Recovery as an Essential Component of an Alcohol & Other Drug Program on Campus: The WHAT, WHY and HOW of Collegiate Recovery

Breanna Cook Author

08/11/2017 Added

19 Plays

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Breanna Cook of Transforming Youth Recovery discusses how all institutions of higher education can support students in recovery on their campuses.

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[00:00:00.000]Breanna administers the early-stage grant program
[00:00:03.300]for institutions of higher education
[00:00:06.020]that are developing recovery communities on their campuses.
[00:00:09.960]She provides ongoing consultation and technical assistance
[00:00:13.530]to schools across the country.
[00:00:16.440]Breanna has a program management experience
[00:00:19.300]working for the nonprofit organizations,
[00:00:22.130]Human Rights Watch and Mama's Kitchen,
[00:00:24.680]and received her BA in psychology
[00:00:26.790]from the University of California, Los Angeles.
[00:00:30.440]And so before I turn things over to Bri
[00:00:32.630]for the webinar presentation today,
[00:00:35.100]I just wanna remind you, if you do happen to have
[00:00:37.620]a microphone on your computer that you're using today,
[00:00:42.530]please mute that during the presentation
[00:00:45.970]to avoid any background noises.
[00:00:48.370]And then feel free to use the chat pod
[00:00:51.300]on the bottom right-hand corner of your screen
[00:00:54.350]to ask any questions of Bri.
[00:00:57.240]We're gonna hold the questions 'til the end,
[00:00:58.870]but feel free to type them in at any time
[00:01:01.510]that you have a question or a comment
[00:01:03.780]during the presentation and we'll address those
[00:01:05.810]after the presentation.
[00:01:08.220]And so I'm gonna go ahead and turn things over to Bri.
[00:01:13.010]Great, thank you, Megan, and hello everyone.
[00:01:15.450]Thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:01:18.070]As Megan said, I am the collegiate recovery grant manager
[00:01:21.540]here at Transforming Youth Recovery,
[00:01:24.140]which means that I work with universities
[00:01:27.080]around the country who are working to develop
[00:01:30.380]collegiate recovery programs on their campuses.
[00:01:33.230]Now specifically I work with schools mostly
[00:01:35.770]in the Western half of the country including Nebraska,
[00:01:38.980]and as you all may know, two Nebraska schools
[00:01:43.700]are grantees of ours, UNO and UNL.
[00:01:47.150]They both received our grant,
[00:01:48.450]I think it was at the end of 2014.
[00:01:53.409]So today I really just wanna go through
[00:01:55.490]a little bit about TYR, what we do,
[00:02:00.270]collegiate recovery programs, how that movement was started,
[00:02:03.980]and kind of where we're at now nationally,
[00:02:07.100]and then how you all can get started
[00:02:10.270]in forming CRPs on your campuses.
[00:02:17.780]So Transforming Youth Recovery was started back in 2013
[00:02:22.450]as a charity arm of the nonprofit organization,
[00:02:26.420]Stacey Matheson Foundation.
[00:02:28.670]Stacey Matheson is our CEO and founder.
[00:02:32.610]She has been a really great advocate
[00:02:35.300]for young people in recovery.
[00:02:37.440]Her son actually suffered from addiction to pain killers,
[00:02:43.093]and he was in active long-term recovery
[00:02:46.210]for many years into young adulthood,
[00:02:50.200]and one thing I know that he expressed to Stacey quite often
[00:02:53.760]was a lack of support in the recovery community
[00:02:58.470]and in general for young people in recovery.
[00:03:02.280]So as you can imagine, if you're familiar
[00:03:04.930]with more traditional recovery supports
[00:03:07.430]like the 12-step community,
[00:03:10.080]these can be geared oftentimes
[00:03:12.190]to a little bit older population,
[00:03:14.450]and so younger people, especially students,
[00:03:17.010]may feel a bit uncomfortable or not welcome in these spaces
[00:03:20.623]where they feel as though maybe the people there
[00:03:24.410]don't relate to their unique struggles
[00:03:26.540]of being a young person who is in recovery.
[00:03:29.930]So Stacey formed TYR.
[00:03:33.300]We are dedicated to helping young people
[00:03:37.520]all throughout life, so we've got initiatives for K-12.
[00:03:43.040]We're starting on doing some research
[00:03:45.910]for community colleges.
[00:03:47.670]Specifically, the initiative that I'm a part of
[00:03:51.660]is directed specifically at
[00:03:53.850]four-year institutions of higher education, so
[00:03:57.900]the first thing that Stacey did when she started TYR
[00:04:00.670]was to pledge 100 grants of $10,000 each
[00:04:06.750]to universities across the country,
[00:04:08.990]and we are slated to reach that goal
[00:04:11.390]by the end of this year, which is exciting.
[00:04:19.097]A little bit of history about collegiate recovery programs.
[00:04:21.640]Before we came onto the scene at the beginning of 2013
[00:04:26.270]there were about 40 collegiate recovery programs
[00:04:29.860]in existence around the country.
[00:04:32.280]Now, this was a pretty slow growth
[00:04:36.090]from when this first started back in the '80s.
[00:04:39.550]The forgers in the recovery improvement
[00:04:43.390]that are often looked to today are
[00:04:44.830]Oxford, Rutgers, Texas Tech University.
[00:04:50.390]And so Stacey really wanted to help speed up the growth
[00:04:53.290]of this process throughout the nation.
