Preferred Language for Speaking About Substance Use and Reducing Harm

In a collaborative effort to build awareness around the topic of harm reduction for individuals experiencing addiction, we would like to share some guiding best practices. As experts in the field of substance use treatment and recovery, you may already be aware of this guidance, but it seemed like a good opportunity to reinforce these practices for all of us.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) emphasizes the importance of using appropriate and non-stigmatizing language when discussing addiction. They suggest that the words we use can either contribute to stigma and discrimination that may cause harm to the individual or promote understanding and empathy toward individuals struggling with addiction.

Reminder to Click "Submit" When Completing GPRAs

Recently, there have been cases where completed GPRA intakes or follow-ups were not showing up on the weekly tracking sheets for some CSBs/Agencies. This discrepancy often occurs when you get to the end of a GPRA survey but don’t click "submit".

It is important to click "submit" at the end of each survey to ensure that completed GPRAs are accurately tracked and credited. This final step confirms the completion process and guarantees that all GPRAs are properly recorded on your weekly tracking sheets, which helps track when follow-ups are due. Additionally, hitting “submit” at the end prompts a confirmation email to be sent (if requested). Otherwise, you will not receive a confirmation email and the survey will not count.

Steps to Follow:

  1. Complete the GPRA survey as usual.

  2. Before closing the survey, make sure to click through to the end and click the "submit" button, as shown below.

  3. Once submitted, the completed GPRA will be recorded and you will receive a confirmation email (if requested). The survey should then appear in your next tracking sheet.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our TA Team at SORSupport@omni.org.

Share your SOR Treatment & Recovery Success Stories with OMNI and DBHDS!

Now that we are well into the second year of SOR III, we thought it would be a good time to remind you that DBHDS and OMNI are always interested in receiving and learning of any SOR success stories! We are compiling these throughout the year to use in our year-end reporting. We’d love to hear from you about how your SOR funding is supporting the services you provide in your community.

We have prepared a very simple survey that will easily allow you to share some of your treatment and recovery SOR Success Stories, reflecting on the past year. There is also an opportunity to attach documents or photos.

To submit a success story, please click here to access the survey.

You can also submit a success story at any time throughout the year by visiting the survey’s permanent home on the SOR Support website here.

OMNI Kudos to CSBs/Agencies Meeting Their SOR III Year 2 Intake GPRA Target Numbers!

We are continuing to share some kudos about CSBs or Agencies doing well with intakes, follow-ups, engaging and supporting clients, and those that demonstrate a "spirit of inquiry" when engaging with our TA Team on GPRA administration issues.

This month, we’d like to share kudos to CSBs and agencies meeting their SOR III Year 2 intake target! As we’re about halfway through Year 2, the following 3 CSBs/agencies have all reached at least 100% or more of their intake targets:

  • Southside CSB

  • DOC

  • Portsmouth

Kudos! We know that everyone is working hard toward meeting their intake targets as set by DBHDS this year. Please continue to monitor your tracking sheet and schedule your Follow-up GPRA interviews accordingly.

Our TA Team is available to help if you have questions about any aspect of the GPRA administration or would like tips on best practices. As always, feel free to reach out to us at SORsupport@omni.org.

Reminder: Timelines of SOR Grant Period and Grant Years

We have recently received an influx of questions about the SOR grant period and grant year timelines and how the GPRA surveys fit into each, so we wanted to share a high-level breakdown to elaborate on these different time points.

 

Current SOR 3 Grant Period: October 1st, 2022 – September 30th, 2024

- SOR 3, Grant Year 1: October 1st, 2022 – September 30th, 2023

- SOR 3, Grant Year 2: October 1st, 2023 – September 30th, 2024

 

The Current SOR 3 Grant Period refers to the entire duration during which the SOR 3 grant is active, spanning from October 1st, 2022, to September 30th, 2024. Within this period, we have two grant years:

Grant Year 1: running from October 1st, 2022, to September 30th, 2023. This marks the initial year of the grant’s implementation in SOR 3. It is also the federal fiscal year of 2022-23.

Grant Year 2: following Grant Year 1, this period spans from October 1st, 2023, to September 30th, 2024, concluding the grant’s SOR 3 term. It is also the federal fiscal year of 2023-24.

Our intake and discharge GPRA guidelines during the grant period are:

  • Only one intake GPRA and one discharge GPRA should be completed for each client within the two-year grant period, not a single grant year.

