decentralized denomina- tions, several regional mentors might be chosen.

2. Identify a “Fellow” in each of the 185 seminaries throughout the country— a professor who would be respon- sible for the program and who would teach the courses. This person would be assisted, counseled, and guided by the “Mentor” in 1) above.

b. Investigate potential funding sources, including potential public-private part- nerships to sustain this phase of clergy development.

Phase VI – Post Ordination

Develop workshops, conferences or sympo- sia to train clergy who are already ordained, on addiction-related issues for the person and family, especially the children. In many denominations this phase of clergy develop- ment could be coordinated by the Fellows and Mentors above. In other situations local addiction counselors and other knowledge- able trainers could be utilized to implement this phase.