Reaching Rural: Advancing Collaborative Solutions

COSSUP@iir.com

Reaching Rural: Advancing Collaborative Solutions is a 1-year training and technical assistance initiative designed to help public safety and public health practitioners and other community stakeholders address substance use and misuse in rural communities. Participants will work to build deeper networks across sectors, adopt bold solutions, and reimagine how diverse systems can engage to better serve justice-involved individuals with substance use or co-occurring disorders.

The program runs from February 2024 through February 2025 and consists of 3 in-person meetings, monthly mentorship and guidance focused on local needs, monthly assignments to apply core concepts, and the completion of planning projects to implement identified solutions.

Program activities include:

• Assess local or regional opportunities for systemic change
• Build leadership skills to facilitate cross-sector collaboration
• Explore the implementation of evidence-informed strategies in diverse rural settings
• Identify opportunities for different sectors, such as law enforcement, child welfare, prosecutors, probation, judges, public health, behavioral health, to align efforts more effectively
• Prioritize opportunities and strategies and commit to action
• Build a roadmap for local implementation and identify resources to support its implementation

Additional program benefits for participating cross-sector teams and individuals can be found in the application instructions.

Eligible applicants are rural practitioners who work for:

• Local units of government
• Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
• Nonprofit agencies that work with a local unit of government or federally recognized Indian tribal government to respond to substance use or misuse issues and/or individuals with co-occurring disorders

Applicants may apply either as an individual practitioner or as a member of a cross-sector team. Cross-sector teams must consist of at least 4 people from 3 different sectors: justice or public safety, public health, and behavioral health. Teams may include up to 6 members maximum.

All proposed activities must exclusively target populations residing in HRSA-designated rural areas or areas designated as rural by a state or federal agency.

This is a training and technical assistance opportunity. Participants will be reimbursed for travel and per diem costs when attending sponsored activities.

Up to 10 cross-sector teams and up to 20 individuals will be invited to participate.

Reaching Rural fellows will have the opportunity at the end of the planning period to apply for an implementation grant of up to $100,000 for up to 15 months to launch a project planned during the Reaching Rural fellowship

Links to additional information and the application instructions are available on the program website.

Cross-sector team application
Individual application

Applicant webinar recording