Salisbury: $500,000 secured for peer advocacy program to aid recovery, reentry for people with substance use disorders
Rep. Abigail Salisbury December 11, 2025 | 4:12 PM
BRADDOCK, Dec. 11 – A $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will allow PA House District 34-based Passages to Recovery to relaunch a peer advocacy support program to help people in the justice system, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury announced today.
Salisbury, D-Allegheny, said peer advocacy programs can make a big difference in helping people with substance use disorders make a successful recovery and return to their community.
“Passages to Recovery has been helping people in our community rebuild their lives for more than 50 years,” Salisbury said. “With this new funding, they will be able to relaunch and staff a unique program that provides people in the justice system access to peer advocates – people who have lived similar experiences and can inspire and empower them. Having the support of a peer who has been on the same path and has overcome the same challenges provides an ally to trust, a touchstone to reality, and a source of critical information.”
Salisbury said the program will provide people in the justice system with individualized, trauma-informed peer recovery services that address barriers to recovery, including barriers to treatment, housing, employment, transportation and other social determinants of health.
In addition to the funding to Passages to Recovery, Salisbury said that a $200,000 grant to the county chief executive officer will fund improved detox protocols in jail intake and increase evidence-based therapeutic interventions for people receiving medications for opioid use disorder in the Allegheny County Jail.
The grants are part of a larger package of funding. Additional information about PCCD and funding to other Allegheny County organizations can be found here: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pccd