Peer2Peer Recovery Coach Project will provide peer recovery and other supportive services to 165 individuals. - Steppingstone, Inc. (SS) is applying to SAMHSA’s TI-24-003 Building Communities of Recovery solicitation for $900,000 total to operate the proposed Peer2Peer Recovery Coach Project for a three-year grant term. The Recovery Coach Project (RCP) will increase access to effective peer recovery support services for individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (COD) or those in recovery from these disorders in New Bedford (NB), Massachusetts and surrounding communities (Dartmouth, Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, and Westport). The Project will serve 165 adult individuals (55 individuals annually) with SUDs or CODs over the three-year grant term, and target subpopulations will include Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), Hispanic/Latinx, and LGBTQ+ persons. The RCP is proposing various enhancements including improving outreach and engagement services, adding case management, incorporating education, strategies to reduce stigma, and recovery community building activities. The RCP will also collaborate with a variety of providers and community stakeholders to outreach and engage priority populations, which include BIPOC, Hispanics/Latinx, and LGBTQ+ persons and individuals with SUDs or CODs. RCP services include outreach and engagement, individual coaching and mentoring, peer-led support groups and activities, assessment of recovery capital, individual wellness planning, navigation support, employment coaching, and family support. SS is uniquely positioned to enhance infrastructure and improve effective RSS in NB by continuing to integrate Recovery Coaches into SS’s continuum of care, reduce stigma around addiction, expand outreach efforts, increase availability of workforce development and trainings for peer workers, and build a coordinated, recovery-oriented system of care in NB. The goals of the RCP are to: build infrastructure to mobilize and connect peer recovery support services to improve long-term recovery and other outcomes for persons with SUDs and CODs in Greater New Bedford, MA; reduce substance use and harm by providing peer recovery support services to individuals with SUDs or CODs; and promote other improved outcomes by supporting participants and connecting them with treatment, housing, and other recovery support services. The project will be centrally located and accessible. Project staff include a 1 FTE Project Director, 1 FTE Assistant Project Director (SAMHSA Title Project Coordinator), .25 FTE Evaluator, 3 FTE Recovery Coaches, 1 FTE Billing Coordinator, 1 FTE Outreach and Engagement Worker, and 1 FTE Recovery Support Navigator.