  • If a client returns to services after having already completed an intake and discharge GPRA in the same 2-year grant period, they should not undergo another set of intake and discharge GPRAs.

As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org.

SOR III Year 1 CSB/Agency-level GPRA Intake Reports Now Available in Dropbox

OMNI is pleased to share a customized GPRA Intake report for your CSB/Agency. Similar to the full statewide report, your agency report contains compiled GPRA data specific to your CSB/Agency from the SOR III Year 1 period (October 2022 through September 2023). This reflects Year 5 of the SOR Grant.

  • CSBs/Agencies are provided with an Intake report. This report contains demographic and baseline characteristics of your clientele cohort.

  • In the past, we were able to also provide an Outcomes report that included demographic and baseline characteristics and matched “outcomes” based on follow-up or discharge data. However, because of the shift to a new GPRA tool, we were not able to produce outcomes reports at the CSB/Agency level this year due to a low sample size and lack of comparability.

  • You can still review the outcomes section of the main report, which shows aggregate change/outcomes.

The intake reports only include aggregated data. To ensure confidentiality in reporting, there must be 10 or more responses for each GPRA question. As such, individual GPRA questions with less than 10 responses were not included in the report and are marked with a "N/A.”

You may wish to compare your report data with the full SOR Annual Report findings, linked here and also available in the Reports section of the Virginia SOR Support website.

Your report(s) can be found in your agency’s Dropbox folder. If you have any questions or feedback regarding the report or want to chat about the results, please don't hesitate to contact us at SORSupport@omni.org.

SOR Year 5 Annual Report Now Available

We are excited to share that the SOR Year 5 Annual Report is now available on the SOR Support website. This report covers evaluations from the fifth year of SOR funding for prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery, and examines multiple data sources, including GPRAs and quarterly surveys. You can find the full report here, and on the SOR Support website under the 'Reports' tab. A short executive summary is available here.

We thank everyone for your data collection efforts, collaboration, and, most of all, the incredible amount of work accomplished by agencies and their communities under this grant!

If you have any questions about either report, feel free to reach out to us at SORSupport@omni.org.

Now Live! Hospital-Initiated Recovery Programs Dashboard

The Virginia HOSPITAL-INITIATED RECOVERY PROGRAMS DASHBOARD is now live!

We're excited to have this information public to educate legislators, program directors, and the larger community about Virginia’s hospital-initiated recovery programs, including peer recovery support programs based in the emergency department (ED) and other hospital departments, and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Bridge programs.

Click here to view the dashboards!

WE NEED YOUR HELP Keeping Information Updated!

Do any of the peer supporters (e.g., Peer Recovery Specialists) associated with your CSB provide support to emergency department patients? Do you know of hospitals in your area that offer ED-based peer support or MAT bridge programs? Please share any information you have, regardless of if the services are SOR funded.

If you have updates to the existing dashboard, you can provide updates in the survey link below.

Click here to fill out the survey. It is estimated to take approximately 10-15 minutes.

If you have any questions about the survey or additional information you’d like to share, please reach out to the OMNI SOR Recovery team at sorrecovery@omni.org.

This information is public, so please feel free to forward the link to others who may have information to add.

We appreciate your help and support! 

Fixed! GPRA Submission Confirmation Alert Email Up and Running!

On Friday, we shared a notice to let CSBs/Agency staff who enter GPRAs into the Qualtrics online system that the process it uses to send an email confirming your entry is temporarily malfunctioning. As of today, Monday 3/4/2024, the GPRA submission confirmation alert email is now fixed, meaning you should receive a confirmation email once you submit a GPRA survey into the online system and if you indicate you want one.

If you have questions, please let us know at SORSupport@omni.org. Thanks for your patience.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#200.112 Per 2 C.F.R. § 200.112-1113 The Federal awarding agency must establish conflict of interest policies for Federal awards. The non-Federal entity must disclose in writing any potential conflict of interest to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in accordance with applicable Federal awarding agency policy. Failure to adhere to these statues will result in immediate termination of funding.

Virginia’s State Opioid Response (SOR) grant is awarded at the discretion of DBHDS and SAMHSA. All recipients of SOR funding supports evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery services to address opioid and stimulant misuse and use disorders, including for cocaine and methamphetamine. The SOR grant is not intended to be utilized as a long-term or permanent funding source. All SOR proposals must include a realistic plan for financial sustainability beyond the grant period.