Richmond Ambulance Authority Video Featuring SOR-Funded Peer Recovery Specialist

What a moving tribute to the power of peer support!! We’re so grateful to get to be associated with peer recovery professionals like Beth Powell of the Richmond Health District. There is truly no more healing connection than the power of hope through shared lived experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCMv-oIMZrM&feature=youtu.be

If your Virginia SOR Grant-supported organization has a promotional video or receives news coverage you’d like us to see, please send it to angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov. We’ll share it here on the SOR Support Portal.

TA Tips to Supplement Your GPRA Tracking Sheet

Each week, OMNI uploads CSBs' GPRA Administration Tracking Sheets to your Dropbox Folder. OMNI has prepared some  tips, ideas, and suggestions to help support your use of the Tracking Sheet and make GPRA administration smooth and timely!

• Reference the OMNI-produced Tracking Sheets in your Dropbox on a regular basis.

• Review and contact our team with questions or errors, or if anything seems to be missing or off. Use the SOR Website TA Request form to let us know about the issues or errors as soon as you discover them.

  • If you need to email us a client ID, please email using encryption.

• Consider setting up a supplemental internal tracking system that could help you stay on track in terms of completing GPRAs or set up other systems to remind you of the timeline or window and dates coming due. Some ideas:

  • Download and modify the OMNI tracking sheet. For instance, you could add new columns for client name, the date the GPRA is noted as complete in your system, and even a client discharge date.

• Some CSBs use a separate spreadsheet to keep track of GPRA by type, completed each month, with a running total for the year. This is not required, just another tool to get a sense of your workflow.

• Some have incorporated gift card tracking into the spreadsheet (i.e., date sent and amount) so it's in one place.

• Use colors! You can highlight important dates or cases in the spreadsheet (e.g., GPRA's due for that month) in a different color to draw attention or as a reminder that something is due. You could choose a different color to highlight rows or cells for a discharged client to remind you to continue to contact them for the Discharge GPRA. Or, highlight when a case is complete.

• Use calendar programs to schedule reminders. Be sure that the system used is secure if you intend to add client IDs or other personally identifying information to your calendar item.

• Be creative! One CSB invented a Word document prepared before a client appointment. They include date, client initials and ID#, contact info, birthdate, admission date, type of referral, diagnostic codes, MAT type, treatment type, and gift card amount. This saves having to jump back and forth between their online client record and the GPRA. For the GPRA, they enter the administrative information from the sheet before starting the interview. After use, they shred.

 Our TA Team is available to brainstorm with you if you would like to explore any of these or other tracking options!

SOR II Quarterly Survey Input - Volunteers Needed!

Hello CSBs!

We are looking for three volunteers to answer a few questions regarding the SOR-II Quarterly Treatment and Recovery Reporting Surveys to help us finalize them. (More information about updates to the survey will be shared with all CSBs in the coming weeks.)

Due to timing constraints, we are hoping to gather input from three volunteers by next Wednesday, November 25th. If you are interested and able to respond to three questions via email OR in a 10-minute phone conversation before next Wednesday (November 25th), please fill out the below form or email us at SORSupport@omni.org at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your help!
The OMNI Team

November 10th Full GPRA Training Follow-Up Materials and Information

Thank you to everyone that attended our Full GPRA Training on November 10th! We had a great time and hope you all did as well. If you were unable to attend the training, please review the training recording here and the training slides here (listed on the Trainings Resource page).

Many resources were discussed in the training. For your convenience, here is a list of useful resources (listed on the Supporting Materials Resource page) to review as you orient yourself to the GPRA:

• GPRA Onboarding Guide: A useful tool for staff new to the grant and the GPRA; this brief one-pager summarizes the basics of the SOR grant and the GPRA

• Question by Question Guide: Walks through every question on the three GPRA surveys, providing more context, definitions, additional probes, skip patterns, etc.

• GPRA Follow-Up & Discharge Guide: Brief overview of the follow-up and discharge GPRA.

• SOR II Rollover Guide: Overview of the new process to roll clients from SOR I to SOR II (if they are still receiving services)

Additionally, a few outstanding questions were raised during the Full GPRA Training that we want to follow up on:

• What do I do if I complete a discharge GPRA with a client before their follow-up window opens and I later am not able to locate the client for their follow-up GPRA?

  • We ask that you attempt to contact the client approximately 10 times during their follow-up window. If this is unsuccessful and there are 2 weeks remaining in the client's follow-up window, please complete an administrative follow-up GPRA for this client.

• What do I do if a client is deceased?

  • Please complete an administrative discharge GPRA and an administrative follow-up GPRA at the same time. There is a question in both of these GPRA surveys in which the client's "status" is asked; please indicate in this question that the client is deceased. In this circumstance, it's ok to complete the follow-up GPRA before the follow-up window opens.

• Can a follow up be completed after the window is closed? Can an extension of the window be requested for extenuating circumstances?

