Did you know that Virginia has one of the strongest Collegiate Recovery Program networks in the country? With the support of SOR funding, universities across Virginia are working to change recovery-hostile campus cultures with Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRP), which are on-campus communities specialized for students in recovery. Check out this blog post to learn more about this exciting work!
GPRA Refresher Training!
An abbreviated GPRA Refresher Training will be held on Wednesday, Jan 27, 2021 at 11am ET. Please register here. This is an abbreviated 1.5 hour training.
Come to this training if you are already familiar with the GPRA, but want a refresher on GPRA administration, the process of tracking clients for follow-up, and a re-cap of new elements for the SOR II grant period. If you have questions about whether this is a good fit for you, reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org.
Register for Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Correctional Settings Conference Jan 26-28
Register to attend Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in Correctional Settings: Moving to Implementation on January 26-28, 2021, hosted by the SAMHSA-funded Opioid Response Network, Brown University School of Public Health, and Justice System Partners. This free, interactive, virtual convening of states and local jurisdictions will focus on practical solutions to help jurisdictions implement medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in corrections.
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2021- Thursday, January 28, 2021
Time: 12:00 - 5:00 pm ET
Location: Zoom -- Registration can be completed here and includes a few questions to help inform the convening sessions and ensure the content meets the needs of participants and the jurisdictions they represent.
Who should attend?
In addition to those who participated in the January 2020 conference, new participants are welcomed and encouraged to attend! This event is appropriate for facility administrators, security supervisors, medical administrators and other DOC staff interested in learning more about implementing MOUD. We also welcome probation and parole administrators and managers, line staff who oversee specialized caseloads, and community-based behavioral health providers.
CEU's will be offered through the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC).
CME's will be offered pending approval. There will be more details to follow.
Day one will feature learning opportunities with leading behavioral health and corrections experts and workshops designed to meet jurisdictions where they are at in the implementation process.
Day two site teams will work independently to draft an action-oriented workplan. There will be opportunities to engage directly with technical assistance providers if sites would like additional support.
Day three will include additional learning opportunities for sites in the context of their workplan. This may include cross-site presentations and peer feedback.
If you have questions please contact: Christina Sansone at 312.375.0522 or christina@justicesystempartners.org, or Mary Rosa at mary_rosa@alumni.brown.edu.
Reminder: OMNI Offices Closed from December 24-January 3
Greetings! This is to remind you that OMNI will be officially closed from December 24th through January 3rd, reopening on Monday, January 4th.
Our entire team be unavailable for project-related support during the closure dates. Any emails or voice mail messages will be reviewed and responded to as soon as possible starting January 4th. GPRA online surveys and all resources on our website will still be available during this time.
Please note: you will not receive any updated tracking sheets in your Dropbox folder during the week of December 28-January 1. This will resume starting the week of January 4th.
Let the OMNI Team know if you have any questions about our closure or anticipate any concerns. Though our official closure is from the 24th to the 3rd, please try to wrap up TA requests by Monday, December 21st so we can get you the info you need before our closure.
Wishing you a happy and healthy end of 2020 and a bright start to 2021!
SOR Support Team
Quick Reference Guide on Treatment vs Recovery Budget Items
A Big “Happy Holidays” to all you SOR Grant stakeholders out there!!! I hope your 2020 is……
Well……it is what it is.
Onto more pleasant topics. Patrick, Mike and I are always trying to come up with little ways to make life simpler and easier for our grant recipients.
A query we often get from CSB management compiling funding requests is “does this item fall under treatment or recovery?” It’s an important question since SOR funding utilization is separated into three different “pots” of money:* treatment, recovery and prevention (which is managed by the Office of Behavioral Health and Wellness). In reporting to SAMHSA, accurately tracking treatment spending and recovery spending is vital. That’s why we’ll occasionally come back to you and say “do you mind moving these budget items under the correct headings?
To keep everyone on the same page with what goes where, we have (well, actually OMNI has) created this handy dandy guide.
Take a look!
So, if in developing a SOR funding request, you find yourself pondering what items go under which heading, don’t fret. Just check the guide.
If you have any questions, or a budget item that doesn’t seem to fit into any of these, of course you’re welcome to email, call or text us to get clarity.
*Not literal pots of money. We do not have vessels of cash sitting around.
SOR II Quarterly Treatment and Recovery Reporting Surveys: Instruction Guide & Website Page
We are writing to share important updates related to the SOR II Quarterly Treatment and Recovery Reporting Surveys. We have created a resource page dedicated to the SOR II Quarterly Treatment and Recovery Reporting Surveys. Quarterly Survey information will be posted throughout the year on this resource page. This page includes a short instruction guide that the SOR team created to provide an overview of survey basics and guidance. This guide covers:
Survey basics: What are these surveys? Why do we complete them? Who should complete them? When do we complete them? How do we complete them?
