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Tribal MAT Project

Jan 2, 2020

Described by its lead entities as “A unified response to the opioid crisis in California Indian Country,” the Tribal MAT Project was designed to meet the specific opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery needs of California’s Tribal and Urban Indian communities. In close partnership with representatives of the communities served, the California Department of Health Care Services developed the project to promote opioid safety, improve the availability and provision of MAT, and facilitate wider access to naloxone with special consideration for Tribal and Urban Indian values, culture, and treatments.

The Tribal MAT Project is focused on sharing knowledge among Tribal and Urban Indian communities, Tribal and Urban Indian health programs, and community-based partners on best practices for prevention, treatment and recovery from opioid use disorder, stimulant use disorders, and other co-occurring substance use disorders in California Indian Country. For more information about the Tribal MAT Project overall, contact Jessica Nasello. The Tribal MAT Project receives funding from the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The following organizations are implementing complementary initiatives to achieve the goals of the Tribal MAT Project:

California Indian Opioid Safety Coalition

Led by the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health (CCUIH), the California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc. (CRIHB), and Kauffman & Associates, Inc. (KAI), the California Indian Opioid Safety Coalition (CIOSC) is a statewide coalition of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and AI/AN serving organizations collaborating in an organized response to the opioid epidemic in California Indian Country. CIOSC shares successful and emerging examples of Tribal and Urban Indian community health approaches to promote opioid safety, integrate MAT services into health care, and address stimulant misuse during tri-annual CIOSC meetings.

California Indian Harm Reduction Workgroup

CCUIH and CRIHB support the statewide California Indian Harm Reduction Workgroup to develop and articulate approaches and principles for Native harm reduction that represent Tribal and Urban Indian communities’ values and needs. The workgroup will identify and disseminate best practices for harm reduction strategies within California’s AI/AN communities. It may also provide funding and technical assistance opportunities for local AI/AN harm reduction efforts. CCUIH and CRIHB convenes this workgroup with Tribal and Urban Indian community members from across the state, with support from KAI.

Tribal and Urban Indian Community Defined Best Practices

Led by a partnership between The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, CCUIH, CRIHB, KAI, and USC, the Tribal and Urban Indian Community Defined Best Practices program is a grant funding and technical assistance opportunity for Tribal and Urban Indian health programs. The goal of the program is to support the local integration of cultural and traditional healing and recovery practices into developing or existing Tribal and Urban Indian health programs for SUD services. The program will offer individualized technical support to grantees, facilitated learning opportunities, and implementation resources.

California Native Medications for Addiction Treatment Network for Healing and Recovery

KAI is leading the implementation of the Native MAT Network, a funding and technical assistance opportunity for Tribal and Urban Indian organizations to develop, enhance, and sustain MAT and/or stimulant use disorder services in ways that leverage the local Tribal cultural context and facilitate peer-to-peer learning. The Native MAT Network will establish a vibrant community of Tribal and Urban Indian MAT and stimulant use disorder treatment providers that integrate treatment best practices with cultural best practices to develop locally meaningful and sustainable community response to substance use disorder.

Substance Use Support Alliance for Tribal and Urban Indians

Led by KAI, The Substance Use Support Alliance for Tribal and Urban Indians is a no-cost statewide, resource center for California Native organizations and other public-serving organizations that provide substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services to California residents. The purpose of the resource center is to offer a range of Native-centric resources and training opportunities to support the ability to engage and provide culturally meaningful services to Native people. Some examples of the type of TA that can be requested include:

  • Applying to the Naloxone Distribution Project
  • Program sustainability resources
  • Stigma reduction trainings
  • Addiction treatment best practices

Substance Use Support Alliance website and project contact: Dr. Danica Love Brown and Dr. Rochelle Tuttle

Tribal and Urban Indian Local Opioid Coalitions

CRIHB will continue supporting Tribal health programs to establish Tribal Local Opioid Coalitions, which are multisector, interagency partnerships of community members, stakeholders, and service providers who work together to reduce and eliminate opioid- and stimulant-related deaths and other impacts of opioid and stimulant use in Tribal communities. KAI will support CRIHB as the Tribal Local Opioid Coalition activities move forward. Coalition activities include completing a community readiness assessment, developing tribal action plans, conducting program evaluation, and implementing plans to combat opioid and stimulant misuse. In addition, CCUIH will continue supporting Urban Indian health organizations to participate in CIOSC and Local Opioid Safety Coalitions, all part of the California Opioid Safety Network.

Community Campaign and MAT Champions

CCUIH and CRIHB develop and disseminate culturally adapted prevention, treatment, and recovery materials that are specific to Tribal and Urban Indian communities, patients, providers, and stakeholders. In addition, CCUIH and CRIHB serve as MAT Champions to support the development of Tribal and Urban Indian stakeholders’ prevention, treatment, and recovery services, and to coordinate relevant MAT-related resources and technical assistance services available to Tribal and Urban Indian providers. The CCUIH and CRIHB MAT Champions also distribute naloxone and provide trainings for Tribal and Urban Indian communities and health programs on addiction, MAT, harm reduction, opioid safety, and naloxone.