  • A follow-up GPRA can technically be completed after the follow-up window closes but it is highly discouraged, as this will not count towards SAMHA's goal of 80% follow-up interview rate. If there are extenuating circumstances, please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org.

• Is it possible to extend the rule requiring paper surveys to be entered to the online system within 4 days due to staffing constraints?

  • If there are extenuating circumstances making this 4-day rule impossible for your staff, please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org.

• Should referral services be included in the planned services questions in the Intake GPRA?

  • Referral services should be included in the planned services if these services are funded by your agency's SOR II funds.

• How long does the GPRA take to administer?

  • This can vary, so we recommend reserving an hour with the client. Typically the survey administration takes around 30-45 minutes.

• What do I do if a client uses more than one route of administration for a substance?

  • Please indicate the route of administration that is most "severe" for each substance, meaning the highest ranked on the list of route options ranging from 1 to 5, on page 20 of the Intake GPRA.

• For question E.6 asking if clients are on parole or probation, would those on "unsupervised" parole or probation be included?

  • Yes, please include those on "unsupervised" parole or probation.

As always, please reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org with any questions!

Reporting & Correcting Duplicate Follow-ups and Other GPRA Issues

The OMNI TA Team routinely monitors the GPRA data for several issues, including cases where surveys -- especially follow-ups -- may have been duplicated. When we identify issues, our team reaches out to the main Point of Contact at your CSB for clarification and decisions. To lighten all of our workloads (including yours!), we have put into place some tools and tips to help us all identify and correct issues sooner and more seamlessly.

• First, the TA Request form on the SOR website has a new choice in the dropdown of reasons for contacting us: "Need to change something in a GPRA".

  • Please use the form and this choice right away if you know that you or someone at your CSB has mistakenly entered a GPRA duplicate or other information that we will need to adjust.

  • Or, use it as soon as you have discovered a correction or issue on the tracking sheet (e.g., incorrect interview date, incorrect birthday, etc.).

• Another way to help prevent duplicate GPRA follow-ups from being submitted is to regularly review the weekly tracking sheet that we post to Dropbox. There you might spot incorrect dates as-entered, or even duplicated GPRAs themselves. When you spot these, please contact us as soon as possible to resolve the issue, using the TA Request form.

  • Note: The tracking sheets also identify the follow-up window which is intended to help prevent CSBs from completing follow-ups that are too early or too late. Remember, the "6-month" follow up window falls between month 5 and month 8 after the intake interview date. And a reminder: there is no longer a 3-month follow-up at all.

• A number of CSBs have set up internal tracking systems in tandem with the tracking sheets. These systems may help eliminate duplication or completions outside the follow-up window from taking place. If you would like to explore some options that might support or improve your internal tracking and GPRA review process, please contact us at SORSupport@omni.org.

SOR II Rollover: A & B Client Document

SOR II Rollover Meeting

Thank you to everyone that attended our SOR II rollover meeting on Monday! If you were unable to attend or would like a refresher of the information presented, please review the training recording, training slides, and resource guide on the SOR II Rollover resource page.

A & B Client Documents in Dropbox Folder

As was discussed in the SOR II rollover meeting, every agency now has an "A & B Clients" document in their shared Dropbox folder. This document lists all potential "A" clients and "B" clients. As a reminder of what "A" clients and "B" clients mean:

• "A" clients = clients who completed intake and follow-up windows in SOR I, still receiving SOR-funded services in SOR II

• "B" clients = clients who completed an intake in SOR I but have not yet done a follow-up (as of Nov. 5), still receiving SOR-funded services in SOR II

The "A & B Clients" document in your Dropbox folder includes all potential "A" clients and "B" clients to be rolled over into SOR II (including clients that have completed a discharge GPRA). If the client is no longer receiving services, you do not need to roll them over. If the client is receiving SOR II services, please complete the online SOR II Rollover Consent Survey Form at the next appointment for "A" clients and at the follow-up GPRA for "B" clients.

Please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org with any questions! We know this can be confusing and we are here to help.

The Intersection Between Substance Misuse Prevention and Recovery Approaches

Developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (SAMHSA’s CAPT), Virginia was chosen to pilot the Intersection between Substance Misuse Prevention and Recovery Approaches curriculum in 2017. In order to provide the curriculum statewide, and ensure its sustainability, SAMSHA named the Virginia Office of Behavioral Wellness the TOT for The Intersection.[of] Prevention and Recovery Approaches curriculum.

The Virginia DBHDS’s Office of Behavioral Health Wellness and Office of Opioid Response Recovery Services are offering the following webinar The Intersection Between Substance Misuse Prevention & Recovery Approaches

DATES: Thursday, November 19 th & Friday, November 20th

Time: 9:00a – 12:00noon EST

REGISTRATION is required

Space is limited to 15 participants per webinar

Workshop Objectives Participants will be able to describe:

• …the intersections between Prevention and Recovery approaches

• …common terms used in the Prevention and Recovery fields

• …the more holistic approach to the Continuum of Care

• …how Prevention and Recovery Practitioners can support one another

Registration link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XC67N3F