Strengthening Your Community Coalition

Introductory Paragraph

Creating a community coalition is one of the most effective ways to solve complex systems-level problems. Applying a multi-sectoral approach to coalition-building is at the core of generating a local movement. A coalition is simply a group of individuals and organizations with a common interest who agree to see the problem through each other’s eyes and work together toward a common goal. The more sectors, such as law enforcement, health departments, and school systems, are involved, the more "eyes are on the ball" -- and the more that effective communication skills are required. A coalition concentrates a community’s focus on a particular problem, creates alliances among those who might not normally work together, and keeps the community’s approach consistent. This page provides an overview on how to use a multi-sectoral approach, based on the experiences of communities across the country.

Key Information

Why Start A Coalition? The substance use disorder epidemic (SUD) is a complex problem requiring a highly coordinated and cooperative response from communities. The increase in non-fatal and fatal overdoses in recent years has caused many communities to realize that individual organizations cannot afford to work in silos. Communities addressing a crisis as large as the addiction epidemic will be poised for success if they have a unified strategy and a focus on broader common community goals, rather than on singular programmatic goals. There is clear understanding that partners across sectors must align and work together to develop and implement effective strategies to improve their collective response to the SUD epidemic. Communities, both large and small, can develop solutions that work for all of those touched by the opioid and addiction crisis, by bringing together and working with a broad range of stakeholders. Many local communities have successfully assembled coalitions to improve their response to the SUD epidemic. There is no one-size-fits-all set of practices for creating an effective coalition. The suggestions that follow are based on the experiences of many communities and are meant to serve as a guide for those looking to form a new coalition or expand and improve upon one that already exists.

Who Can Start A Coalition? Anyone can. Coalitions and task forces are often started by locally elected leaders, public health departments, public safety agencies, community organizations, or even passionate individuals engaged in the fight to save lives and reduce harm created by drug misuse and SUD. Typically, coalitions are formed as a response to increased rates of overdose and overdose deaths. Regardless of who takes the initiative, it is important to be inclusive and identify stakeholders whose ultimate goals align. Get started by looking around the community and determining if there are similar existing efforts in which to get involved or add value. It’s important not to duplicate efforts. Is there a mechanism or coalition body already taking a comprehensive approach to addiction that can be leveraged?

Potential Partners and Their Roles. There are many potential partners who can be invited to join the coalition and improve the community response to SUD. The following list is not intended to be all-inclusive, and it is not a requirement to have all of these agencies at the table. These are suggestions based on the types of partners which are most often brought together. It is important to establish a team of optimal size and with sufficient authority to plan and implement ideas and strategies effectively and efficiently. Does the team include leaders with the perceived power and authority in the community to make decisions and drive the implementation of new strategies? Does it include individuals who are trusted in the community and have connections to people and neighborhoods who can support grassroots efforts? Any or all of the following partners in the coalition can engage the broad community to build momentum:

Government/Public Sector:

• Locally elected officials
• State/local drug prevention office
• Public safety officers/officials
• First responders, including EMS and Fire Departments
• Health department
• School administration or school board
• Criminal judges and court professionals

Law Enforcement:

• Police and/or sheriff
• High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) office
• Drug Enforcement Agency (agency in charge)
• School Resource Officers (SRO's)
• Criminal judges, court professionals, and correction officers

Education Leaders:

• School district leadership
• School principals
• Teachers
• Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and other youth-serving organizations
• Colleges, universities, institutions of higher education, community colleges, and trade or technical schools

Community Leaders:

• Lions Club, Rotary, Elks, veteran’s groups
• YMCA, 4H, Boys & Girls Clubs
• Family support groups and recovery allies
• Youth and young adults including youth sports programs
• Faith community
• Housing providers

Business Leaders:

• Chamber of Commerce
• Employers
• Union leaders
• Local philanthropic organizations

Medical Community:

• Primary care physicians
• Nurse practitioners
• Emergency room doctors and staff administration
• Dental professionals
• Community behavioral healthcare providers
• Pharmacists
• Providers of health plans and insurance

Treatment and Recovery:

• Treatment professionals
• Substance use disorder counselors
• Harm reduction organizations
• Recovery support organizations

Community Members with Lived Experience:

• Persons in recovery and active substance users
• Family and friends of those in active use or recovery
• Families of those lost to overdose

As the coalition progresses, the needs of the coalition will change over time. Usually, the composition of the coalition will change as well. There are many examples where organizations may need to expand services or take on new roles to address the SUD epidemic, especially in underserved areas of the community. This might include:

• Police working with peer recovery specialists/coaches in cases of overdose
• Community organizations taking on prevention/education/training roles
• Hospitals coordinating with area treatment providers to help overdose patients

Do new roles need to be taken on by government agencies and/or community groups? If so, who and what new roles would be helpful? Who should the coalition include to create new or expanded partnerships in the region? Ideally, what role(s) would they take on?

Initial Outreach. Getting the desired partners to the table is not always easy. Although there are a number of ways to contact these groups, in-person and direct contact is always preferable. Several types of resistance may need to be addressed. Some organizations are not naturally inclined to work with other agencies. For example, the harm reduction and law enforcement communities are not always natural allies in some communities. However, some very powerful work can be done when these two groups do come together and see the problem through each other’s lenses. Some organizations might not want to get involved because of their own perception of capacity (this is more work for me) or stigma (this is not my problem). It may be necessary to expend considerable effort to convince these groups that it is in the entire community’s interest to reverse the epidemic and that everyone has a contribution to make.

