Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced the availability of state training resources aimed at giving Ohio school athletics coaches the tools they need to help student athletes struggling with their mental health. The recently passed biennial budget -- House Bill 33 -- includes a provision that requires all coaches to complete the training before they can apply for or renew their pupil activity program permits.

“Coaches know how to motivate young people and lead them to success on the field, but may not be aware of how to help student-athletes with the challenges they may be facing off the field,” said Governor DeWine. “The goal is to give coaches the tools they need to help identify student athletes who may be struggling and connect them with the help they need.”

The new law requires the Ohio Department of Education to work with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) to provide options of approved trainings that help coaches satisfy requirements needed to obtain pupil activity permits, which are required for licensed educators and non-licensed school employees who direct, supervise, or coach a student activity program that involves athletics, routine or regular physical activity, or activities with health and safety considerations. An individual must complete the training each time the individual applies for or renews a pupil activity program permit and present evidence of each successful completion to the State Board of Education.

OhioMHAS has developed a new webpage to provide coaches with a list of approved trainings currently available in the community. The webpage also includes information on the training criteria and how to get additional trainings reviewed for approval. For questions please reach out to MHCoachesTraining@mha.ohio.gov.

This week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced more than $2 million in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for six projects in Ohio that support those in recovery from substance use disorder to enter or re-enter the workforce. The funding is part of the commission’s Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) program to help address the disproportionate impact substance use disorder has on the workforce in the Appalachian region.

“Connecting those in recovery to workforce training and career development will help them achieve success on the job and in their recovery journey,” said Governor DeWine. “There is hope in recovery and with supports and services like these, Ohioans can go on to live their version of the American Dream.”

Projects receiving funding include (click on the media release below for details):

Coleman Professional Services (Kent) — $500,000
Future Plans, Inc. (New Boston) — $496,128
Rural Action, Inc. (The Plains) — $462,661
Shawnee State University (Portsmouth) — $499,102
Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation (Dover) — $50,000
Valley Recovery Partners (Austintown) — $50,000

Since INSPIRE was established in April 2021, ARC has invested nearly $42 million in 126 projects across 349 Appalachian counties. Of those projects, 16 totaling more than $6 million have been in Ohio. The nearly $14 million package for Fiscal Year 2023 is projected to improve 2,178 businesses and prepare 9,772 individuals for new opportunities in the workforce.

Additional information can be found on the program webpage. Ohio community organizations interested in applying for future funding can contact their Local Development District or the Governor’s Office of Appalachia.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in collaboration with RTI International, has released two important resources intended to aid community practitioners in the ongoing work to end the overdose crisis. Engaging Community Coalitions to Decrease Opioid Overdose Deaths and Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach (ORCCA) are available for free online. These products will equip public health practitioners, coalitions, nonprofits, and other groups working to prevent opioid-related deaths in their local communities with knowledge and best practices.

Engaging Community Coalitions to Decrease Opioid Overdose Deaths provides guidance on building and maintaining community coalitions that focus on the opioid crisis, as well as approaches for assessing how well coalitions are functioning.

The ORCCA Practice Guide includes evidence-based strategies for reducing opioid overdose deaths. The strategies include: opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution, medication for treatment of opioid use disorder, and safer opioid prescribing and disposal.

SAMHSA commissioned RTI International to develop the guides in collaboration with a technical expert panel. The guides are based on insights and tools from the ongoing National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEALing Communities Study. The multi-site implementation research study is designed to test the impact of an integrated set of evidence-based practices across health care, behavioral health, justice, and other community-based settings. The study aims to prevent and treat opioid use disorder and reduce opioid-related overdose deaths in 67 communities across four states, including Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and New York. 

SAMHSA has issued a new practical guide on Maintaining Fidelity to ACT: Current Issues and Innovations in Implementation. To support continued efficacy of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), it is critical to reaffirm its fundamentals and promote awareness of new developments relevant to implementation of the model. Serving as a follow-up and companion product to SAMHSA’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) KIT, this product reviews the principles of ACT, summarizes contemporary issues impacting ACT teams, and examines aspects of ACT implementation and outcomes when teams extend the model to specific target populations and settings. The goal of this guide is to support effective implementation of ACT by reaffirming fundamentals of the model and highlighting new developments.

Relink.org will host the first installment of a three-part human trafficking webinar series on Sept. 26 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Online Exploitation: What it Looks Like and What You Can Do About it will cover recent trends around online exploitation and will walk through National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) prevention resources and reporting tools, including a new content removal service called Take It Down. Questions? Please email info@relink.org.

The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities will host the next Crisis Academy on Ohio’s Crisis System Landscape: Connect and Respond webinar on Oct. 18 from 9:00 a.m.-noon. The webinar will cover Ohio’s Crisis Systems Landscape Analysis and focus on the first two principles of building Ohio’s Crisis Services System: Connect and Respond. Speakers for this session will include Kris Vilamaa, Owner and CEO of HealthCare Perspective, and Michelle Allison-Smith, Crisis System Administrator at OhioMHAS. Additionally, this session will highlight two Ohio programs that are running a mobile crisis program and a behavioral health urgent care center. CEUs have been requested for Ohio social workers, counselors, SUD treatment and prevention professionals. Questions? Please email Shelby Embrey at sembrey@oachbha.org.