AHP Celebrates the Life of Niki Miller, 1957–2022

AHP mourns the loss of our dear friend and former colleague, Niki Miller. Niki was part of the AHP family for 11 years. She inspired us to fight for the needs of marginalized populations and people in recovery, challenge our beliefs and ideas about recovery treatment and services, and push for innovation and stronger advocacy. She continually educated us with her brilliant, encyclopedic mind and lived experience. Her fierce determination removed barriers to treatment in trauma-informed care and overdose prevention.

For more than a decade at AHP, Niki was a key provider of training and technical assistance to expand and improve prison and jail drug-treatment programs across the United States and its territories through the Bureau of Justice Assistance Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program. She authored the majority of RSAT’s training manuals, conducted numerous national webinars, and headlined annual RSAT conferences, championing the delivery of evidence-based treatment for one of this country’s most vulnerable, high-risk, and high-need populations.

Niki’s work addressing trauma, correctional reform, gender equity, and substance use disorders included founding and serving as the executive director of the New Hampshire Task Force on Women and Recovery. She was the recipient of the 2006 Women’s Recognition Award, presented by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, the recipient of the 2007 Susan B. Anthony award presented by the YWCA New Hampshire, and a professor at Springfield College. In addition, during her time as administrator of women offenders and family services for the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, she reformed the statewide response to the needs of women in the justice system.

Her prolific activism, extensive social work, and vigorous fight for justice leaves a resounding legacy that changed the lives of thousands of people in need and continues to affect change even after her passing. Niki’s generosity in her personal life was legendary, and the lives she touched will always hold treasured memories of her gracious selflessness. She believed in equality, intersectional equity, and human rights. She fought tirelessly for these values and was a modern revolutionary in every sense of the word.

Niki will never be forgotten. Her wit, authenticity, insight, compassion, and intellectualism will remain with us always.