White House Celebrates Recovery Month with a Call to Action for More Recovery Friendly Workplaces

Ceremony Highlights the Trump Administration’s Support for Individuals in Recovery From Drug Addiction and Issues a Call to Action for Recovery Friendly Workplace Policies to Transform our National Workforce

Washington, DC – Today, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) hosted an event to celebrate National Recovery Month by recognizing recovery friendly workplace policies that support Americans recovering from addiction. Increasing the number of recovery friendly workplaces across the nation is a priority of President Trump’s National Drug Control Strategy, so that the 23 million Americans in treatment and recovery can find support in their employment.

The Trump Administration has taken a number of actions reaffirming its commitment to supporting individuals in recovery and helping them reintegrate with their families, communities, and workplaces. Adopting recovery friendly workplace policies strengthens the economy and benefits employers by increasing productivity, and reducing both turnover and health care costs. 

The ceremony was presided over by ONDCP Director Sara Carter and included remarks by Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of Labor; John Figueroa, Acting Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs; Alice Johnson, White House Pardon Czar; Lynne Patton, Deputy Assistant to President Trump; Kathryn Burgum, White House Senior Advisor for Addiction Recovery; Dr. Timothy Westlake, Chief of Staff of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and Steve Messah, Director of the Center for Faith at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

This event featured testimonies by individuals with lived experience of recovery in the workplace, recovery friendly workplace leaders, and employers who shared their experiences implementing recovery friendly workplace policies across the nation.

“Recovery friendly workplaces encourage those in recovery to courageously lead healthy and fulfilling lives,” said ONDCP Director Sara Carter. “This National Recovery Month, the Trump Administration renews its commitment to the more than 23 million Americans in recovery. By creating more economic opportunities for Americans in recovery to rebuild their lives after addiction, we help nurture the single most valuable resource in recovery—hope.”

“Thanks to President Trump’s economic agenda, trillions of dollars in new investment are flowing into our country and more Americans are working than ever before,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “To unleash our full economic potential, we need to connect employers with Americans who are ready to work and that includes millions of Americans in recovery. Through the Great American Recovery Initiative this Administration sees these men and women not only as Americans on the road to recovery, but as valued workers who can contribute to the economy President Trump is revitalizing.”

“As a formerly incarcerated woman, I’ve seen people overcome addiction on the inside only to get locked out of opportunity on the outside,” said White House Pardon Czar Alice Johnson. “Recovery takes courage. Second chances take opportunity.  Employers across America are already opening doors – and now is the time to open them wider, tap into overlooked talent, and help more people turn recovery into a life of purpose, possibility, and contribution.”

“As Executive Director of the Eric Trump Foundation and Vice President at the Trump Organization in 2013, the Trump family held an emotional intervention for me when I relapsed for cocaine addiction. It single-handedly saved my life,” said Lynne Patton, Deputy Assistant to the President. “Every American employee deserves the same unwavering support by their employer and your zip code or resume should not dictate that in 2026.”