Full Name
Mr. Paul Kalchbrenner
Job Title
Public Health Advisor
Company
SAMHSA
Speaker Bio
Born in Chicago, Paul grew up in northern New Jersey. After struggling with addiction through adolescence, Paul went to treatment after his freshman year of college in 1987 at age 19 and began his recovery journey.
After returning to Gettysburg College Paul was fortunate to be part of an early collegiate recovery program where other students supported each other in their recovery process. Paul graduated and went to Vermont Law School, graduating in 1995 with a J.D. and Masters in Environmental Law and Policy. As part of that training, Paul moved to the Washington DC area during the summer of 1994 for an internship at EPA. He has never left.
Paul has 30 years of experience in Washington, including time spent in federal agencies, the US Senate, a national non-profit, and the private sector.
In 2015 Paul began the process of working to alter his career path to better combine his personal and professional experience. For several years Paul focused on helping local governments improve their response to the opioid/SUD epidemic. This includes working with numerous individual cities, national local government organizations, and non-profit organizations.
Paul joined SAMHSA in September 2021 as a Public Health Advisor in the Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy (OTAP), where he worked with Tribes and tribal health organizations improve and expand programs related to prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services with the goal of reducing fatal overdoses and improving lives.
In July of 2022 Paul joined the Office of Recovery (OR). Paul oversees legislative and regulatory affairs on behalf of the OR, and coordinates with the Office of Legislative Affairs to provide feedback to proposed legislation impacting recovery services. Paul also serves as liaison to OTAP and other tribal programs within SAMHSA, as well as Region VII Office in Kansas City, MO.
Within the OR Paul also works on a variety of projects and initiatives, including the SAMHSA-led Interagency Workgroup aimed and expanding and improving recovery housing, and a joint initiative with Region VII exploring how funds across multiple federal agencies can be combined to fund recovery supports. This final initiative has been coupled with a direct effort working with recovery support provides, State government, local government and others seeking to expand recovery supports in North St. Louis City.
Paul is very active in his home community of Arlington, VA where he serves on the Community Service Board of Arlington County and Chairs the Substance Use Disorder Committee. This is a volunteer position that involves working with County behavioral health staff to identify gaps, improve and expand programing, and educate local and state officials about the needs of the community. Arlington has been implementing a naloxone (Narcan) saturation program since coming out of Covid which has considerable success in reducing fatal overdoses. Paul lives with his wife, three children, and numerous pets in Arlington.
After returning to Gettysburg College Paul was fortunate to be part of an early collegiate recovery program where other students supported each other in their recovery process. Paul graduated and went to Vermont Law School, graduating in 1995 with a J.D. and Masters in Environmental Law and Policy. As part of that training, Paul moved to the Washington DC area during the summer of 1994 for an internship at EPA. He has never left.
Paul has 30 years of experience in Washington, including time spent in federal agencies, the US Senate, a national non-profit, and the private sector.
In 2015 Paul began the process of working to alter his career path to better combine his personal and professional experience. For several years Paul focused on helping local governments improve their response to the opioid/SUD epidemic. This includes working with numerous individual cities, national local government organizations, and non-profit organizations.
Paul joined SAMHSA in September 2021 as a Public Health Advisor in the Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy (OTAP), where he worked with Tribes and tribal health organizations improve and expand programs related to prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services with the goal of reducing fatal overdoses and improving lives.
In July of 2022 Paul joined the Office of Recovery (OR). Paul oversees legislative and regulatory affairs on behalf of the OR, and coordinates with the Office of Legislative Affairs to provide feedback to proposed legislation impacting recovery services. Paul also serves as liaison to OTAP and other tribal programs within SAMHSA, as well as Region VII Office in Kansas City, MO.
Within the OR Paul also works on a variety of projects and initiatives, including the SAMHSA-led Interagency Workgroup aimed and expanding and improving recovery housing, and a joint initiative with Region VII exploring how funds across multiple federal agencies can be combined to fund recovery supports. This final initiative has been coupled with a direct effort working with recovery support provides, State government, local government and others seeking to expand recovery supports in North St. Louis City.
Paul is very active in his home community of Arlington, VA where he serves on the Community Service Board of Arlington County and Chairs the Substance Use Disorder Committee. This is a volunteer position that involves working with County behavioral health staff to identify gaps, improve and expand programing, and educate local and state officials about the needs of the community. Arlington has been implementing a naloxone (Narcan) saturation program since coming out of Covid which has considerable success in reducing fatal overdoses. Paul lives with his wife, three children, and numerous pets in Arlington.
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