Recovery housing professionals from throughout Ohio are converging in Dublin this week for the 2024 Ohio Recovery Housing (ORH) Annual Conference. The theme for this year's two-day conference is "Every Person, Every Family, Every Community." Today, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) Director LeeAnne Cornyn (pictured above) provided welcome remarks and highlighted the department's continued support for housing as a vital recovery support. As part of her remarks, Director Cornyn highlighted the department's current housing initiatives, and noted that stable housing is frequently mentioned as a priority need in her discussions with county board officials and community behavioral health provider leadership. Click HERE for more information about this year's conference.

Last April, OhioMHAS announced that we had begun exploring transitioning Ohio’s peer certification management to The Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board. In the months since then, we have fully engaged in this process. Columbus-based Mighty Crow was brought on as a project management consultant for the transition in late 2023 and is working with both organizations to move from the exploration process into the active planning process this year.

OhioMHAS is committed to a thorough, transparent approach that safeguards the integrity of peers and enhances the role of peer supporters in Ohio’s behavioral health workforce. Regular updates will be provided to peer supporters and stakeholders throughout the process through the Peer Support Transition Newsletter and on our website at mha.ohio.gov/PeerSupport.

To facilitate communication, we've established a dedicated email address: transition@peercertohio.org. Please add this address to your contacts for updates, questions, and feedback opportunities.

The Ohio Substance Use Disorders Center of Excellence (SUD COE), recently announced the launch of its newly developed temporary website. The temporary website is housed under the Center of Evidence-Based Practice (CEBP) main website. This online platform is designed to extend the reach of SUD COE's mission to enhance the quality of care for individuals with substance use disorders across the state by offering easy access to a wealth of resources and training opportunities.

Website highlights:

• About Us: Learn about the SUD COE's inception, the mission to provide technical assistance and develop a workforce knowledgeable in evidence-supported practices for SUD treatment, and our vision for the future.
• Learning Opportunities: Explore a comprehensive collection of educational resources aimed at empowering SUD professionals. Currently, this opportunity includes learning communities, podcasts, and training events, with plans to continuously expand these offerings to cater to the growing needs of our workforce.
• Evidence-Informed Practices and Other Best Practices: Gain access to a carefully selected array of practices to aid healthcare professionals in the adoption of evidence-based strategies in their SUD treatment efforts. This repository is set to grow as more practices are identified, reviewed, and added.

The website is designed as a platform for the dissemination of information and resources, with a commitment to regularly updating its content. It hosts continuous updates on training events, including virtual events, learning communities, podcasts, and an extensive online archive of resources. SUD COE staff encourages regular visits to the website to stay informed of the latest updates. Questions? Email sudcoe_comm@case.edu. 

The Ohio Children’s Alliance, on behalf of the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (COE), is accepting applications from OhioMHAS-certified Community Mental Health Agencies to support the development and implementation of youth peer support programs. A youth peer support program is a service that provides guidance, mentoring, and advocacy to youth and young adults who are experiencing behavioral health challenges (mental health and/or substance use disorders). A youth peer support program utilizes certified youth peer supporters (CYPS), who are individuals between the ages of 18-30 who have direct lived experience with behavioral health challenges and who have completed an approved 40-hour training by OhioMHAS.

The Alliance will provide $50,000 of funding for mini-grants of up to $10,000 each for a scope of work covering April 1-June 30, 2024. The goal of these mini grants is to increase the availability and accessibility of youth peer support services in Ohio, and to promote the recovery, wellness, and resilience of youth and young adults with behavioral health challenges.

A copy of the RFA can be obtained at https://www.ohiochildrensalliance.org/coe and https://socohio.org/ or by sending an e-mail requesting an electronic copy to COE@ohiochildrensalliance.org.

RecoveryOhio is sponsoring the Ohio Business Leaders Responding to Addiction training on April 4 from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Ohio Department of Transportation, 1980 Broad Street, Columbus. The free training is open to all business leaders and HR staff. Like CPR, the training program, developed by the Addiction Policy Forum, is designed to build the skills to support and respond to someone who needs help. Participants will learn about the science of addiction, signs and symptoms of addiction, evidence-based treatment options, and how to respond to someone in crisis. All participants receive a certificate at the completion of the course. Attendees will also receive a copy of the Responding to Addiction participant manual.

Visit the events page on the RecoveryOhio website for additional enCompass/Responding to Addiction training dates and locations. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded Homeless and Housing Resource Center is hosting a Naloxone in Public Housing webinar on April 4 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.

In 2022, over a 36-hour period, St. Louis experienced the deadliest mass drug overdose event in the city's history, leading to 11 overdoses and seven deaths. These overdoses occurred at Parkview Apartments, public housing run by the St. Louis Public Housing Authority. They were the result of accidental fentanyl consumption, a synthetic drug that hit Missouri’s drug supply in 2016 and has left a devastating imprint. This webinar will discuss the responsive cross-sector partnership that arose from this tragic event, which is focused on increasing outreach efforts to public housing facilities in St. Louis and lowering barriers for people to access life-saving naloxone and other health resources. The webinar will also feature community health workers' and residents’ perspectives on the program’s benefits.

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence at NEOMED is partnering with NAMI Ohio to host the 2024 Ohio Crisis Intervention Team Conference on April 10 at the Quest Conference Center in Columbus. In addition to the Ohio CIT Awards ceremony, the agenda features two keynote speakers and a range of breakout sessions tailored for CIT coordinators, law enforcement, corrections, and public safety telecommunicators. Cost, including lunch, is $35. Registration closes March 27.  

Looking to become certified as a Family Peer Supporter? The Mental Health & Recovery Board of Union County is offering Parent Peer Support Provider (PPSP) training at no cost. This training is one of two approved trainings to fulfill the requirement for becoming certified as a Family Peer Supporter in the State of Ohio.

The next 40-hour PPSP training will be held virtually April 22-26, virtually Aug. 5-9, and in-person June 3-7 at Stark MHAR in Canton. The Board also offers a Parent Peer Support Supervisor training. The next 24-hour PPSP Supervisor training will be held virtually May 8-10 and virtually Sept. 10-12. Registration for all trainings can be found by visiting www.mhrbuc.org/trainings. Questions? Email Wren Hawkins at wren@mhrbuc.org.