Specific guidance on survey questions: Includes specific survey questions that will be asked at every quarter, in order to allow your CSB to prepare for the reporting of specific datapoints, as well as accompanying instructions and guidance on what should be included in each survey question.
Please click here to view this instruction guide on our Quarterly Treatment and Recovery Reporting Survey website page. This page will be updated with quarterly survey PDFs as the surveys come out over the next year. The SOR II Quarter 1 Survey will be sent out in early January. Please reach out to the OMNI SOR team if you have any questions in the meantime. Thank you!
Recovery Housing Questions
DBHDS is looking for some info on how CSBs collaborate with recovery housing organizations. Please fill out this short survey (less than 5 minutes) by December 15 to help inform them. If you have further questions, please reach out to the SOR grant management team:
Mike Zohab - mike.zohab@dbhds.virginia.gov
Angela Weight - angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov
Patrick Wessells - patrick.wessells@dbhds.virginia.gov
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZDWYZ8C
OMNI Offices Closed from December 24-January 3
Greetings! This is to alert you that OMNI will be officially closed from December 24th through January 3rd, reopening on Monday, January 4th. We are closing our office so that our staff can enjoy the end of the year and re-energize for 2021. We hope you can find some time to do the same!
Our entire team will be unavailable for project-related support during the closure dates. Any emails or voice mail messages will be reviewed and responded to as soon as possible starting January 4th. Please note that the GPRA online surveys and all resources on our website will still be available during this time, but you will not receive updated tracking sheets in your Dropbox folder.
Please let the OMNI team know if you have any questions about our closure or anticipate any concerns. Though our official closure is from the 24th to the 3rd, please try to wrap up TA requests by Monday, December 21st so we can get you the info you need before our closure.
Wishing you a happy and healthy end of 2020 and a bright start to 2021!
Sincerely,
SOR Support Team
Richmond Ambulance Authority Video Featuring SOR-Funded Peer Recovery Specialist
What a moving tribute to the power of peer support!! We’re so grateful to get to be associated with peer recovery professionals like Beth Powell of the Richmond Health District. There is truly no more healing connection than the power of hope through shared lived experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCMv-oIMZrM&feature=youtu.be
If your Virginia SOR Grant-supported organization has a promotional video or receives news coverage you’d like us to see, please send it to angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov. We’ll share it here on the SOR Support Portal.
TA Tips to Supplement Your GPRA Tracking Sheet
Each week, OMNI uploads CSBs' GPRA Administration Tracking Sheets to your Dropbox Folder. OMNI has prepared some tips, ideas, and suggestions to help support your use of the Tracking Sheet and make GPRA administration smooth and timely!
Reference the OMNI-produced Tracking Sheets in your Dropbox on a regular basis.
Review and contact our team with questions or errors, or if anything seems to be missing or off. Use the SOR Website TA Request form to let us know about the issues or errors as soon as you discover them.
If you need to email us a client ID, please email using encryption.
Consider setting up a supplemental internal tracking system that could help you stay on track in terms of completing GPRAs or set up other systems to remind you of the timeline or window and dates coming due. Some ideas:
Download and modify the OMNI tracking sheet. For instance, you could add new columns for client name, the date the GPRA is noted as complete in your system, and even a client discharge date.
Some CSBs use a separate spreadsheet to keep track of GPRA by type, completed each month, with a running total for the year. This is not required, just another tool to get a sense of your workflow.
Some have incorporated gift card tracking into the spreadsheet (i.e., date sent and amount) so it's in one place.
Use colors! You can highlight important dates or cases in the spreadsheet (e.g., GPRA's due for that month) in a different color to draw attention or as a reminder that something is due. You could choose a different color to highlight rows or cells for a discharged client to remind you to continue to contact them for the Discharge GPRA. Or, highlight when a case is complete.
Use calendar programs to schedule reminders. Be sure that the system used is secure if you intend to add client IDs or other personally identifying information to your calendar item.
Be creative! One CSB invented a Word document prepared before a client appointment. They include date, client initials and ID#, contact info, birthdate, admission date, type of referral, diagnostic codes, MAT type, treatment type, and gift card amount. This saves having to jump back and forth between their online client record and the GPRA. For the GPRA, they enter the administrative information from the sheet before starting the interview. After use, they shred.
Our TA Team is available to brainstorm with you if you would like to explore any of these or other tracking options!