[00:04:56.000]So since we started back in 2013,
[00:04:59.430]looking all the way to today, two years later,
[00:05:03.220]the amount of efforts and programs around the country
[00:05:06.370]have more than tripled from 40 to over 140.
[00:05:12.830]One thing to note when you're looking at this graph
[00:05:15.420]is that the purple line is representative of all of those,
[00:05:19.720]what we call collegiate recovery efforts,
[00:05:22.170]so these are oftentimes schools who had nothing
[00:05:25.920]to speak of within the last couple of years.
[00:05:27.900]They just had a staff person or a few staff people,
[00:05:31.440]maybe some students who got together
[00:05:33.980]who were interested in starting, and
[00:05:37.560]I would say this purple line is reflective
[00:05:39.730]primarily of the grantees that we're working with.
[00:05:43.720]So a lot of exciting growth over the last few years.
[00:05:52.160]Now as you can see, and I apologize
[00:05:54.440]that the text is difficult to read,
[00:05:56.810]but this is the most recent map that we have
[00:06:00.770]representative of all the programs around the country.
[00:06:03.720]You'll notice that there are a lot more
[00:06:07.536]in the Eastern half of the country.
[00:06:09.650]That's kind of where things started to grow more quickly
[00:06:12.270]and now it's really starting to finally
[00:06:14.000]reach the Western half.
[00:06:16.640]There's also a few states to look to, I think,
[00:06:20.113]that are good examples of forming
[00:06:22.670]some strong state coalitions,
[00:06:24.410]as I imagine you all are interested in doing.
[00:06:27.170]So Texas is a good example of that.
[00:06:30.280]They have actually a statewide system expansion
[00:06:34.650]through the University of Texas school system
[00:06:37.310]that has allowed for the growth of CRPs
[00:06:40.220]on all of their campuses.
[00:06:42.970]I know that Missouri is another good example of statewide
[00:06:47.930]networking with respect to CRP growth,
[00:06:51.830]as well as Minnesota has got some clusters up there.
[00:06:56.290]So really our goal in finishing out
[00:06:58.700]this year and even moving forward,
[00:07:00.740]we wanna see these dots, of course, all over the country.
[00:07:04.170]We really wanna get programs started
[00:07:05.790]in states that don't have any right now.
[00:07:08.070]And we want to help expand the efforts
[00:07:10.710]of states like Nebraska who may have a couple of programs
[00:07:13.990]that are starting but not a whole lot going beyond that
[00:07:17.130]that we're aware of.
[00:07:23.820]So what is a collegiate recovery program?
[00:07:27.670]Well, most effective CRPs are multifaceted.
[00:07:33.010]They're comprehensive.
[00:07:35.170]They really match the specific campus environment
[00:07:38.570]that they're housed within.
[00:07:41.290]So one thing we talk a lot about here at TYR
[00:07:43.530]is the importance of meeting the needs
[00:07:45.500]and the interests of your students.
[00:07:49.130]Now we work with schools that have over 50,000 students,
[00:07:54.100]and we also work with schools that have over
[00:07:56.770]or just a little over a thousand.
[00:07:59.821]So starting an effort with collegiate recovery
[00:08:02.890]is really possible no matter the population size
[00:08:06.690]of your university.
[00:08:07.843]There's gonna be students in recovery on campus
[00:08:10.860]who are looking for the type of support,
[00:08:13.220]and there are different ways that you can help support them
[00:08:16.160]depending on what it is they're looking for, so
[00:08:20.880]you'll see, you know, CRPs are instrumental
[00:08:23.350]in giving them that supportive environment
[00:08:25.540]within the campus culture, allowing them to
[00:08:30.160]get through their education
[00:08:31.740]when they're practicing their recovery,
[00:08:33.150]which can be a really trying process.
[00:08:36.971]And most importantly I think is allowing them to have
[00:08:39.770]that genuine college experience, so
[00:08:43.120]as you can imagine, some students that are in recovery
[00:08:45.980]currently on college campuses
[00:08:47.370]may feel a little bit isolated.
[00:08:49.300]We wanna make sure that they can feel
[00:08:51.090]like they're fully participating
[00:08:52.650]and thriving in their college experience.
[00:08:59.630]CRPs are also fun.
[00:09:01.860]I think some people who see them from the outside
[00:09:05.160]or they don't know a lot about them
[00:09:06.540]think that it's somewhat of a clinical thing, and
[00:09:11.830]quite frankly that's usually only a small piece
[00:09:14.560]of any given program.
[00:09:16.780]So CRPs, as I mentioned before, are about providing those
[00:09:20.750]supportive, affirming environments for students,
[00:09:23.400]and giving them a place to feel comfortable
[00:09:25.390]and be themselves, and have fun together.
[00:09:35.810]So what does a student in recovery look like?
[00:09:39.580]Well, as I'm sure you all know,
[00:09:42.380]a lot of college students in America
[00:09:44.880]are engaging in alcohol and drug use.
[00:09:48.809]And students in recovery are usually
[00:09:51.010]facing a unique set of challenges.
[00:09:54.479]So they're trying to maintain their sobriety.
[00:09:59.483]They're doing whatever they can to avoid triggers
[00:10:01.850]or behaviors that might lead them to use again,
[00:10:07.385]and, as I alluded to earlier, balancing
[00:10:09.540]those demands of recovery with their academics,
[00:10:12.570]which in and of itself is already
[00:10:15.000]a very big challenge,
[00:10:17.290]and then making new friends and finding
[00:10:19.020]a sense of belonging.
