About

Program Objectives

  1. Recruit and train 78 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 provide high-quality didactic (online) training for the 78 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, infant mental health and other related topics;
  3. Create and provide a second track for the Building Futures Together II program specific to trainees working with families with babies (birth to age five) who have experienced neo-natal abstinence syndrome or trauma related to substance misuse in the family and are at risk for developmental and mental health disorders;
  4. Develop and support employers to provide high-quality, competency-based Level II on-the-job instruction to 70 Level I completers, graduate no fewer than 68 trainees, and ensure that no fewer than 35 trainees complete the apprenticeship and attain the national DOL certificate. 
  5. Ensure widespread community and state support such that the Building Futures Together training program is sustained beyond the end of the grant period (by August 2028).
  6. Implement 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-24-016, 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-24-016 $2,400,000