Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Impact - West Central Alabama AHEC (WCAAHEC), in partnership with a multi-sector consortium of healthcare, behavioral health, hospital, recovery, prevention, and community-based organizations, proposes to implement the Southwest Alabama Opioid Response (SAOR) Impact Project to expand coordinated, evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) prevention, treatment, recovery, supportive services, and workforce development across Butler, Covington, Escambia, and Greene Counties in rural Alabama. The project will improve access to integrated, person-centered services while strengthening care coordination, workforce capacity, and long-term sustainability. The target rural service area experiences significant substance use, overdose, behavioral health, workforce, and transportation challenges that limit timely access to care. The project will serve individuals with or at risk for SUD/OUD, with focused outreach to populations experiencing the greatest barriers to prevention, treatment, recovery, and supportive services. Direct services will include evidence-based prevention education, overdose prevention and naloxone education, screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment, behavioral health treatment, medications for opioid use disorder, peer recovery support, recovery planning, care coordination, healthcare coverage and benefits navigation, transportation coordination, resource navigation, and referrals to housing, employment, food, and other supportive services. Workforce development activities will include hiring, training, and deploying two Community Health Workers; supporting two 0.5 FTE Certified Recovery Support Specialist positions through People Engaged in Recovery; providing evidence-based training and professional development for healthcare, behavioral health, peer recovery, and community-based providers; and promoting behavioral health career pathways through WCAAHEC's health career pathway programs. The project will be implemented through a collaborative network led by WCAAHEC and including South Central Mental Health Center, Greene County Hospital, People Engaged in Recovery, and other community-based organizations. Together, consortium partners will strengthen prevention, treatment, recovery, supportive services, workforce capacity, and sustainable systems of care throughout the target rural service area.
