Connecting Communities to Substance Use Services: Practical Tools for First Responders

Recovery support services to individuals and/or their families may include peer recovery coaching, care coordination, childcare, transportation, sober housing, and other supports. The Center provides training and technical assistance (e.g., recovery community organizations) to support the implementation of best practices.

Harm Reduction focuses on decreasing the risk and severity of harmful consequences arising from the use of alcohol and other drugs without necessarily decreasing the level of use. The Center provides resources and consultation (e.g., syringe service programs, recovery community organizations, treatment organizations, prevention professionals) to support the use of approaches that reduce negative physical, emotional, and social consequences.

Treatment for alcohol and other drugs includes an array of services depending on the diagnosis and needs of a person including outpatient counseling, intensive outpatient services, partial hospitalization, residential services as well as medication. The Center provides training and technical assistance (e.g., treatment organizations, independent clinicians, policy makers) to support the implementation of best practices.

Early Intervention is a form of prevention that focuses on individuals at high risk of developing problematic substance use. Early intervention strategies are often employed when minimal but detectable signs of substance misuse are present to prevent escalation of the problem behavior.

Our targeted consultation services provide effective, multidimensional expertise to federal, state, and local government agencies, along with health care and community organizations. With more than 10 years of experience in the field, we employ methods and approaches to discover and recommend practical solutions that work in real-world settings.

We offer technical assistance that supports organizations to make better use of their resources. We draw on implementation science principles and evidence-based quality improvement strategies to guide organizations through system-wide change in support of improved client, patient, and community-level outcomes.

We provide skills-based training programs. Our training programs are developed based on the goals of our partners. Our participant-centered training employs multiple modalities and media formats for the greatest possible impact. Our training programs range from one-day small group sessions to multiple-day large group conferences for more than 500 people. For online training options, we can organize small groups or national webinars open to large audiences.