Clients consider the Cowichan Wellness and Recovery Centre a lifesaver

Agencies like the SHARE Center are beginning to hire peer support specialists, who are individuals who have lived experience of recovery from mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Peer support specialists provide non-clinical, strengths-based support and build trusting relationships with those in need of care. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for peer support specialists has grown exponentially and reports show that working with a peer support specialist can improve health outcomes and quality of life among other benefits.

The Sierra-Pacific Teen Challenge program supports people in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse with robust skills training, employment, on-site housing, and peer support. Of those who complete the program, about 85% remain clean and sober after 5 years.

Project Hope connects people at risk of dying by drug overdose into the care of Amber Richards, a former heroin user and an expert on recovery. Project Hope has helped hundreds of clients find help, from detox to housing and counseling, since the project’s start in 2018.

Chesterfield County, Virginia implemented a multi-faceted response to the opioid crisis, including a jail-based recovery program, Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (HARP), that brings people in recovery to the local jail to talk about addiction and treatment resources. Combined with other efforts, overdose deaths have dropped by half in a single year, and around 4,000 people have participated in HARP.

Health engagement hubs like Washington state’s Buprenorphine Pathways connect people with prescriptions for methadone and buprenorphine to help treat addiction. In addition to medication and a syringe-exchange program, the hub also connects patients to social services, taking a more holistic approach to addiction treatment.

Los Angeles County’s Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement (HOME) program uses street psychiatry to get psychiatric medication to people experiencing homelessness in an effort to get them a step closer to housing. The HOME team has 223 full-time staff members and served 1,919 people last year, 22% of whom ended the year housed.

CalAIM’s contingency management program gives people gift cards for not using drugs. For every negative drug test, patients receive gift cards, and the payouts increase after each test. Patients who test negative every time over six months can earn up to $599. The treatment style is based on the concept of reinforcement as an effective motivator. Studies suggest the excitement of getting a gift card mimics the dopamine rush from using drugs.

Project CARA (Care that Advocates Respect/Resilience/Recovery for All) supports pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorders, providing healthcare, addiction resources and obstetrics care in one spot. The program's hub-and-spokes model makes care more accessible, especially for those in remote areas. Data from the Project also indicates that participants of the program are more likely to attend prenatal and postpartum appointments than those outside of the program.

The Olympia Bupe Clinic's walk-in model for treating opioid addiction allows patients to receive medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine on their first visit without barriers or extensive wait times. This low-barrier approach eliminates the hurdles people often face when seeking treatment. The Clinic also hires staff with lived experience with addiction to build trust and community with patients.

Research has found that providing medications for opioid use disorder can help prevent overdoses after release from prison. The state’s Department of Adult Correction recently launched a pilot program to test this theory. 229 of the 287 participants received treatment, several of whom said the access to the medications helped save their lives.