GPRA Administration Tips and Best Practices Resource Launch!

The GPRA Administration Tips and Best Practices sheet is live on our site! This resource lays out best practices and procedures for GPRA administration at intake, follow up and discharge. It can help you answer questions such as:

  • How do I reach clients for follow- ups?

  • What systems can I put in place to better manage GPRA administration?

  • How do I engage clients who have left services?

Thank you to everyone who came to the Community Forum held last month - much of the information discussed in the Forum has been incorporated into this resource! If you missed the meeting, the recording is on our website on the Trainings page or linked here.

Check out this document on our resources page here and reach out if you have any questions!

Quarter 3 Quarterly Reporting Survey Report

Thank you to everyone for completing the Quarter 3 Quarterly Reporting Survey! We have created agency-level reports summarizing your agency's response(s) to the Recovery and Treatment surveys for Quarter 3. These reports are in a sub-folder in your agency’s Dropbox folder titled "Quarterly Reporting Survey Reports".

For any Quarterly Reporting Survey questions, please visit our Quarterly Reporting Survey resource page and/or reach out to our team at SORSupport@omni.org!

From SAMSHA: Updated TIP 63 -- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

New Publication: August 3, 2021

This updated version of Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 63: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder reviews the use of the three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications used to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)—methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine—and other strategies and services needed to support recovery for people with OUD.

Updates include–

  • Additional information about the qualifications of practitioners who are eligible to apply for a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine (i.e., clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives) that explains exceptions under the latest buprenorphine practice guidelines on obtaining a waiver.

  • Citations that support induction onto extended-release naltrexone of people with positive urine tests for opioids so long as they pass the naloxone challenge.

  • Clarification that naltrexone can result in decreased opioid cravings.

  • Where needed, clarification of whether discussion about naltrexone refers to the oral formulation or the extended-release injectable formulation.

  • Updated statistics on opioid-related deaths, overdoses, accidents, and hospitalizations.

View publication at this link.

SOR II, Year 2 Guidance for Submitting Proposals

Dear Subgrantees, 

Earlier this week you received communication from our office (via OMNI) regarding proposals for the upcoming SOR II grant year (October 1, 2021 - September 30, 2022). We admit that the post would've benefitted from a few more details. So, hopefully this one, in FAQ form, will answer any lingering questions about this-coming year's proposal process. 

SOR II, Year 2 Proposal Process FAQs

1) Will we be submitting proposals for both treatment and recovery awards? 

Yes

2) Is the SOR team going to give each of us treatment and recovery annual award amounts to create budgets around like they did last year? 

No. Not this year. Given the effects of Covid on nearly all of our subgrantees' SUD programming, making this past year anything but normal, we determined that it wouldn't be fair to dictate amounts based on what was or was not accomplished during SOR II, Year 1. 

3) Okay, so how much funding should we ask for? 

Use last year's treatment and recovery award amounts as your guide. You may request up to 40% more than those totals, or, of course, less money if you choose. 

4) What kind of format should our proposals be in? 

Use last year's format. Separate out treatment and recovery programming into two different categories. (See the graphic at the end of this post listing what items fall into recovery and what are considered treatment.) Please include budget narratives and line-item spreadsheets. Do not include other funding sources in your ask. That just confuses everyone.

5) When are our SOR II, Year 2 proposals due? 

Close of business, Friday, September 3rd, 2021. (Yes, we know that the first communication said September 1st, but we're offering two extra days.)

6) How do we submit our proposals? And to whom? 

Via email. Send them to all three SOR team members. Mike Zohab, (mike.zohab@dbhds.virginia.gov) Patrick Wessells and Angela Weight (same email address format for all of us). 

7) How/when will the SOR team respond to our proposals? 

If we approve your proposals and have no follow-up questions or requests, you'll receive a formal notice from our office listing the treatment and recovery amounts your organization will receive. You'll also receive Exhibit Ds from the DBHDS Office of Management Services. Our goal is to have Exhibit Ds out by September 25, 2021. Of course, this is dependent on other DBHDS departments, so that date may vary slightly. 

8) Speaking of Exhibit Ds, will they be the same ones as last year? 

Nope. We're working on making the wording much more relevant and approproate to standard CSB programming. Stay tuned. 

9) Will the SOR team be sending out the SOR II, Year 2 Notice of Award like in previous years? 

Absolutely! As soon as SAMHSA sends it to us. 

10) What about our unspent funds from SOR II, Year 1? Do you want those back? 

Yes. You'll receive communication from the DBHDS finance department regarding any unspent monies. 

Okay, those are all the questions I can think of that you may have about the SOR II, Year 2 proposal process. If I've left anything out, don't hesitate to email for further clarification. Mike, Patrick and I very much like hearing from our subgrantees and hope that our responses are timely and informative. 

We enjoy working with each of your organizations and are so proud of the SUD work you all do. 

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

Angela Weight

State Opioid Response Recovery Services Coordinator

Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services

Cell: 804-297-5457

SOR Treatment Community Forum on Follow-Ups: Recap & Recording

Thanks to all who attended the Inaugural CSB/Agency Treatment Community Forum on Follow-Up GRPAs: Tools, Tips, & Best Practices on 7/29. We enjoyed offering the time for CSBs/agencies, DBHDS, and OMNI come together to share and learn from each other.

If you were not able to attend, or want to review it, the forum was recorded and is available in the Other Resources>>Trainings area of our website. Here is a direct link to the recording and to the PDF of the slides.

To convey the importance of the topic, here is a graphic we shared during the forum that illustrates Virginia's Follow-Up GPRA interview status compared to that of all grantees and to SAMSHA's goal. As of July 2021, Virginia had only a 36% GPRA follow-up interview rate. We hope by working together to share tips and best practices, we can raise Virginia's follow-up rate a great deal more.

We are also producing two TA sheets we mentioned at the meeting. We are taking extra time with one of them, so we can incorporate the great feedback and tips gleaned from CSB conversations during our forum! We all learned so much.

  • Engagement Information Sheet for Clients -- designed to be shared with your clients so they can have a better understanding of the GPRA and its purpose.

  • Tips and Best Practices for Follow-Up GPRA Administration (Coming Soon. We will post an announcement when this is ready.)

As with many others resources, these re available on the website under Resources>>Supporting Materials.

Lastly, we kindly ask you to complete a very brief evaluation of the forum, if you've not done so already. Even if you did not attend, feel free to answer the very first question only, as we are seeking suggestions for future forum topics there. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CTTCTBF