Community Recovery Center - The goal of the Community Recovery Center (the Center) project is to increase access to evidence-based peer-run recovery support services for individuals who struggle with substance use disorders (SUDs) and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (CODs). The project will expand the Center from Strength In Peers’ Harrisonburg office to two satellite locations and triple the number of participants it can serve to 80 per year and 240 over three years. One will be a healthcare collaborative where the Center will be co-located with an acute care clinic, a behavioral health programs, and a medication assisted recovery provider. The other will be a new homeless shelter where the Center will be co-located with the Continuum of Care’s coordinated entry and two primary care providers. The project will serve residents of the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Harrisonburg is more racially and ethnically diverse and has higher rates of unemployment and poverty. Rockingham is largely rural, less diverse, and has pockets of poverty. Uninsurance is higher in both jurisdictions that the state average. The target area has higher rates of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine use than state averages, and higher rates of mental health disorders. The local behavioral health system is experiencing workforce shortages and limited capacity to meet the growing demand for services. Additional barriers to accessing services include transportation, cultural stigma, and distrust of the public behavioral health system. These are particularly prevalent among individuals who are unhoused, justice-involved, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+. Strength In Peers is a peer-run Recovery Community Organization (RCO). The Center will provide an alternative program for adults with SUDs and CODs, particularly those who face barriers to clinical treatment. The peer-run model is appropriate for the target population because RCOs often can engage individuals in recovery services who may otherwise refuse care at other facilities. They can meet people where they are by having more flexible policies that reduce barriers to engagement. They also can provide individuals longer-term recovery support instead of or after they complete clinical treatment. The project will achieve the following objectives: 1) launch two satellite Community Recovery Center programs at a new healthcare collaborative and homeless shelter; 2) enroll and serve at least 240 unduplicated individuals across the main Center location and two satellite sites through; 3) engage at least 80% of participants in four or more individual peer support sessions and engage at least 60% of participants in eight or more individual peer support sessions; 4) engage at least 80% of participants in three or more case management sessions and engage at least 60% of participants in six or more case management sessions; 5) connect at least 60% of participants to two or more of the following: substance use or mental health services, primary care services, Medicaid and public benefits, housing assistance or public housing programs, and employment; 6) provide at least three weekly peer-led support groups and workshops reaching at least 120 unduplicated participants; and 7) provide direct service staff at least bi-weekly individual supervision and at least quarterly training to enhance their peer support practice.