It is important to build trust from the outset. Some common advice heard from those who have been through the process of bringing together a coalition include:

• Honor the Work that has Been Done. Everyone fighting this epidemic is doing their best and should always be recognized for their efforts.
• Initiate. It does not matter how many community leaders attend first meeting. It could be five or as many as twenty. The important thing is to find people who are willing to work together to thoughtfully and comprehensively address a specific problem. Although the topic that brings all of the stakeholders together is difficult, it is the coalition leader’s job to bring energy and optimism to the movement. Because solutions might look different to each of the stakeholders, defining the common problem precisely is essential. A primary initiation goal should be to agree upon a meeting rhythm in which the coalition frequently gathers to review progress, update its plan, and share success stories.
• No Judgement. The rise of the current epidemic has been created by a series of events outside of any local jurisdiction. It is not the fault of local governments and community leaders fighting the epidemic.
• Common Goals. As part of initial discussions, it is important to talk about what all partners typically have in common - the desire to save lives and reduce suffering. While partners will vary in the approaches they use, and which they may feel are more effective, all involved want to see the same end result. It is important to focus on what the partners share in terms of outcomes they want to see and to allocate time to discuss how greater collaboration will benefit the efforts of all involved.

Impactful Federal, State, and Local Policies

Drug Free Communities (DFC) There are hundreds of local substance use prevention coalitions that have participated in the DFC Program. Funding by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) provides up to $125,000 per year for five years to local community coalitions to apply evidence-informed strategies. Applicants are required to prove a degree of working towards multi-sectoral collaboration in the submission of letters of intent documenting various types of agencies during the implementation of the grant.

Available Tools and Resources

SAMHSA promotes implementation of a systems approach in the advancement of recovery-oriented systems of care (ROSC). It has published "Engaging community coalitions to decrease opioid overdose deaths: Practice Guide 2023."

Faith communities can support strategies to address substance misuse and support recovery in their community. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith groups can be a valuable bridge to the community. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a dedicated Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives with an accessible online toolkit containing ideas to help engage your spiritual community, educate and build community capacity, and respond to the opioid health crisis. Other resources include:

• The Opioid Epidemic Practical Toolkit: Helping Faith and Community Leaders Bring Hope and Healing to Our Communities.
• One Body Collaboratives
• Meet the Need, a software package which can help engage and equip churches to participate in their communities.

Harm-reduction organizations are nonprofit groups that advocate for public access to Naloxone, needle exchanges, and in some cases safe-use zones. They promote Good Samaritan laws protecting users from arrest if they call 911 to save a friend. In many communities, harm-reduction and law enforcement are polarized. Law enforcement personnel are often perceived as thinking only about arresting and jailing people for the illegal possession of drugs, while harm reduction organizations are perceived as focused on the complete legalization of all drugs. While each group certainly applies a different approach, both of these perceptions are false. Ensuring that law enforcement and harm-reduction organizations are coordinating and collaborating is absolutely essential in the fight to end the opioid fatality epidemic. Harm-reduction coalitions have been essential in convincing law enforcement agencies to enact pre-arrest diversion programs. These programs provide low-level users the opportunity to seek treatment in lieu of facing charges or arrest. Law enforcement also must be at the table when harm-reduction organizations are planning new initiatives or programs.

• The Law Enforcement Action Partnership has compiled harm-reduction strategies supported by law enforcement professionals. Its list is useful in starting the conversation between these two communities, which are both focused on saving lives.

Promising Practices

National Efforts: There are many national coalitions and organizations that provide useful information and resources for local coalitions. These national groups are widely varied and numerous. Therefore, it is important to research these organizations so local coalitions can verify that their goals and priorities are aligned with any national organization they choose to become involved with. A few examples follow, but there are many more at the national and even regional level.

• Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) CADCA is the premier membership-based non-profit organization representing adult and youth coalition leaders throughout the United States and internationally - all working to make their communities safe, healthy, and drug-free. CADCA's model for community change represents a comprehensive, evidence-based, multi-sector approach to reduce underage and binge drinking, tobacco, illicit drugs, and the abuse of medicines.

• Coalition to Optimize the Management of Pain Associated with Surgery (COMPAS) Mission: To educate all those involved in pain management decisions about acute pain management strategies that minimize the need for opioids. COMPAS also provides education on how to implement multimodal analgesic strategies and how to measure success for patients and hospitals alike.

• Fed Up! Coalition to End the Opioid Epidemic A grassroots coalition seeking action from the federal government to bring this public health crisis to an end. Fed Up’s mission is to use united voices in a call for immediate, comprehensive and sustained federal action to end the opioid addiction epidemic.

An Exemplary State Effort:

New Jersey There are nearly 400 Municipal Alliances in New Jersey -- all organized to provide substance use prevention education services. Each alliance focuses on its community’s particular needs and may include:

• parenting workshops to enhance parent’s ability to assist their children to live a healthy and drug free lifestyle,
• peer leadership programs to train students to develop leadership skills and goal oriented behaviors and to be role models and helpers to other students,
• drug awareness events that offer families and community members drug-free activities while providing information about substance abuse and community-wide prevention programs, and
• collaboration with the Division of Senior Services to provide education on potential consequences of medicinal interactions with other medicines, over-the-counter drugs, or alcohol.

An Exemplary Local Effort:

• Dayton, Maryland -- Community Overdose Action Team (COAT) Dayton provides an example of a highly structured coalition. Their organizational chart details this structure and summarizes the role of each component within the COAT. Other local coalitions might not be as complex or highly structured, but this example helps to provide ideas of what could be considered.