What is the GPRA and Who Should Complete It?

Our team periodically shares some basic information about the GPRA for new staff or as a refresher for current staff. If your CSB/agency has new staff members, this will provide a brief overview of what the GPRA is and when to administer it. New staff can also request support with a GPRA orientation from a member of the TA team by emailing SORSupport@omni.org.

What is the GPRA?

Virginia received a federal State Opioid Response (SOR) grant, designed to improve access and availability of opioid use disorder (OUD) and/or stimulant use disorder treatment services and increase the number of people who receive treatment for these disorders. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is a required evaluation tool for this funding and is administered by Community Services Board (CSB) and agency staff across Virginia. Client-level data are collected including demographics, substance use, mental health and physical health functioning, and other key variables. A CSB/agency staff member must ask the client the survey questions in an interview format; clients cannot fill out the GPRA survey themselves. OMNI Institute provides training and technical assistance (TA) to CSBs/agencies to support them in administering the GPRA.

Who Should Complete a GPRA?

In order for SOR-funding to cover someone's services (i.e., pay for their services because they don't have insurance or can't afford to pay) they need to either have a stimulant use disorder or an opioid use disorder (OUD). All clients with a stimulant use disorder or OUD whose services are being paid for with SOR funds should complete a GPRA.

In addition, if there are clients receiving services from a SOR-funded staff (salary paid by SOR) then the clients are eligible for the GPRA regardless of whether or not they have a stimulant use disorder or OUD because the staff person's time is paid by the grant. In those cases, the patient's bill for services still cannot be covered by SOR-funding because they don't have the appropriate diagnoses.

When are GPRAs Administered?

All clients should be administered the GPRA survey at three time points: at intake to services, six months after intake, and discharge from services. The weekly tracking sheet in your Dropbox folder can help you manage these time points:

• The intake GPRA is the first GPRA survey completed when the client first receives SOR-funded services.

• The follow-up GPRA is completed approximately 6 months after the intake GPRA, even if the client has already been discharged from services and completed a discharge GPRA. The follow-up window is open between 5 to 8 months after the intake GPRA. SOR III launched on October 1st, so the first follow-up windows opened starting in March 2023.

• The discharge GPRA is conducted when the client is discharged from treatment/recovery services. This can occur before or after a follow-up GPRA or even at the same time as the follow-up.

Additional Resources

• GPRA On-Boarding Guide

• GPRA Administration Tips and Best Practices

• Intake GPRA Full Training Recording

• Follow-Up & Discharge GPRA Training Recording

• GPRA Survey Materials, including consent forms

SOR 3 FY22-23 Halfway Point Follow-up GPRA Reminder

In April, we officially passed the halfway point for the first year of SOR 3! That means that GPRA follow-up windows have begun to open for clients that were intaked at the beginning of SOR 3 in October, November, or early December. Be sure to check your agency’s weekly tracking sheets in Dropbox to stay up to date with when follow-up windows are open. As a reminder, windows are open from 5 to 8 months after the intake interview date.

This milestone is also reflected in the newest figure (Figure 3) recently added to this month’s Monthly Progress Reports, also located in your agency’s Dropbox. Figure 3 compares Virginia’s follow-up rate to your agency’s follow-up rate. The follow-up rate is calculated by dividing the total number of interview follow-up GPRAs by the total number of closed or open follow-up windows. Only interview follow-ups completed within the window will count towards your agency’s overall follow-up rate, which SAMHSA requires to be at least 80% by the end of the two-year grant period.

Please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org if you need access to your agency’s Dropbox folder or need a refresher on how to track or administer Follow-up GPRAs.

OMNI Kudos to Piedmont CSB for SOR III Intake GPRA Numbers

This year we will continue to share some shout-outs about CSBs or Agencies that are doing well with intakes, follow-ups, engaging and supporting clients, and/or those that demonstrate a "spirit of inquiry" when engaging with our TA Team on GPRA administration issues.

This month, we’d like to highlight Piedmont CSB. Piedmont has gone above and beyond and has already reached 143% of their annual SOR III Year 1 Intake GPRA target completion goal, showing their diligent efforts in completing these important GPRA interviews. Kudos!

We know that everyone is working hard toward meeting their intake goal as set out by DBHDS this year. If you have questions about this or need support with any aspect of GPRA administration, please reach out to our team at OMNI: SORsupport@omni.org

Minor Revisions to GPRA Paper Surveys and QxQ

We have recently made a couple of small changes to the GPRA resulting in minor changes to the online survey as well as the paper tools in English and Spanish to align with SAMSHA’s SPARS data system. There are two changes limited to just single response items in sections D and E.

We recommend that you download and save the most recent version(s) of the GPRAs from our website and shred or delete the older versions so you have the most up-to-date one available. The footer of the revised surveys will be dated in April 2023 to identify the most recent version. Here is where you can find them:

• Intake GPRA in English

• Follow-up/Discharge in English

• Intake GPRA in Spanish

• Follow-up/Discharge in Spanish

The GPRA Question by Question (QxQ) guide has also had some updates. The revised QxQ version can be found here on the website.

And in other exciting news, thanks to the suggestion of the Caritas team, we’ve created a practice Follow-up & Discharge online survey, in addition to the existing practice Intake GPRA. You can that here.

