Capacity Building

Project Name: SUD Youth Specialty Credential

Description: CCAPP is the largest statewide consortium of community-based for-profit and nonprofit substance use disorder treatment agencies and addiction-focused professionals, providing services to over 100,000 California residents annually. CCAPP is the only statewide consortium representing all modalities of SUD treatment programs and professionals, which includes adolescents. CCAPP is proud to trailblaze a new specialty credential for existing SUD counselors to be recognized for youth and adolescent competency. Adolescents will hold a platform on the implementation of this education and share their voice, directly influencing CCAPP’s new youth credential. By educating existing counselors, CCAPP will empower them to reach their communities with confidence knowing their credential matches the incredible work they do for their community. The next generation deserves a fighting chance against SUD; this new specialty credential will match our needs to improve our communities indefinitely.

Primary Contact:

Name: Stephanie Borkovec
Position: Public Relations
Phone: (714) 269-0304
Email: communications@ccapp.us,

Agency Web Site: https://ccapp.us

Partner Agency: Santa Cruz County Office of Education, SafeRx Santa Cruz County

Project Name: SafeRx Youth Care Integration

YOR II Project Description: SafeRx Santa Cruz County, an opioid and substance use prevention and safety coalition, and Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s Schools Integrated Behavioral Health Initiative (SIBHI) partnered to develop and expand Santa Cruz County capacity to overcome barriers to youth treatment and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) access. Youth treatment needs, driven by information collected from key informants, was integrated into coalition meetings and projects, including material creation, MAT expansion, and naloxone distribution. This project increased awareness among youth, families, and school staff about existing treatment options, as well as working to identify and fill gaps. There were increased interagency connections through networking and enrollment in a new county-wide closed loop social service referral system.   

Project Name: Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) SUD Learning Collaborative

YOR III Project Description: SafeRx Santa Cruz County (SafeRx) is a multi-sector substance safety coalition dedicated to aligning best practices around overdose prevention. SafeRx is housed under the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County, a non-profit coalition of 26 local public and private healthcare organizations.

SafeRx seeks to address access, capacity and knowledge gaps related to MAT for youth (ages 12-24) within the Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey Tri-County region through developing an Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) SUD Learning Collaborative. Key partners include Santa Cruz Community Health clinics and the Central Coast Overdose Prevention Coalition consisting of champion MAT providers, clinical staff, youth, and youth-serving organizations convening to strategize improved MAT access for youth. 

The Goals of AYA:

1. Elevate the lived experiences of youth around SUDs
2. Expand Tri-County youth MAT provider networks
3. Highlight and share best practices around MAT for youth
4. Host expert speakers, facilitate peer learning and review case studies

Primary Contacts:

Name: Suzette Reuschel-DiVirgilio 
Position: Behavioral Health Programs Director
Email: srdivirgilio@hipscc.org

Name: Rita Hewitt
Position: Behavioral Health Program Manager
Agency: Health Improvement Partnership
Email: rita@hipscc.org

Website: https://hipscc.org/saferx 

Project Name: LLUEM YOR3 Capacity

Our primary goal is to expand services for youth misusing opioids and/or stimulants by adapting successful models already in place for adults. Capacity grant funding will help:

1. Offer resources and access for the target population with Opioid and/or Stimulant Use Disorder within the Pediatric ED by establishing effective pathways to support youth services and community collaborations.

2. Partnering with Substance Use Navigators and Community Health Workers to facilitate expert services to decrease potential for repeat overdoses and possible death.

3. Identify efficient training of substance use treatment modalities to health care professionals, educational programs, and community outreach in our region.

4. Enhance involvement with Behavioral Medicine Center Addiction Medicine specialists to arrange outpatient resources. The goal for this is to expand capacity to navigate patients to appropriate treatment. This will allow the ED to be a welcoming environment for patients with behavioral health challenges and increased quality of care.

Primary Contact:

Name: Sharmin Kalam, MD
Email: skalam@llu.edu
Phone: (909) 558-4000 x81510

Project Name: Kaweah Health YOR Capacity Building

Partners: Lindsay Unified School District and The Source LGBTQ+ Center

Project Description: Kaweah Health (KH) has made a commitment to offering youth behavioral health care, with a Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit in Visalia and a Rural Psychiatry Clinic in Lindsay, both opening in 2023. In addition, KH offers a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship through its Graduate Medical Education program.

But more is needed to provide local youth with the treatment they need, and none of our staff is trained in adolescent addiction treatment. Through this project, we plan to train providers and look for barriers to treatment for some of our most vulnerable populations: rural poor and LGBTQ+ populations. Partnering with Lindsay Unified School District and The Source LGBTQ+ Center, we will explore ways to remove barriers to treatment, while working to better educate our staff on youth addiction, with the ultimate goal of creating a referral process and coordinator position that will help youth navigate the process.

Primary Contact:

Name: Dr. Cory Jaques
Position: Program Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Phone: 559-625-7494
Email: cjaque@kaweahhealth.org

Website: https://www.kaweahhealth.org/locations/kaweah-health-lindsay-clinic/

Project Name: Youth Organization and Community Outreach

Description:  The Youth Drug & Addiction Education Initiative partners with local youth organizations to raise awareness of the fentanyl crisis and how one pill can kill. We share facts about how fentanyl has contaminated the illicit drug supply chain fueling accidental overdose deaths.  We provide toolkits that include educational materials and referral information on how to access treatment programs.  Our science and facts-based program introduces the brain’s reward system concept to help youth understand how addiction develops in the brain and the effects of drugs on vital organs to allow them to develop their own perspective on drugs using the knowledge they acquired from the program as a foundation.  We encourage open dialogues about drugs in youth programs and families to remove the stigma associated with substance use and treatment programs. 

Primary Contact:

Name: Cari Lee
Position: Interim Program Director
Email: caril@ydaei.org
Phone: 650-302-4970

Agency Web Site: https://www.ydaei.org/        

Project Name: LIGHTHOUSE Program

Partner Agencies:  Atascadero Unified School District

Project Description: LIGHTHOUSE is about disaster and rescue, chaos and peace. Its purpose is to provide safety, protection, and recovery through support and services. Through a partnership with the Atascadero Unified School District, LIGHTHOUSE provides programs of awareness, prevention, education and intervention in the areas of drug and alcohol abuse. LIGHTHOUSE provides education, mentoring, counseling, healthy activities, scholarships, and opportunities for our school-aged youth and beyond.  LIGHTHOUSE provides support for the families and friends of addicted and at-risk youth.

This grant supported the development of  a collaborative plan with which identified strategic directions for service improvement and the elimination of identified barriers. As a result, the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation, LIGHTHOUSE Program is better poised to continue services for our youth. As a result, we now

• have better alignment and involvement with our stakeholders.
• are better suited to apply for additional grants from multiple areas and agencies.
• have a done a comprehensive review of our programs.
• have identified better ways to communicate with and reach our targeted youth.
• have ensured that programs are implementing evidenced-based programs with fidelity; and
• are a stronger organization, better aligned, and more connected to our stakeholders and target population.

Primary Contact:

Name:  DJ Pittenger
Position:  Director, Strategic Planning
Agency:  Atascadero Greyhound Foundation
Email:  pittengerdj@gmail.com
Phone: (805) 400-0046

Websites: 

• www.atascaderogreyhoundfoundation.org
• www.lighthouseatascadero.org

Summary: Atascadero Greyhound Foundation Project