New Priorities Family Services’ (NPFS) mission is to serve all who walk through our doors and, if the need is out of our scope of practice, work with community resources to provide services. We have community partners that allow us to serve clients. We provide many of our project’s needs, but with COVID are finding that some of the services were put aside or reduced. We have male and female mentors working half time. We could be more effective if we could hire full time mentors. With staffing shortages, our mentors are even more important than ever. We work on housing, job, transportation, community resources, relapse prevention and other needs identified on assessment. We supply Narcan, collaborate with medical providers for medication assisted treatment (MAT) needs. NPFS is a co-occurring outpatient program with capability to provide intensive outpatient services as needed. We are seeking to Increase our on-going services to clients, including assistance to clients coming out of incarceration and to work with the community to meet the imminent pressing needs. We need additional PSS staff and enhanced training to again provide services for up to a minimum of sixty days after a client completes addiction treatment or when they have left treatment as noncompliant. This allows the mentors to contact and/or meet with the client even if they were not successful, with the hope that the client and peer's relationship will lead to healthier decisions. This also allows the mentors to work on housing, job search or other needs of the client. When we had financial assistance in the past for this service there were times when we were able to bring relapsed clients back into treatment.
We need grant funds to provide for further certification of our mentors and PSS staff and provide training for all staff in cultural sensitivity, trauma, Cognitive Behavioral Interventions as well as training requested by staff and mentors to meet certification or additional specialties. Employees who are well trained in these areas, and can gain certification, are more likely to feel valued and stay longer with NPFS. A better trained staff will lead to more positive outcomes for clients served.
2020-2024 Regional Health Improvement Plan Priority Area
Substance and Alcohol Misuse
Future State Measure
Services for Newly Diagnosed Individuals with Drug or Alcohol Dependence and Mental and Substance Abuse Emergency
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- This project is funded through the 2020-2024 Regional Health Improvement Plan's Substance and Alcohol Misuse: Prevention and Treatment workgroup.
- The project received $60,000 in funding and is implemented by New Priorities Family Services.
- Learn more about the importance of the measures from the Substance and Alcohol Misuse: Prevention and Treatment priority area.
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- Increase staff hours of peer support specialists (PSS) and recovery mentors.
- Provide services to incarcerated clients and clients not currently in treatment to reduce recidivism and/or relapse of alcohol/drugs.
- Incentive funds will be available for clients to participate in community activities and for reaching treatment goals and attendance.
- NPFS will participate in ongoing training.
- Increase substance use disorder (SUD) and Mental health counselors to meet the needs of potential clients seeking services.
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We work with the community adult and juvenile corrections and probation officers to assist recently incarcerated clients transition back into the community. Mentors would visit clients in jail and when COVID protocols restricted this, we would buy telephone minutes and interact with the client via tele-health while incarcerated. Before grant funding ran out, we were following up with clients after they left the program to try to ensure there was no relapse. We were also able to continue mentoring services for those not engaged in treatment. This often led to the client returning to treatment and/or attending 12 step meetings, developing resources such as housing; jobs; clean, healthy activities and support. Staff and mentors work with engaged clients to help them with housing, jobs, and community resources. Mentors have also attended court hearings and appointments as requested by the client. Many of our clients are involved with DHS. Mentors provide transportation for child visits and help locate childcare for parents while in treatment. NPFS wants to continue providing gift cards for our clients that come to the office hungry and cold. Our project provides incentives to clients for attendance, community involvement, treatment goals, etc. Our mentors and staff contact clients while they are in inpatient treatment and/or incarcerated. This grant would provide funds to continue offering phone cards, allowing mentor contact after the outpatient treatment has been completed or if the client is noncompliant with his/her treatment program. Many outpatient and most inpatient programs don't provide services to the sex offender. Our mentors provide support, acceptance, and sometimes the only reliable contact the offender has. Often, he or she is homeless, jobless, and actively using alcohol/drugs. Community contracts often have certain evidence-based curriculum which we must use but has a high price for staff training. Due to turnover in staff, we have a training need for SUD counselors and peer support. The grant would free up some funds to train counselors which would include cultural, gender and identity training. We are seeking to Increase on-going services and to work with the community to meet the imminent pressing needs. -
By June 1, 2022, one male and one female PSS/recovery mentor will be moved to full-time.
PSS/mentors will have made attempts to contact a minimum of 35 incarcerated clients/ SUD clients that have completed treatment or not engaged in treatment to provide support in ongoing recovery by December 31, 2022.
50 clients will have participated in community activities and/or received awards for participation, attendance and/or completion of treatment by January 31, 2023.
100% of counseling staff will be trained in evidence-based curriculum, counseling interventions, and trauma, and participate in cultural, diversity sensitivity, crisis response training by January 31, 2023.
Counseling staff will be increased by two mental health and one SUD counselor by July 1, 2022.
A Progress Report will be available in December 2022
A Year One Report will be available in February 2024
Outcomes will be shared under “What We’re Learning” after February 2024