[00:10:22.696]Now CRPs can really benefit
[00:10:25.370]a diverse cross-section of students across your campus.
[00:10:31.659]You know, there are gonna be students
[00:10:32.640]who are already well established in their recovery.
[00:10:36.420]Maybe they have five, 10 plus years under their belt.
[00:10:41.620]We see that, or course, with nontraditional students
[00:10:44.080]coming back to school who may have been
[00:10:46.380]in recovery for quite some time.
[00:10:49.600]Then there are gonna be students who are
[00:10:51.900]brand-new to their sobriety
[00:10:53.780]or maybe still struggling with their use,
[00:10:57.370]and they're looking to make some positive changes
[00:11:00.670]and they need a supportive environment to help them do that.
[00:11:06.110]I think the last important piece to consider
[00:11:09.210]are those students who may or may not realize
[00:11:12.910]that they have some challenges
[00:11:14.740]with addiction or problem use, but
[00:11:19.400]this is planting a seed for them.
[00:11:22.810]Recovery is still not something that gets
[00:11:24.790]talked about a whole lot in a lot of parts of the country,
[00:11:28.020]so having an example for these students and
[00:11:31.820]allowing them to see that this higher vision
[00:11:34.940]of themselves is possible
[00:11:36.570]and recovery is a possibility for them.
[00:11:47.330]So why is a collegiate recovery program necessary?
[00:11:51.430]Well, some of this I've already talked about.
[00:11:57.237]Being on a college campus surrounded by
[00:12:00.687]the students in this traditional college age group here
[00:12:03.970]that have the most prevalent amount of alcohol dependence
[00:12:09.090]can be a big challenge for a student in recovery.
[00:12:12.540]So the term that we use here is
[00:12:16.500]that college campuses tend to be sobriety
[00:12:19.930]or recovery hostile.
[00:12:24.830]And unfortunately, given what campuses who have
[00:12:29.093]a pretty comprehensive continuum of care
[00:12:32.530]for addiction on their campuses,
[00:12:34.670]recovery tends to be a little bit
[00:12:36.810]less represented as a part of that.
[00:12:43.090]These students,
[00:12:45.520]a lot of times, may be coming back to school.
[00:12:48.820]You know, maybe they had developed
[00:12:51.500]some problems while in university
[00:12:54.530]and had to leave to go to treatment,
[00:12:56.820]or maybe they had found recovery already before college
[00:13:01.080]and they're looking to go to school, but,
[00:13:05.750]if they feel that they're not gonna have
[00:13:07.620]a place that nurtures and fosters their recovery,
[00:13:10.730]they may be hesitant to
[00:13:13.480]make that step.
[00:13:15.060]So we feel that students shouldn't have to make that choice
[00:13:18.800]between supportive recovery and their education.
[00:13:24.940]Now for students who are in recovery that do decide
[00:13:28.080]to go to school or to go to university
[00:13:31.570]oftentimes they may feel isolated,
[00:13:36.836]or at least it seems that all of their peers
[00:13:40.040]are drinking or using drugs, and they are alone.
[00:13:45.060]So we wanna make sure that they have a place to feel
[00:13:48.420]supported and included,
[00:13:50.880]where there are like-minded students to
[00:13:54.190]share their experiences with.
[00:13:58.360]And finally, education is
[00:14:00.970]a really important recovery resource
[00:14:03.580]that can help these students build their recovery capital.
[00:14:09.660]So recovery capital we refer to
[00:14:12.480]as the resources that are necessary to begin
[00:14:16.630]and maintain recovery.
[00:14:19.550]Like the addiction construct,
[00:14:20.990]the recovery construct is also made up of
[00:14:23.500]two reciprocal factors so
[00:14:26.170]there's remission and there's recovery capital.
[00:14:30.670]The longer remission is achieved
[00:14:34.274]the more recovery capital accrues.
[00:14:37.070]Conversely, as more recovery capital accrues,
[00:14:39.750]the chances of continuing remission increase, so
[00:14:44.440]by giving students the opportunity
[00:14:46.870]to pursue more education,
[00:14:49.020]they're gonna be increasing the amount
[00:14:51.000]of recovery capital that they have
[00:14:53.260]through college and for a lifetime.
[00:15:04.738]Now how do these programs benefit your campus?
[00:15:07.920]Well, they've been proven to be effective.
[00:15:12.080]In a study done last year
[00:15:15.340]comparing the overall student population
[00:15:18.190]to student participants in collegiate recovery programs,
[00:15:22.630]those students in the CRPs actually had higher GPAs
[00:15:27.250]and higher graduation rates than their peers.
[00:15:31.877]CRPs have also been shown to
[00:15:33.840]decrease rates of return to use.
[00:15:37.420]They help normalize a sober lifestyle on campus,
[00:15:41.760]can decrease lost tuition
[00:15:44.670]for students that can be lost to
[00:15:47.760]either having to leave from substance use disorders
[00:15:51.350]or other challenges related to that,
[00:15:54.380]and, of course, having students in these CRPs
[00:15:57.660]that are in recovery,
[00:15:58.493]allows them to thrive.
[00:16:05.840]So how can you get involved in starting a program?
