An evolving role for colleges: Training former substance abusers to be part of treatment teams

Back on My Feet helps people experiencing homelessness and substance use through the power of exercise, specifically running. Participants have ran more than 950,000 miles and 70% of them have found employment and housing. Moreover, participating in the group helps people in need find a sense of community and build a support system.

In Baltimore, a non-profit known as the Next One Up program is helping young men who are struggling in school by supporting and advancing their academic, athletic, and social development through small group activities. Although small, the highly-individualized program – which "focuses on students who have attendance issues, have experienced trauma, or need food, clothing, or parental support" – meets every Sunday for class and homework help, followed by a sport of their choice. All who have participated so far have graduated high school on time.

The Fulton Community Supervision Center in Missouri provides trauma-informed, gender-specific care and services to women who face the risk of recidivism. Participants live at the center, where they receive services like cognitive behavioral therapy and classes that teach coping mechanisms and personal and professional development. Core to much of the programming is helping women find their self worth.

Merging accountability with treatment promotes recovery for those charged with drug possession. In Franklin County, Ohio, the municipal court system operates a program called Helping Achieve Recovery Together. The court recovery program provides a two-year track for participants to receive mental health support from peers and the courts, with the goal of moving them from the criminal justice system and into treatment.

The hub-and-spoke model allows local partners to provide individuals with access to resources earmarked specifically for opioid addiction treatment. The system of care, which uses regional clinics and non-profits as access points to treatment, has already proven effective in Vermont. Currently, a similar program is assisting individuals suffering from opioid addiction receive the help they need through entry points at nonprofits like The Doorway office at Harbor Homes.

Medication-Assisted Recovery Anonymous is a new 12-step group for people in recovery while taking prescribed methadone or suboxone. While many Narcotics Anonymous chapters stigmatize or dismiss people in medication-assisted recovery, MARA provides a place for community and peer support.

Anchor Recovery is a government-funded program that hires former opioid users to reach out to addicts. They’re called “recovery coaches.” The idea is to use their former experiences with addiction as a source of connection with opioid addicts. So far, the program has helped an estimated 400 people get treatment. “I have been in this room. I have been in your position. I know exactly how you feel at this moment.”

A church in Philadelphia is adept at ministering to those coming out of incarceration and drug use because its two pastors come from that very same world. They hold members accountable, which could mean a required stint in rehab before folks can use the various services of the church like housing, food and help with employment. As a result the recidivism rate of members is about five percent, far lower that the state-wide rate.

More lives are being touched by sorrow as the opioid crisis continues to escalate. For mothers of addicts, recovered addicts, and addicts themselves, programs like Pathways to Housing and Prevention Point are bringing together this community in a effort to heal.

A program in Philadelphia works with formerly incarcerated women for an intensive 10-week period where they focus on life skills and changing thought patterns. Women get support and mentoring to examine how they wound up in prison, such as addressing past abuse that undermined their self-esteem. They go through a formal graduation program and learn ways to face challenges as they work to change their lives.