Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Impact - Community Clinic (CC), a federally qualified health center (FQHC), proposes the Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma Recovery, Intervention, Support, and Education (NWA & NEOK RISE) initiative to strengthen the rural substance use disorder (SUD) continuum of care across HRSA-designated rural communities in Benton, Carroll, and Madison Counties, Arkansas, and Delaware County, Oklahoma. Building upon Community Clinic's successful RCORP Opioid Overdose Response FY2025 implementation, Benton and Delaware County established Stakeholder Leadership Teams (SLTs), comprehensive regional needs assessments, and extensive community engagement, NWA & NEOK RISE will expand evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, workforce development, and systems coordination to address opioid use disorder (OUD), methamphetamine use, polysubstance use, co-occurring behavioral health conditions, and the social barriers that limit access to care. The initiative is guided by four integrated goals aligned with the HRSA RCORP-Impact program: (1) expand direct SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services; (2) strengthen supportive services and care coordination; (3) build and sustain a skilled rural SUD workforce; and (4) strengthen network engagement, data systems, continuous quality improvement (CQI), and long-term sustainability. Activities include universal SUD and behavioral health screening, expansion of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), peer recovery support, transportation assistance, insurance navigation, overdose prevention and naloxone distribution, workforce education, closed-loop referral systems, community engagement, and shared data dashboards supported by Lean Six Sigma, DMAIC, Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, and Community-Based Participatory Research and Participatory Evaluation approaches. Over the four-year project period, NWA & NEOK RISE will implement a phased strategy to launch, expand, optimize, and institutionalize an integrated rural SUD network. The initiative will complete approximately 40,000 universal screenings, enroll 600 individuals in evidence-based treatment, provide MOUD to 200 participants, provide Peer Recovery Support Services to 800 individuals with 400 individualized recovery plans, distribute approximately 4,000 naloxone kits, strengthen referral pathways, increase access to supportive services, train hundreds of healthcare providers, first responders, and community members, and use ongoing monitoring and CQI to improve outcomes and strengthen long-term sustainability. NWA & NEOK RISE will be implemented through 15 project sites across four rural counties in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Community Clinic will serve as the backbone organization, providing project leadership, integrated primary care and behavioral health services, MOUD, peer recovery support, care coordination, and network management. Boston Mountain Rural Health Center will expand rural primary care, behavioral health, MOUD, and peer recovery services in Carroll and Madison Counties. Grand Mental Health will strengthen behavioral health, crisis response, addiction treatment, MOUD, and peer recovery services throughout Delaware County. House of Hope will provide residential treatment and recovery support for individuals transitioning back into the community. End Overdose will lead regional overdose prevention, naloxone distribution, youth prevention, and workforce education, while Love Just Works will provide implementation support, monitoring and evaluation, Community-Based Participatory Research and Participatory Evaluation, continuous quality improvement, dashboard development, and sustainability planning. Together, these partners create a coordinated regional network capable of improving access to evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, and supportive services while establishing a sustainable, replicable model for rural communities affected by substance use disorders.