[00:16:11.630]Well, generally, with the exception of a few
[00:16:16.050]statewide systems who have given some financial support,
[00:16:20.740]almost all programs and efforts
[00:16:22.450]that got started around the country have
[00:16:26.080]had very small beginnings, so
[00:16:29.270]this usually looks like a staff person or
[00:16:32.710]a handful of staff people,
[00:16:34.920]sometimes there are students already identified in recovery
[00:16:38.317]who are looking to get involved, sometimes not, and
[00:16:42.970]really just growing it organically from there.
[00:16:46.660]As I mentioned before, using your students
[00:16:50.760]is the most integral part of this experience,
[00:16:53.730]listening to their needs and what their experiences
[00:16:57.050]have been on campus, and what kind of support
[00:16:59.670]they're looking for,
[00:17:01.380]is really going to help guide the program
[00:17:03.680]in the right direction.
[00:17:07.120]One activity that we here have our grantees partake in
[00:17:12.310]is called the statement of intentions.
[00:17:15.100]This is really just about getting the students
[00:17:17.760]who have been identified together
[00:17:20.560]and having them thoughtfully
[00:17:23.090]come up with some goals for themselves.
[00:17:27.190]You know, talking about what the campus culture is like now,
[00:17:32.190]what they would like it to look like, and
[00:17:35.500]what the importance of is for their recovery,
[00:17:38.890]for their education that they do this.
[00:17:43.220]I think if you talk to the staff people
[00:17:45.870]at Omaha or Lincoln who are doing this right now,
[00:17:50.370]they will tell you that having patience is key,
[00:17:54.930]especially when you're just getting started.
[00:17:57.800]Of course, like with any effort,
[00:17:59.980]you're bound to come up against some
[00:18:03.000]red tape at the university.
[00:18:05.990]Sometimes getting students to consistently engage
[00:18:10.560]can be a challenge at first.
[00:18:12.990]However, I think every program that we've worked with
[00:18:16.210]has said that if you stay patient,
[00:18:21.590]build it and the students will come,
[00:18:24.060]is what we like to say.
[00:18:28.010]Finally, I want to talk a little bit about
[00:18:31.070]community asset mapping.
[00:18:36.650]Toward the end of the presentation
[00:18:38.240]I'll show you a specific website that you can go to
[00:18:42.300]that maps out all of the programs around the country,
[00:18:47.164]and all of these programs have outlined
[00:18:49.760]all of the assets on their campuses
[00:18:52.710]and in their communities
[00:18:54.610]that have been helpful in moving this effort forward.
[00:19:00.220]With any school that is just getting started, we recommend
[00:19:05.290]using this technique,
[00:19:07.000]and it's really all about cultivating relationships
[00:19:10.600]with people in your community.
[00:19:14.200]Talking to anyone and everyone you can on campus
[00:19:17.730]or around campus
[00:19:20.010]about the effort that you're trying to move forward.
[00:19:23.410]And you'd be surprised the places
[00:19:25.340]that you find recovery champions.
[00:19:32.428]Now, I apologize that this list is
[00:19:35.640]a bit difficult to read here.
[00:19:39.420]Every year we do an annual survey
[00:19:41.840]of all of our grantees,
[00:19:44.040]and we ask them to rank the assets that have been
[00:19:48.680]most critical for them on their campuses
[00:19:52.760]in getting their programs going.
[00:19:56.770]I think this is important.
[00:19:57.950]I'll try and give you a snapshot here of what this says.
[00:20:02.260]The assets that I think
[00:20:04.300]you all can start looking for on your campus
[00:20:08.120]of course are students in recovery
[00:20:10.461]who are interested in growing the community,
[00:20:13.940]individuals who are dedicated staff,
[00:20:18.740]so if not yourselves, then finding, you know, some support,
[00:20:22.280]whether it be in the counseling center or
[00:20:26.670]AOD office, if you have a student health center,
[00:20:31.619]or even sometimes a social work program,
[00:20:33.570]these are all places that
[00:20:35.200]we've had staff people come forward and
[00:20:38.090]offer some time to help get this going.
[00:20:43.670]Mutual aid support groups nearby to campus
[00:20:47.290]for students in recovery,
[00:20:49.070]those I think can be really helpful for
[00:20:52.890]attracting students right away if you can
[00:20:55.730]get involved in having an AA or NA meeting or
[00:21:00.360]SMART meeting on your campus,
[00:21:03.550]having something that the students can meet at
[00:21:06.850]weekly at the same place and the same time
[00:21:09.650]is a good way to help get some traction.
[00:21:14.690]Having the physical space for students to get together.
[00:21:19.060]This is something that I think is always evolving
[00:21:22.790]so oftentimes in the beginning
[00:21:25.500]you'll find that it's difficult to secure
[00:21:28.880]a dedicated space for the students.
[00:21:32.120]However, if you can find a way
[00:21:33.980]to at least reserve a room once a week
[00:21:38.020]or find a good meeting place
[00:21:40.670]for the students on campus, then
[00:21:43.730]that's all you have to do.
[00:21:45.680]Over time, you know, you can start
[00:21:47.530]having those conversations about
[00:21:49.460]finding a permanent place to house the program
[00:21:52.160]and things of that nature.
[00:21:57.140]I think another good one to
[00:21:59.930]bring up again is
[00:22:01.620]locating those organizations and departments on campus
[00:22:05.730]that can be supportive of the program,
[00:22:09.470]making sure not only that they know you're trying to do this
[00:22:12.560]but asking them for referrals if they ever come across
[00:22:16.160]students who are in recovery.
