The proposed project, CHLA PYO TREAT Program (Preventing Youth Overdose: Treatment, Recovery, Education, Awareness, and Training No. TI-23-022), is a multi-level program designed to increase the target community’s understanding of SUD/OUD and related issues affecting youth and young adults (AYA) by delivering a series of specialized trainings that will address overdose prevention, fentanyl, and harm reduction practices to school personnel, parents/caregivers, youth, and healthcare workers and by increasing AYA access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services, including opioid use disorder and co-occurring disorder (COD) treatment and recovery services. The central/metro area of Los Angeles County (LAC) is the geographic target and is a densely populated and diverse community, marked by sharp disparities in income. LAC is the largest county in the United States, with a population greater than 10 million. The proposed program has a special focus on engaging Latinx, Indigenous and LGBTQ populations.
The goals of the project are: 1) increase school and community capacity to reduce high risk behaviors of adolescents and young adults that may contribute to substance use, including opioids, fentanyl, cannabis, and prescription medications and other substances of interest; 2) increase access to substance use disorder treatment and recovery services to adolescents and young adults, and 3) increase the capacity of healthcare workers to identify and address substance use in their adolescent and young adult patients.
If funded, CHLA will reach over 2700 individuals over the three years of the program through education and training, capacity building, and direct substance use treatment services. The program expects to reach 610 individuals in year 1 and 1108 each in years 2 and 3. The targets of these services will include school personnel, parents and caregivers, health care providers, students, and individuals seeking treatment. Services will be provided through parent/caregiver groups, town halls, community summits, school assemblies, professional education presentations, school clubs and leadership groups, and through individual treatment sessions.