Create Recovery-Ready Communities
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Brief Description
Introductory Paragraph
Substance Use Disorders (SUD) continue to be a leading cause of death, a leading correlate in violent crime, and a leading cause of lost productivity in the workplace. Recovery happens in communities and community-based resources have been shown to positively affect SUD impact and SUD recovery. By educating communities and creating continuity among support services, community-based services, and new innovations, such as recovery community organizations and other recovery support services, have provided recovery efforts and improved sustained recovery for individuals that live within the community.[1]
Recovery is not just a matter of individual treatment or individual approaches combined with peer group support. The whole community plays a role in supporting successful recovery. A community response to SUDs can provide social, economic support and have a health impact at a community level.
Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) provide coordinated community- based services that are person-centered and build and strengths and resilience of individuals, families, and communities.
Community Recovery is a voluntary process through which a community uses the assertive resolution of alcohol and other drug-related problems as a vehicle for collective healing, community renewal, and enhanced intergenerational resilience.
[2]
Key Information
Recovery-ready communities include internal and external resources that support and sustain recovery from SUD. Recovery Capital Is becoming a term Identified and linked to recovery-ready communities. Faces & Voices of Recovery [3]provides a breakdown of recovery capital and the roles of sustaining recovery.
1.Personal recovery capital. This includes an individual’s physical and human capital. Physical capital is the available resources to fulfil a person’s basic needs, like their health, healthcare, financial resources, clothing, food, safe and habitable shelter, and transportation. Human capital relates to a person’s abilities, skills, and knowledge, like problem-solving, education and credentials, self-esteem, the ability to navigate challenging situations and achieve goals, interpersonal skills, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.
2. Family/social recovery capital. These resources relate to intimate relationships with friends and family, relationships with people in recovery, and supportive partners. It also includes the availability of recovery-related social events
3. Community recovery capital. This includes attitudes, policies, and resources specifically related to helping individuals resolve substance use disorders. Community resources are vast.
They can include:
- Recovery activism and advocacy aimed at reducing stigma
- A full range of addiction treatment resources
- Peer-led support, such as mutual-aid meetings, that seek to meet the diverse needs of the community
- Recovery Community Organizations
- Recovery support institutions, educational-based recovery support such as recovery high schools, colleges, recovery housing, and recovery ministries and churches
- Visible and diverse local recovery role models
- Resources to sustain recovery and early intervention programs, like employee assistance programs, and drug courts
- Cultural capital. These resources resonate with individuals cultural and faith-based beliefs
Recovery-ready communities also encompass Individual, community, Institutional and policy level Involvement and collaboration. A community that Is recovery ready provides a continuum of care and support to those In recovery or seeking recovery support.
Key components of a recovery-ready community are adequate detox and treatment facilities, the ability to address all pathways to recovery, harm reduction, youth recovery, recovery housing, prevention, recovery community organizations, family support. criminal justice Involvement (police, court systems) special Interest populations (faith-based, LGBTQ).
Examples of Recovery Support Services:
Alternative Peer Groups: is a comprehensive adolescent recovery support model that integrates recovering peers and prosocial activities into evidence-based clinical practice. These are community-based peer support programs that act as a liaison between residential treatment programs, mental health professionals. Purpose Is positive peer support to maintain sobriety. [4]
Collegiate Recovery Support: Provides a supportive environment on campus to reduce the addiction cycle. Incudes educational resources and recovery support. [5]
Jail & Prison based recovery Support: Support programs and resources to assist Incarcerated Individuals or those Involved In the criminal justice system.
Peer Recovery Coaching: Non-clinical peer recovery coaches who appropriately bring their own experience to the table while helping others on their recovery journey.
Medication Assisted Recovery: Recovery Support Programs that Include medication assisted treatment.
Recovery Community Centers: A recovery-oriented hub In the community. Offers recovery and family support services. Peer operated and may Include coaching, education, peer-support, medication assisted treatment (MAT), employment resources, etc.
Recovery High Schools: Focus on academics and recovery. Positive peer pressure. [6]
Recovery Housing: Substance-free living environments that support Individuals In recovery from addiction.
Community Task Force
Addiction Is an ongoing epidemic and recovery-ready communities and community collaboration are key to providing community-based solutions.
CORE Task Force missions: prevention, early Intervention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support services.[7]
Advocacy
SAMHSA provides 10 concrete steps leaders can take for recovery-ready communities. [8]
- Bring people in recovery to the table early and often to create a shared vision of recovery.
- Identify leaders in the recovery community
- Identify recovery champions to support the effort and to be ambassadors for the cause.
- Launch community visioning.
- Assess community strengths. Where is recovery thriving?
- Conduct a community recovery capital assessment to identify areas where recovery support and recovery-friendly policies are most prevalent.
- Get creative and innovative.
- Encourage friends, family and colleagues to share their personal stories.
- Create recovery community centers that make recovery visible on Main Street.
- Celebrate recovery from addiction!
Relevant Research
In this section, please capture any recent findings, reports, or data on the topic. Please also highlight any gaps or existing disparities. Please include references and links to the information so that we may add a footnote for the reader to find further information. Do we have any available research about discriminatory practices? Is there information about the value of access to educational opportunities?
Impactful Federal, State, and Local Policies
Please list any federal, state, or local laws, policies, or regulations that support this topic or ones that could be a possible barrier. Are there laws or policies other states should know about and replicate for success?
Available Tools and Resources
Oftentimes, there are already great resources in the field that have been developed, but they are not housed in a single place. Please use this section to share information about those resources and drive the reader to that resource. It may be a worksheet, toolkit, fact sheet, framework/model, infographic, new technology, etc. I suggest no more than 5 really good links and a corresponding description for the reader. We also can use this section to highlight some of the great resources and programs at SAFE Project.
Promising Practices
Please link to any best practice models or case studies that highlight creative/innovative or successful efforts in support of this strategy. Is there a community that does a really good job in this area that other communities should replicate? Please write a brief description and provide a link.
Sources
- ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16066359.2019.1571191?journalCode=iart20
- ↑ https://peerrecoverynow.org/pdf/ppt_slides/CreatingRecovery-ReadyCommunityFINAL.pdf
- ↑ https://facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/blog/2019/10/08/recovery-capital-its-role-in-sustaining-recovery/
- ↑ http://www.aapg-recovery.com/
- ↑ https://collegiaterecovery.org/
- ↑ https://recoveryschools.org/
- ↑ https://cabhp.asu.edu/sites/default/files/session_14-_community_advocacy-_using_coordinated_response_to_create_recovery_ready_communities_-_angie_green_mariah_hile.pdf
- ↑ https://peerrecoverynow.org/pdf/ppt_slides/CreatingRecovery-ReadyCommunityFINAL.pdf#:~:text=Recovery%20Ready%20Communities%20Community%20Recovery%20is%20a%20voluntary,collective%20healing%2C%20community%20renewal%2C%20and%20enhanced%20intergenerational%20resilience.