About

Program Objectives

  1. Recruit and train 98 paraprofessionals  working or seeking to work as home visitors, home health aides, school-based para educators, family and youth peer support specialists, or recovery support workers, to participate in the program and to attain competence to provide intensive enhanced care coordination to services to children and youth whose parents are impacted by opioid use disorders (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD), and their family members who are in guardianship roles;  
  2. Develop and support employers to provide high-quality field experiences and intensive on-the job apprenticeships to the 98 trainees;
  3. Develop and provide high-quality didactic  (online) training for the 98 trainees in topics such as child development with a focus on the impact of trauma and toxic stress, family systems and addiction, community health systems, interdisciplinary teaming, family- and youth driven care planning, peer recovery support, and other related topics;
  4. Provide support to trainees and employers such that 95% of trainees complete Level 1 training and 70% of trainees complete Level 2 training, and 10% enter associate or bachelor degree programs in related fields;
  5. Ensure the sustainability of this specialized paraprofessional workforce by designing and creating enabling laws, rules, regulations, and licensing protocols that allow for reliable reimbursement for the support services they provide;
  6. Implement, continuously improve, and sustain a high-quality interdisciplinary program through continuous improvement and ongoing evaluation.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Opioid-Impacted Family Support Program HRSA-20-014, Building Futures Together, $2.4M. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

Opioid-Impacted Family Support Program (OIFSP) HRSA-20-014 $2,400,000