Let us know if you have any questions: SORSupport@omni.org

From DBHDS - 2023 Mobile Engagement/MAT/Harm-Reduction Mini-Grant

The SOR-funded Mobile Engagement/MAT/Harm-Reduction Mini-Grant application is available to Administrative and Operational Virginia’s Community Services Boards and Behavioral Health Authorities until 04/26/23! The grant aims to expand substance use outreach, screening, assessment, treatment, prevention, and recovery support services capacity by funding a mobile vehicle/unit. The grant will be awarded to two applicants in the amount of $500,000 per year.

For additional information on the grant, grant requirements, and the full application process, please click HERE. The completed application will need to be emailed to Mike Zohab (Mike.zohab@dbhds.virginia.gov) and Angela Weight (angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov) by close of business day 04/26/23.

SOR III Year 1 Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey

It's time to complete the SOR III Year 1 Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey! Contacts that completed the SOR III Year 1 Quarter 1 survey (or contacts indicated for Quarter 1 outreach within the SOR III Year 1 Quarter 1 survey) for your agency received an email on Monday, April 3rd, with specific instructions for survey completion. If you did not receive this email and believe you should have, please contact SORSupport@omni.org.

Please refer to the Quarterly Survey resources page to review applicable information and resources relevant to completing the survey. These include:

• Quarterly Survey Instruction Guide: provides an overview of survey basics and specifics survey question guidance.

• Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Services Survey Questions: PDF file of questions asked in the Quarter 2 Treatment and Recovery Reporting Survey (note: please do not complete the survey on this PDF file – this is for viewing purposes only)

Quarter 2 of the SOR III Year 1 grant ended on March 31, 2023. Survey responses should reflect all of Quarter 2 (Jan 1st - March 31st 2023). This survey is due no later than Friday, April 14th.

Please reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org with any questions, concerns, or recommendations about this survey. We appreciate and thank you for your help with this survey!

From DBHDS - Apply Now to Become a VDH Naloxone Partner

Here is the link to become a VDH naloxone partner and receive the medication at no cost to your organization: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/disease-prevention/naloxonepartnerprogram. If you haven’t already become a VDH naloxone partner, fill out the linked application and email it to the contact provided. Feel free to copy Mike Zohab (mike.zohab@dbhds.virginia.gov) or Angela Weight (angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov) on the email.

Weekly GPRA Tracking Sheet Overview and Use Guidelines

Every Monday, OMNI posts a weekly Excel tracking sheet to each CSB/Agency’s Dropbox. The tracking sheet is a useful tool to stay apprised of each client’s GPRA status and timeline as well as notes that OMNI may have included for your attention. We wanted to remind everyone of the information in and functions of these sheets.

(Please see this helpful resource for a more detailed overview of the information below.)

The top portion of the tracking sheet displays your CSB/Agency name, tracking sheet date, total number of intake GPRAs completed in SOR 3 Year 1 to-date, your CSB/Agency’s SOR 3 Year 1 intake GPRA target number, and the number of months remaining in SOR 3 Year 1.

Once a client has an intake GPRA completed and entered in the online system, their Client ID will show up in a new row on the tracking sheet which will appear on the sheet that is released on the following Monday. Also listed will be the dates of the follow-up window (the “6m-Open Date” and the “6m-Close Date” in columns D and E). The tracking sheet will also display the discharge and follow-up completion dates once completed and entered in the system, and whether they are an interview or administrative GPRA.

One of the most important sections to pay attention to from week to week is the “Notes” section in column L. These are for your attention. Notes may relate to intakes, follow-ups, or discharges and may contain the following information:

• Follow-up Outside of Window: If a follow-up occurred outside the designated window, a note will indicate this with instructions to re-attempt the follow-up within the designated open window.

• Deceased Client: If a client is deceased, a note indicating this will appear.

• Duplicate Client: If your agency accidentally enters more than one intake, follow-up, or discharge survey for a single client, OMNI typically proceeds with using the first survey received (for each survey type). In some cases, with follow-up or discharge surveys, OMNI may prioritize interview GPRAs or those that were administered within a client's open follow-up window instead of the survey first received. In all cases where OMNI has taken an action due to duplicate surveys received, OMNI will flag the affected record accordingly in your CSB/Agency's tracking sheet with a note explaining the action OMNI took. If you would like OMNI to use a duplicate survey that differs from OMNI's selection indicated in the tracking sheet notes, please send an encrypted email to SORSupport@omni.org explaining which survey you would like to use as ‘final’ instead.

Please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org if you have any questions or would like to discuss the information in your tracking sheet in more detail.

REMINDER! Register for OMNI Follow-up/Discharge GPRA Training on 3/28 at 11am ET

As you know, SAMHSA has released an updated version of the Intake and Follow-up GPRAs that started being used on January 21st, 2023.

This is to remind you that OMNI will hold a two-hour Follow-up/Discharge GPRA Training on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023, from 11am-1pm ET. This training will most directly focus on providing a detailed overview of the Follow-up and Discharge GPRA and will provide tips for administering the survey. We will also review general information about the GPRA (including what it is and who should receive it) as well as point out existing TA resources.

You must register in advance for the Follow-up/Discharge GPRA Training here: https://omni-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqcOyrpzovHdUD7Xq1lF227TJv_n1q15BX

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A newly recorded training on the Intake GPRA is now available on our website. You can find that here: SOR III Full Intake Training Recording (January 2023)