[00:22:25.680]Now here is another graphic from the most recent survey
[00:22:30.570]that we had our grantees take,
[00:22:33.280]and this is just a breakdown of the four stages
[00:22:38.050]of growth for recovery communities
[00:22:40.360]that we have identified.
[00:22:43.100]So you'll see that we have
[00:22:45.530]the notion stage with the highest percentage of folks.
[00:22:51.280]And this stage is really just about cultivating that
[00:22:54.010]small group of students to help build a recovery community.
[00:22:59.210]Moving forward into the establishment phase,
[00:23:02.230]that's what looks like more of
[00:23:05.510]building those new relationships
[00:23:07.470]and forming some more supportive networks around campus.
[00:23:12.330]Once you've formalized the recovery program,
[00:23:15.760]that's when most universities will identify their programs
[00:23:18.630]as in the maturity phase.
[00:23:21.740]And typically when the program is institutionalized
[00:23:25.270]or there's some sort of funding
[00:23:27.500]that gets put toward the staffing or the space,
[00:23:30.440]that's when these programs will identify as sustainable.
[00:23:46.650]For those of you who are just getting started
[00:23:48.750]or who haven't had the chance to
[00:23:52.350]get started yet,
[00:23:54.270]I think the practices that most programs
[00:23:57.250]are using in the notion stage will be most beneficial
[00:23:59.900]for you to be aware of.
[00:24:02.680]Out of all of the different practices that our campuses
[00:24:06.870]take part in, this is a list of the most commonly
[00:24:11.040]utilized practices of those in the notion stage.
[00:24:16.280]You know, we see a lot of our programs
[00:24:18.410]that are just getting started
[00:24:20.080]putting on events to raise awareness,
[00:24:23.670]engaging in outreach,
[00:24:27.460]and marketing,
[00:24:30.570]posting those mutual aid support group meetings.
[00:24:36.430]And I think the last one, too, is something to consider,
[00:24:41.340]and that is having no membership requirements.
[00:24:45.850]If you're familiar with some of the more established
[00:24:48.720]collegiate recovery programs,
[00:24:50.940]a lot of them have very strict guidelines
[00:24:54.590]pertaining to participation of students.
[00:24:57.630]So whether that means
[00:24:58.527]hey have to have a certain amount of time
[00:25:01.240]that they've been sober.
[00:25:03.590]They have to have a certain
[00:25:05.520]GPA or whatever it may be.
[00:25:09.420]There are guidelines.
[00:25:11.710]Now, when you're just getting started
[00:25:13.740]I think what most schools have found helpful
[00:25:16.000]is being open to any and all students
[00:25:19.380]who want to get engaged.
[00:25:22.430]And what we're seeing now is a trend towards
[00:25:27.589]including students who aren't just in recovery from
[00:25:32.150]alcohol and other drug addiction,
[00:25:33.950]but who may also be in recovery from mental health disorders
[00:25:38.470]or process disorders
[00:25:41.740]or even sometimes students who choose to
[00:25:44.470]live a sober lifestyle
[00:25:45.580]but they might not be in recovery, per se.
[00:25:49.680]So being open to those possibilities
[00:25:52.100]and allowing any and all students
[00:25:54.460]who want to get involved to be involved.
[00:26:07.844]Now, when we ask our survey participants
[00:26:10.270]how they would identify their programs,
[00:26:13.320]we see a breakdown between either peer based,
[00:26:17.030]counseling based, or socially focused,
[00:26:21.060]and what I want you to note here is that
[00:26:24.320]over 76%, I guess it would be,
[00:26:27.940]of our programs are identifying
[00:26:30.210]as peer based,
[00:26:32.610]whether that be with a counseling emphasis
[00:26:35.050]or a social emphasis.
[00:26:37.260]So I think sometimes
[00:26:40.409]when staff people are applying for the grant,
[00:26:42.250]they may have concerns about their
[00:26:44.540]capacity to grow than move it forward,
[00:26:48.800]whether it be time constraints
[00:26:50.730]or lack of resources,
[00:26:53.770]but I think this is
[00:26:55.430]a hopeful statistic because it really shows that
[00:26:58.600]these programs are rooted in
[00:27:00.870]a peer support model.
[00:27:03.350]So of course having a staff advocate is super helpful
[00:27:07.280]in navigating through the administration
[00:27:09.570]and university systems, but it's
[00:27:12.450]all possible because of these students who are
[00:27:17.050]helping other students along the way.
[00:27:27.830]Now this is the map that I mentioned earlier.
[00:27:31.350]So I would definitely recommend that
[00:27:34.620]after this webinar,
[00:27:36.440]since you're gonna have access to the slides,
[00:27:38.150]checking out this website.
[00:27:40.390]We call it the Capacitype map.
[00:27:43.040]And this is where you can find examples of
[00:27:45.520]all of the different programs
[00:27:47.200]that exist right now.
[00:27:49.960]All of our grantees, in particular,
[00:27:52.550]are responsible for mapping out
[00:27:54.190]all of the assets that they use,
[00:27:56.410]all of the practices that they offer to their students,
[00:28:00.680]so I think this can be a really good place to start
[00:28:02.950]as a reference in terms of getting ideas
[00:28:05.810]of who you can be connecting with and
[00:28:08.840]what sort of practices you can be employing to get started.
