The History of the
Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative
Governor Chris Sununu, RFW Press Conference
March 27, 2018, courtesy of https://www.recoveryfriendlyworkplace.com/
NATIONAL
Beginning in March 2018, New Hampshire’s Governor Chris Sununu led the Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative — in collaboration with Granite United Way — which was to promote individual wellness for employees by empowering workplaces to provide support for people recovering from substance use disorder.
New Hampshire continued to lead… bringing together an ever-increasing number of people and states that found value in the initiative and it grew into what is now over 25 states with active initiatives. Some states are statewide initiatives, some are county- or region-wide programs. These states and their representatives and participants have collaborated again and again, honing the benefits and abilities of the collective.
In 2022, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) convened the Federal Recovery “Ready” Workplace Interagency Workgroup and developed a Recovery Ready Toolkit, and the U.S. Department of Labor released a “Recovery-Ready Workplace Hub” where an implementation toolkit and a wide variety of support resources are available. In fall of 2023, it was announced that the Global Recovery Initiatives Foundation (GRI), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, would launch the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute, the first national public- and private-sector initiative to help equip every employer to be a “Recovery Friendly Workplace”.
Missoula, Montana (above) and Great Falls (below)
MONTANA
In 2019, Leah Fitch-Brody, a substance use prevention specialist with MIssoula Public Health, brought together a group of Missoula community members that originally included representatives from Job Service, Vocational Rehabilitation, Chamber of Commerce, the Human Resource Council, United Way of Missoula County and Allegiance Benefits. The goal of this group was to find ways to proactively address substance use in workplaces. As part of discussions and research about best practices and what approaches might already exist, Leah came across the Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) initiative.
We reached out to the folks in New Hampshire. Meetings were held, information shared, invitations to participate extended and by 2022, the “Substance Use in the Workplace” committee had decided to bring RFW to Missoula. But the committee realized that this was also an opportunity to bring the very successful initiative to Montana in general, as there was nothing in existence in the state.
Modeling the Montana initiative after New Hampshire, the Montana Recovery Friendly Workplace initiative was launched in Missoula in January 2023 under the umbrella and expertise of United Way of Missoula County. In 2024, the initiative began to expand to other communities and simultaneously moved to form it’s own non-profit, Recovery Friendly Montana. In 2025, RFW continues to expand across the state of Montana.
The Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative gives business owners the resources and support they need to foster a supportive environment that encourages the success of their employees in recovery as well as see bottom line results such as decreased absenteeism, turnover and healthcare costs.