Rural Recovery
In September 2022, FOR-NY became the recipient of the Rural Behavioral Health Workforce Centers – Northern Border Region Cooperative Agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This cooperative agreement is a multi-year HRSA initiative with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality resulting from substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD), in high risk rural communities with an overall goal of improving behavioral health care services in rural areas through educating and training health professionals and community members to care for individuals with behavioral health disorders, including SUD.
To do this, FOR-NY is utilizing a multi-sectoral, collaborative approach to enhance behavioral health care delivery within eligible rural counties and census tracts by developing and implementing training and mentorship programs focused on building the skills and capacity of rural health care providers, health support workers, non-clinical staff, and community members to care for individuals with behavioral health care needs.
FOR-NY has partnered with 4 agencies and 6 Best Practice Trainers (BPTs) across rural New York.
Agencies and Counties:
- In His Name Outreach: Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Livingston, Yates, Seneca
- Farnham Inc: Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson
- Center for Family Life and Recovery: Oneida, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison
- Seaway Valley Prevention Council: St. Lawrence, Franklin, Hamilton, Clinton, Essex
BPTs and Counties:
- Ann Rhodes and Sandra Marnell: Fulton, Montgomery
- Katherine Chambers and Deb Rhoades: Warren, Washington
- Tawana Rowser-Brown: Greene
- Prepared Training: Sullivan
The partners, in collaboration with FOR-NY will ensure trainings and mentorships programs are available, accessible, and well-known throughout the entire target rural service area, addressing the challenges that rural recovery communities continue to face regarding stigma and lack of educational resources. Using a multi-sectoral approach with community-based partners, recovery resources are able to enter rural communities delivered by rural community members.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jennifer Donadio, Project Director – Rural Recovery at [email protected].
Through our work, we aim to increase the number of rural peer professionals across New York State. To learn more about becoming a peer professional, click here.
This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2,250,000 with 0 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.