Welcome to the 12th issue of the New England ATTC Newsletter! The goals of this newsletter are to share Regional Best Practices with regard to training and technical assistance (TA) initiatives, provide updates on regional strategic initiatives and curriculum development, and facilitate ongoing collaboration among state partners and programs. Please click here to view our collaborators over the prior reporting period.

In response to an identified regional need, the New England ATTC created and offered a new training product for all six New England states called "SAMHSA’s National Outcome Measures Service Tool: Collecting Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Race/Ethnicity Demographic Information in a Culturally Humble and Sensitive Approach," led by subject matter expert David Zelaya.

From April to June 2023, the New England ATTC held the 9th cohort of our highly popular intensive TA Leadership Development Program (LDP) for addiction professionals from across the continuum of care in partnership with AdCare Educational Institute of New England and the New England PTTC. The 9th cohort engaged 24 aspiring or current leaders across all 6 of the New England states.

53rd Annual New England School of Addiction and Prevention Studies

The New England ATTC has served as a proud regional workforce development partner for The New England School of Addiction and Prevention Studies, commonly called Summer School for over 30 years. This year, the New England ATTC hosted a number of plenary sessions and specialized courses focused on treatment and recovery support services to address specific needs of the regional workforce including (but not limited to): (1) Multiple Pathways of Recovery: Our Individual and Collective Roles and Responsibilities; (2) Foundations of Motivational Interviewing; (3) Behavioral Health and Spirituality for Wellness and Wellbeing; and (4) Contingency Management.

Learning Communities in Motivational Interviewing

The New England ATTC, in partnership with the Health Education & Training Institute (HETI), has conducted approximately 193 hours of targeted TA in MI for external organizations such as the Maine Behavioral Healthcare, Milestone Recovery, New Hampshire Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors Association, Recovery Vermont, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) in Rhode Island, CCBHC in MA, Co-Occurring Collaborative Serving Maine, MA Department of Mental Health, and Gateway Healthcare. The New England ATTC and HETI also offered approximately 172 hours of in-house workshops for participants who work in the field of addiction in the New England area.

Incentives on a Dime For Recovery and Drug Court Teams (NEARCP)

The New England ATTC, and the New England Association of Recovery Court Professionals (NEARCP), recently hosted a new webinar in our series of basic/universal TA for criminal justice professionals titled “Incentives on a Dime”. This 1.5-hour session first focused on the science supporting the use of incentives and then took a deep dive into the creation, implementation, and delivery of incentives. Participants were provided with detailed handouts, a fully customized toolkit, and an array of new incentive-based skills.

Access these webinar resources.

Incorporating an Intersectionality Framework to Understand the Impact of Racism and Heterosexism on the Health Disparities Encountered by LGBTQ+ People of Color



The New England ATTC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Director, Dr. David Zelaya, presented this opening plenary session, at the New England School of Best Practices. This interactive presentation offered an overview of tools to help behavioral health professionals understand how systems of oppression such as racism and heterosexism create unique health disparities encountered by LGBTQ+ People of Color.

Download the plenary slides. 

Recovery Science & Harm Reduction Reading Group is an interdisciplinary reading group that meets to discuss recent journal articles on topics related to recovery science and/or harm reduction. We meet the third Thursday of each month from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET. We hope to have the next Reading Group meeting in early 2024.

To access prior reading group summaries and to learn about upcoming events, click the images below or visit our website: https://sites.brown.edu/recoveryharmrdx/

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Haner Hernandez, PhD, CPS, CADCII, LADCI

HealtheKnowledge.org

New England ATTC

November 2023