[00:28:23.010]Now one thing that I know I had heard from
[00:28:27.170]my current grantees
[00:28:29.160]who are a part of this network,
[00:28:31.410]is that a lot of Nebraska universities,
[00:28:34.360]tend to be a bit smaller,
[00:28:37.210]so whether these are community colleges
[00:28:39.480]or just private universities or public universities
[00:28:42.240]with a small student population,
[00:28:45.300]I've heard a concern voiced that
[00:28:47.890]it might not be as easy to get a program up and going.
[00:28:52.080]So once again I wanna reiterate that
[00:28:54.570]starting this program is really feasible
[00:28:57.610]on a campus of any size
[00:29:01.530]by virtue of the fact that it's student run
[00:29:03.950]and student led, so if you look to
[00:29:07.300]Northern State University,
[00:29:09.350]they're one of the schools that applied for our grant,
[00:29:11.960]they I believe have around 33,000 students, I think.
[00:29:18.880]And they've got a program over there
[00:29:20.840]called the Aware Wolves
[00:29:22.200]with a good amount of student participation.
[00:29:25.500]If you look to Washington and Lee University,
[00:29:29.560]that is another grantee of ours over in Virginia,
[00:29:33.510]and they have just over 2,000 students
[00:29:36.750]but they've got a thriving program up and going
[00:29:39.840]just in the last few years
[00:29:43.690]on their campus.
[00:29:47.200]And then Augsburg College
[00:29:51.410]I think is a great example to anyone
[00:29:53.700]because this is one of the original schools
[00:29:56.830]that started a collegiate recovery program,
[00:30:00.060]and they also have a very small student population,
[00:30:02.710]about 3,000.
[00:30:05.793]And they are of course much further along
[00:30:08.220]than the majority of our grantees that we're working with
[00:30:11.010]because they've been doing this for so long.
[00:30:13.570]But I think they're a good example that
[00:30:15.210]regardless of student population or size
[00:30:18.190]that this is completely possible.
[00:30:23.510]Now overcoming other challenges.
[00:30:25.790]Let's say you have
[00:30:29.090]students who are maybe lacking in confidence in advocating,
[00:30:35.440]something that we encourage all of our programs to do
[00:30:38.860]is encourage them to share their stories,
[00:30:42.140]talk about their story of recovery
[00:30:45.220]rather than their story of addiction, so
[00:30:49.960]using the students as a part of the asset mapping activity,
[00:30:53.260]having them go out and meet with department heads on campus
[00:30:57.110]and share their stories of recovery,
[00:30:59.410]is something that can be really useful
[00:31:01.290]in garnering support and galvanizing the community.
[00:31:07.580]Now another challenge I know that
[00:31:10.040]some schools face is a heavy level of stigma
[00:31:13.480]when it comes to addiction recovery,
[00:31:16.895]and I think that there are
[00:31:18.670]a multitude of ways you can go about breaking this down, but
[00:31:22.460]in the beginning, finding your allies is key.
[00:31:26.780]You know, locating those recovery champions who are gonna
[00:31:31.050]advocate with you and for you on campus,
[00:31:34.950]and building those coalitions
[00:31:38.240]and also educating the campus population, so
[00:31:42.160]whether that be putting on
[00:31:45.730]an event or a screening, or
[00:31:49.630]a 5K, I know that's something that a few
[00:31:51.840]of our programs have put on for their schools,
[00:31:55.480]things that are gonna get the conversation started
[00:31:57.590]about what it means to be in recovery
[00:31:59.710]versus in active addiction.
[00:32:08.470]And most importantly,
[00:32:10.400]I think it is essential to always ask for help.
[00:32:13.520]A few years ago there weren't a whole lot of
[00:32:16.460]resources available for people who wanted
[00:32:19.090]to get programs started,
[00:32:21.060]and now there is so much out there.
[00:32:24.410]This is really a connected, supportive community
[00:32:28.670]of folks all around the country who,
[00:32:31.970]regardless of the stage they're in,
[00:32:33.900]are excited to see other schools who are jumping on board
[00:32:36.960]and who are trying to do this for themselves.
[00:32:39.850]Now what you're looking at here
[00:32:41.980]is actually part of our
[00:32:45.972]Capacitype website that I showed you earlier,
[00:32:48.720]and this is a feature that we have
[00:32:50.360]called the conversation forum.
[00:32:52.620]I really encourage you to check this out as well.
[00:32:55.930]This is a place where
[00:32:57.930]any staff person or student
[00:33:00.030]involved in the collegiate recovery program
[00:33:03.110]can come and discuss pretty much anything you can think of
[00:33:07.900]related to starting a program.
[00:33:10.790]So this is something that we started back in January
[00:33:13.530]and we've already seen a lot of growth here.
[00:33:16.570]We've got staff people connecting from
[00:33:18.590]all over the country talking about
[00:33:20.990]challenges they're coming up against
[00:33:22.650]and giving examples of what they've done
[00:33:25.760]to be effective.
[00:33:33.570]All right, so
[00:33:36.360]the last piece I wanna mention here is
[00:33:39.680]bringing it back to our early-stage
[00:33:42.670]collegiate recovery grants.
[00:33:44.680]As I mentioned, Stacey Matheson
[00:33:48.000]pledged to give 100 $10,000 grants
[00:33:52.030]and right now I believe we have about 15 left to give.
[00:33:56.750]We are accepting applications
[00:33:59.630]through July 1st,
[00:34:01.730]so if this is something that you're interested in,
[00:34:03.960]I definitely would encourage you to apply.
[00:34:06.550]Simply go to the website that I listed
[00:34:08.890]at the bottom of the screen here,
[00:34:11.260]and you'll see the grant
[00:34:12.730]application process is pretty simple.
