
10/06/2025
Congratulations to Joanne Montgomery!
We are so incredibly proud to celebrate Joanne Montgomery LCSW, LADC, Chief Clinical Officer at Liberation Programs, for receiving the prestigious Nyswander/Dole “Marie” Award at the 2025 American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) Conference.
For more than 30 years, Joanne has been a trailblazer in expanding access to evidence-based care and improving outcomes for individuals living with substance use disorders. She was the first in Connecticut to implement methadone treatment in recovery housing, residential programs, drug courts, and jails, and helped design the state’s first op**te agonist treatment protocol to ensure seamless care from detox to treatment.
Her groundbreaking “treatment-on-demand” model revolutionized access to medication-assisted treatment, reducing wait times from several weeks to just 90 minutes, earning national recognition from SAMHSA and DMHAS. Joanne also led the expansion of the MAT Wellness Van throughout Fairfield County, bringing life-saving care directly to underserved communities, and continues to champion integrated approaches linking addiction treatment, recovery supports, and HIV services.
Please join us in congratulating Joanne for this well-deserved national recognition of her compassion, innovation, and leadership in the field of addiction treatment and recovery.
We 💙 you, Joanne!