CRSS Advocacy and Self-Determination 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CRSS is supporting someone who wants to appeal a denial of Medicaid-funded treatment services. What is the most direct first step?
- Help the person request an administrative appeal within the required timeframe (Correct answer)
- Advise the person to pay out of pocket
- Contact a local TV station
- Wait for the agency to reverse the decision on its own
Correct answer: Help the person request an administrative appeal within the required timeframe
Medicaid denials have formal administrative appeal processes with strict deadlines that must be followed to protect the individual's rights.
Question 2: Which concept reflects the belief that people in recovery are the experts on their own lives and recovery journeys?
- Clinical primacy
- Lived experience authority (Correct answer)
- Professional hierarchy
- Evidence-based mandate
Correct answer: Lived experience authority
Lived experience authority recognizes that people with first-hand recovery experience have unique and valid expertise about their own needs.
Question 3: A CRSS is advocating for a peer who was terminated from a recovery program for a relapse. Which argument is most aligned with recovery-oriented systems of care?
- Relapse is a moral failure and termination is appropriate
- Relapse is a common part of recovery and services should not end because of it (Correct answer)
- The program has absolute authority to set its own rules
- The peer should begin treatment again from the start without advocacy
Correct answer: Relapse is a common part of recovery and services should not end because of it
Recovery-oriented systems view relapse as a potential part of the recovery process, not grounds for punitive service termination.
Question 4: In the context of advocacy, what does 'Nothing About Us Without Us' mean?
- Peer specialists must approve all agency budgets
- People with lived experience must be included in decisions that affect them (Correct answer)
- Agencies should never consult outside experts
- Recovery support must be delivered without professional oversight
Correct answer: People with lived experience must be included in decisions that affect them
This disability rights slogan calls for meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience in policy, program design, and decisions affecting them.
Question 5: A recovery community organization (RCO) wants to build a recovery home in a neighborhood. Residents oppose it due to stigma. Which advocacy strategy is most appropriate?
- Sue the neighborhood residents individually
- Engage community education and dialogue to address stigma-based objections (Correct answer)
- Build the home without informing the community
- Abandon the project to avoid conflict
Correct answer: Engage community education and dialogue to address stigma-based objections
Community education addresses stigma at its root and builds broader support, which is the foundation of effective advocacy against NIMBYism.
Question 6: What is the purpose of a recovery-oriented Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) in relation to self-determination?
- It is a legal document mandating specific treatment
- It is a self-designed plan that empowers individuals to manage their own wellness and crises (Correct answer)
- It replaces the need for professional support
- It is created by clinicians on behalf of the individual
Correct answer: It is a self-designed plan that empowers individuals to manage their own wellness and crises
WRAP is a self-designed wellness tool that centers the individual's own choices, values, and strategies for maintaining recovery.
Question 7: A peer specialist is helping someone who feels their voice is never heard in treatment team meetings. What is the most empowering response?
- Attend the meetings and speak for the peer
- Role-play with the peer to practice assertive communication skills before the next meeting (Correct answer)
- Advise the peer to stop attending meetings
- File a complaint with the treatment team's supervisor without consulting the peer
Correct answer: Role-play with the peer to practice assertive communication skills before the next meeting
Role-playing builds the peer's confidence and assertiveness skills so they can represent themselves effectively.
CRSS Advocacy and Self-Determination 4
A CRSS is supporting someone who wants to appeal a denial of Medicaid-funded treatment services.
What is the most direct first step?