[00:34:16.840]I believe there are only a total of 12 questions, if that,
[00:34:21.780]and if you are coming up against any
[00:34:25.090]challenges or questions, I welcome any
[00:34:29.600]feedback or questions from you all along the way, so
[00:34:34.570]I will be providing my contact information,
[00:34:36.950]and I don't want anyone to hesitate to
[00:34:39.200]give me a call or shoot me an email
[00:34:41.350]if this is something that
[00:34:42.820]you think you're interested in doing.
[00:34:49.950]Now other resources to consider.
[00:34:53.680]There are a few sites here that I've listed
[00:34:56.350]that we consider our allies in this
[00:34:59.080]collegiate recovery movement.
[00:35:00.910]Many Faces 1 Voice I would encourage you to check out.
[00:35:06.370]Through this campaign
[00:35:07.910]they released a documentary
[00:35:09.730]called "The Anonymous People,"
[00:35:14.053]and this is something I think can be a really
[00:35:15.980]powerful film to show at any campus
[00:35:18.520]struggling with stigma.
[00:35:20.440]It addresses recovery messaging and
[00:35:25.330]can really be helpful in starting those conversations.
[00:35:28.360]So certainly check that out
[00:35:29.950]if you have a chance.
[00:35:32.250]Young People in Recovery,
[00:35:34.060]if you haven't heard of it,
[00:35:35.230]is an organization
[00:35:36.490]that also recently started.
[00:35:39.380]They are building chapters around the country,
[00:35:43.450]not related to any specific universities,
[00:35:45.880]but just to be supportive of young people in general,
[00:35:48.970]so building recovery communities
[00:35:51.820]around the country.
[00:35:54.827]"Recovery Campus" is a magazine that
[00:35:59.815]gets put out every quarter,
[00:36:01.150]and they have an online newsletter as well
[00:36:02.950]if you go to their website,
[00:36:04.520]and they do a great job of highlighting
[00:36:07.350]collegiate recovery programs
[00:36:08.920]around the country that are
[00:36:12.460]starting to become more established
[00:36:14.740]and can be a great resource if you wanna reach out to other
[00:36:18.640]staff people around the country.
[00:36:22.690]And lastly, the ARHE board,
[00:36:25.400]so the Association of Recovery in Higher Education.
[00:36:28.650]They I think are in the midst
[00:36:32.280]of redoing their website but I would
[00:36:35.720]suggest you check it out anyway.
[00:36:37.760]I think they're gonna be a great resource
[00:36:39.710]moving forward for any schools
[00:36:42.010]who have become programs
[00:36:43.820]and they want to get connected into that larger network.
[00:36:52.000]So I wanna say thank you.
[00:36:54.740]I hope that you found this to be informative and
[00:36:58.540]I welcome any questions that you all have
[00:37:01.750]pertaining to starting a program,
[00:37:04.500]TYR, the grant process that came out
[00:37:07.020]during our conversation.
[00:37:13.900]Bri, I see that one of our members,
[00:37:16.010]Jerry Cutter, has asked how the
[00:37:18.830]statewide coordination in Texas works.
[00:37:23.030]Oh, good question.
[00:37:26.530]To my understanding, the University of Texas at Austin was
[00:37:32.140]the first university to start a collegiate recovery program.
[00:37:36.990]Actually, my executive director Ivana Grahovac
[00:37:41.800]was one of the key players in getting that built.
[00:37:47.846]The other universities that are a part
[00:37:50.120]of the University of Texas system took notice.
[00:37:53.720]I think that they were doing a lot of advocacy
[00:37:57.709]and the higher-level administrators decided that it's
[00:38:01.980]something that was working well,
[00:38:04.930]and decided to give some funding
[00:38:06.950]to all of the other UT schools
[00:38:09.150]to help get programs started
[00:38:10.570]on their campuses.
[00:38:15.970]The current program coordinator over at UT Austin
[00:38:20.318]is responsible for managing the systemwide expansion,
[00:38:23.760]and if you're ever interested in finding out more about that
[00:38:29.010]I believe I can type in her name here
[00:38:35.010]into the chat box.
[00:38:37.981](keyboard clicking)
[00:38:43.390]Her name is Cierra,
[00:38:47.214]and she is a great resource for anyone who
[00:38:49.890]is interested in
[00:38:51.980]really building a statewide or a systemwide effort.
[00:39:00.530]Okay, I see another question here.
[00:39:06.300]Is recovery always synonymous with abstinence
[00:39:09.270]or could recovery look different
[00:39:10.610]for different people?
[00:39:12.390]And how do you reconcile drinkers with nondrinkers
[00:39:15.960]in that case?
[00:39:17.850]That is a great question.
[00:39:19.730]I think what we've seen is that historically
[00:39:22.890]recovery used to be defined as more
[00:39:26.600]inclusive of sobriety,
[00:39:28.510]and what we're finding now,
[00:39:30.160]although that is still the case
[00:39:32.880]the majority of the time,
[00:39:35.370]there are, of course, individuals
[00:39:37.740]who identify as being in recovery
[00:39:39.657]who are not completely abstinent.
[00:39:42.500]So that's something to be
[00:39:45.010]conscious of when you're starting a program on your campus.
[00:39:48.930]I definitely think it's important to be inclusive
[00:39:51.610]of anyone who wants to be involved
[00:39:54.290]and whatever recovery means to them.
