Rural Project Examples Addressing Behavioral health

Recovery Friendly Workplaces in Marinette County

Added November 2024

Need: To reduce barriers to employment for people in substance use recovery in Marinette County, Wisconsin.
Intervention: An initiative in which community members in recovery train local employers in recovery friendly workplace guidelines and provide recovery coaching to employees.
Results: One business in Marinette County has been fully trained, and more than 50 people in recovery have been referred to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Worker Connection Program in the program's first year.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

Need: To reduce drug overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases in rural Colorado.
Intervention: This program provides harm reduction and peer support to people who use drugs and to their loved ones.
Results: This program provided Narcan training to 377 individuals and distributed 2,448 doses of naloxone and 3,539 fentanyl test strips in 2023.

Updated/reviewed August 2024

Need: Before 2000, Butte and southwest Montana saw around 1,300 cases of child abuse a year, with only a 20% conviction rate for perpetrators of sexual abuse.
Intervention: Multiple agencies in the community came together to address the issue of child abuse by forming the Butte Child Evaluation Center (CEC), a Children's Advocacy Center.
Results: During a 3-year grant cycle, over 200 interviews and exams were performed on victims of sexual abuse and the Butte CEC became the first program in Montana to be accredited by the National Children's Alliance.

Updated/reviewed August 2024

Need: To help children whose family members are struggling with substance misuse.
Intervention: A year-round program provides mentoring as well as substance use prevention education.
Results: In 2023, Camp Mariposa served a total of 113 youth in its four rural locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In a study, 92% of participants reported no use of any substance to get high.

Updated/reviewed July 2024

Need: To expand services for individuals and families living in poverty in rural Western New York.
Intervention: The Rural Outreach Center (ROC) offers care coordination, therapy, budgeting assistance, and multiple other services and opportunities to help address immediate needs as well as empower individuals to work toward long-term freedom from generational poverty.
Results: The Rural Outreach Center serves approximately 250 adults and children each year through counseling, care coordination, and empowerment opportunities. The ROC reports that many participants have achieved and sustained goals related to housing, savings, employment, and other social determinants of health – which are also measures of poverty.

Updated/reviewed June 2024

Need: To address the developmental, behavioral, and social/emotional needs of rural children ages 0-22 in northwest Illinois.
Intervention: Local partners teamed up to create a centralized service facility for children and families facing developmental, behavioral, and social/emotional issues. Florissa provides evaluations, diagnosis, and treatment to local children using a multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach.
Results: In 2023, Florissa provided a direct clinical service to over 337 children, in addition to many trainings and supportive programs. It also is co-located with the KSB Hospital pediatric department, a certified pediatric patient-centered medical home (PCMH).

Added June 2024

Need: To expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) across the state of Pennsylvania.
Intervention: An initiative formed to provide technical assistance aimed at improving MOUD treatment capacity and quality at healthcare sites across urban and rural Pennsylvania.
Results: In 2023, 108 providers engaged with the program, treating a total of 5,185 individuals with MOUD. Currently, the program engages partners in 20 Pennsylvania counties – serving rural populations in Crawford, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Butler, and Cambria counties.

Added March 2024

Need: Enhanced support for people with substance use disorders leaving jail and reentering communities in rural northeastern Kentucky.
Intervention: A reentry program that uses peer support specialists to teach cognitive life skills, obtain essential identification documents, and help people create and follow personalized case plans before and after their release.
Results: More than 420 people have been served by First Day Forward, with recidivism rates significantly lower among people who successfully completed the program.

Added December 2023

Need: To address high rates of substance use in Princeton, Illinois and the surrounding area.
Intervention: The Arukah Institute, a local nonprofit organization providing mental health services, adapted a statewide model to provide support and a safe space for people in need of substance use resources.
Results: The Living Room program had 1,485 visits in its first year, with 100% of clients served by recovery support specialists.

Updated/reviewed December 2023

Need: Agencies in Schoharie County, New York were seeing a widespread trend of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the children and families they served.
Intervention: The Schoharie ACEs Team was formed as a way to educate rural communities about ACEs, the associated brain science, and ways to build resiliency.
Results: The ACEs Team has put on 5 half-day educational conferences, 2 virtual conferences, and 10 trainings for various groups across the region. The team has also trained 3 school districts on trauma-informed care and provided resources for families exposed to trauma.