[00:39:56.960]Something we say at TYR
[00:39:58.540]is that there are many pathways to recovery.
[00:40:01.270]So every individual's recovery is gonna
[00:40:03.440]look a little bit different,
[00:40:05.240]and I think when your program becomes a little bit
[00:40:10.100]bigger and more established
[00:40:11.840]then there are various ways to navigate
[00:40:15.460]the services provided
[00:40:17.930]for students who are abstinent versus not.
[00:40:22.210]So whether that means having
[00:40:25.820]separate AA or 12-step meetings, or
[00:40:30.630]I know some schools have levels of membership
[00:40:33.120]depending on involvement.
[00:40:34.780]It really depends, and I think that's what's exciting
[00:40:37.180]about being at the forefront of this movement
[00:40:39.120]is that you can really shape it
[00:40:41.180]depending on what best fits your university.
[00:40:53.190]So another question came in here.
[00:40:56.890]What are some specific examples
[00:40:58.700]of how CRPs offer support
[00:41:02.700]or affirmation for students?
[00:41:04.750]What types of programming are common?
[00:41:08.570]And don't worry about the typos, so
[00:41:12.670]I think the most common in getting started
[00:41:15.820]would be providing those mutual aid support groups.
[00:41:21.105]So whether you already have
[00:41:22.950]a 12-step or AA meeting on campus
[00:41:25.970]or if you can go and network with those
[00:41:28.710]in the local community to bring one to campus,
[00:41:31.610]that's a great starting point.
[00:41:33.780]We do have some universities that offer
[00:41:36.610]SMART group meetings or alternatives to 12-step.
[00:41:42.470]And then there are some schools who have a very
[00:41:45.330]social approach to it,
[00:41:47.133]whether or not they offer mutual aid support groups,
[00:41:51.800]they'll just have some fun weekly social activity.
[00:41:56.130]So maybe that's a movie night
[00:41:59.920]that they have on Friday nights or
[00:42:02.350]once a week they'll just get together for lunch
[00:42:05.290]or coffee, and talk about their week.
[00:42:09.600]I hope that kind of answers your question.
[00:42:21.970]So yes, the social aspect I think is super important
[00:42:25.730]because there are gonna be students, of course,
[00:42:29.680]who are looking for that clinical support,
[00:42:33.837]and a lot of times universities have some sort of
[00:42:38.530]support systems in place for them
[00:42:40.470]that can be integrated into the CRP
[00:42:43.040]or capped as somewhat of a separate entity
[00:42:45.610]depending on the structure of the university.
[00:42:49.539]So I think for the CRP stake,
[00:42:52.490]having that social component is essential.
[00:42:55.170]These students are looking for a place
[00:42:58.570]that they can just relax
[00:43:01.790]and feel safe and
[00:43:04.010]relate with students who have gone
[00:43:05.660]through some of the same things.
[00:43:07.500]And of course being in college, having some fun activities
[00:43:11.240]to participate in, is a key piece of that.
[00:43:21.000](chuckles)
[00:43:22.640]You're welcome,
[00:43:23.473]I'm so glad that you guys are
[00:43:26.570]getting some out of this.
[00:43:28.950]Is there anything else coming up
[00:43:31.580]for anyone on the call today?
[00:43:46.610]All right, well I wanna thank Breanna
[00:43:48.700]for her time today in discussing
[00:43:50.520]not only what transforming youth recovery is doing
[00:43:53.270]but also talking about college
[00:43:56.020]recovery programs in general.
[00:43:57.780]I think it was very informational for us and
[00:44:00.560]probably a new way to look at things for
[00:44:03.880]what we do in terms of alcohol prevention on campus,
[00:44:07.390]and I think it's exciting
[00:44:08.330]and it's a growing topic nationally as well.
[00:44:12.100]So if there are any other questions that come up
[00:44:14.600]Bri has provided her contact information
[00:44:16.950]so I think she's willing to
[00:44:18.540]accept phone calls or emails
[00:44:20.150]if you're looking for additional information.
[00:44:23.630]And as she mentioned I will also be sending out a
[00:44:26.900]copy of her presentation to the listserv
[00:44:29.580]and also posting the webinar online
[00:44:32.780]probably early next week
[00:44:34.380]so if you ever wanna go back and
[00:44:37.000]touch base again on something else
[00:44:38.530]it'll be there for your reference.
[00:44:40.830]Is there anything else you wanna add before we close, Bri?
[00:44:44.880]Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you
[00:44:46.380]to everyone again who participated,
[00:44:48.850]and thank you, Megan, for putting this together.
[00:44:53.070]Please do reach out if you have any questions about
[00:44:57.550]the grant application process,
[00:44:59.860]whether or not you are a four-year university
[00:45:03.340]or a community college.
[00:45:05.400]I say that because
[00:45:07.890]our next grant initiative is gonna be pertaining
[00:45:11.510]to community college systems,
[00:45:13.370]so it's something that we're
[00:45:14.800]actually starting to study right now, and
[00:45:17.520]I believe are going to be moving forward with next year.
[00:45:20.350]Reach out and stay in touch.
[00:45:26.200]Thanks, Bri, and thanks so much everyone
[00:45:27.610]for participating, and I hope you all have a great weekend.
[00:45:31.133]Thank you.

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Recovery as an Essential Component of an Alcohol & Other Drug Program on Campus: The WHAT, WHY and HOW of Collegiate Recovery

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