SUD Policy Advocacy Training Fellowship

The University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine will lead a policy advocacy training fellowship for members of and/or individuals working with Tribal and Urban AIAN communities in California. The goal of the online fellowship is to teach effective approaches to engage local, state, federal, and Tribal policymakers about substance use disorder (SUD)-related community needs. The SUD Policy Advocacy Training Fellowship will focus on using data-informed approaches to enhance advocacy messaging, leverage stakeholder opportunities, and tailor concrete policy proposals for targeted audiences.

California AIAN Fellowship for Health Professions

The University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine will develop and implement a fellowship for California students, recent graduates, and career switchers who are aiming to work in fields related to health or social services and who are interested in SUD and working with AIAN communities. The ultimate goal of this fellowship is to expand the pool of qualified professionals who are both interested in and qualified to work with AIAN communities and in SUD/OUD fields. By expanding this pool, they aim to address staffing challenges including difficulties in hiring enough qualified staff and high turnover rates.

Tribal MAT Project Data Analytics

UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP) is spearheading the Tribal MAT Project Data Analytics initiative with the goal of supporting strategic planning efforts to identify and reduce disparities for AI/AN individuals with substance use disorder. UCLA will examine data to show how the county-based behavioral health delivery system is meeting the needs of AI/AN individuals with substance use disorder as compared to other racial and ethnic groups with respect to access to care, rates and duration of service utilization, quality of care, and health outcomes. In addition, the Tribal MAT Project Data Analytics initiative will offer starting point resources for counties to consider with respect to engagement with local Tribal communities.

Pathways to Healing (PaTH)

UCLA ISAP will offer regional training opportunities for Tribal, Urban Indian, and community-based behavioral health providers to learn more about culturally driven treatment modalities and practices for AI/AN individuals with substance use disorder. The training curriculum and events will focus on implementing evidence-based and culturally-informed strategies that providers and clinicians can use to improve their treatment programming and services in ways that incorporate the Tribal beliefs, cultures, traditions, and values of their patients. Opportunities to network and engage with other providers, clinicians and communities treating AI/AN individuals across the state is a key element to this set of work. This project is part of the UCLA Opioid and Stimulant Implementation Support-Training and Technical Assistance (OASIS-TTA) Program.

Tribal MAT Project ECHO

UCLA ISAP hosts a monthly Tribal MAT ECHO™ Clinic supporting health care providers in Indian Country to improve the delivery of culturally responsive, evidence-based treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorders.  The Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO™) model is a distance learning method that links specialists at academic medical centers with primary care clinicians in local communities. The Tribal MAT ECHO™ Clinic is scheduled for the fourth Monday of each month. Each clinic begins with a presentation on a topic relevant to the delivery of opioid and/or stimulant use disorder treatment and features a facilitated discussion of a case or clinical question. Attendees are encouraged to bring complex patient cases and clinical questions for peer-to-peer discussion with input and consultation experts. Continuing education credits are available for certified and licensed participants. This project is part of the UCLA OASIS-TTA Program.

State/Local-Tribal Collaboration Project

Challenges around collaboration between state/local entities and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) Tribal nations and Tribal/Urban Indian organizations are common nationwide and span many areas of work. Seeking to learn more about and address some of these challenges, the USC Keck School of Medicine will carry out a project to explore and address some of these challenges as they relate to substance use disorder/opioid use disorder in California.

Additional Resources

California Youth Opioid Response

Apr 10, 2019

California Youth Opioid Response (YOR California) is a partnership between the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions (CIBHS) and Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., (AHP) which provides funding to organizations to implement and expand MAT and opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services to youth and their family members. YOR California has provided support to organizations throughout California, spanning the continuum of prevention, intervention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services for youth and young adults.

YOR California recently awarded the third round of funds, providing a total of $12 million to 43 grantees. Funding is for implementation projects, which provide treatment services to youth, and capacity building only projects, which increase access to quality services but don’t provide direct treatment. The project also includes robust technical assistance to support grantee and other stakeholder’s efforts to address the needs of youth misusing opioids.

Learn more at yorcalifornia.cibhs.org.

This project receives funding from the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Project Leads

Provider Training and Technical Assistance

Apr 10, 2019

The Integrated Substance Abuse Programs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA ISAP) is providing training services and technical assistance across the state of California to improve, expand and increase access to MAT services. The purpose of this program is to identify the barriers to prescribing buprenorphine and provide targeted mentorship, training, and technical assistance to address those barriers.

At project initiation in 2018, ISAP conducted a statewide survey to assess treatment needs of waivered prescribers, which served as the basis of the training/technical assistance plans. With continuing funds in 2020 and 2022, the program expanded to address fentanyl and stimulant use disorders, as well as the specific needs of youth and persons experiencing homelessness or unstable housing.

Through the Provider Support Initiative, providers, prescribers, and MAT team members can access consultation and mentorship; access live and on-demand web-based trainings; and participate in CA MAT ECHO clinics, which offer case-based learning utilizing the Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO™) web-based consultation mechanism. In addition, an extensive catalog of on-demand learning opportunities, most offering free CE and/or CME, is available.

This project receives funding from the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Visit the Provider Support Initiative page on the UCLA OASIS-TTA website to learn more.

Project Leads

Media Campaign

Apr 10, 2019

Media Solutions is working with DHCS to provide for the MAT Project, a multi-media, multilingual advertising campaign covering various cities within the state of California, specifically targeting highly affected communities. The media selection includes but is not limited to Television, Radio, Digital Outdoor, Convenience Store Posters, Print and Digital (minimally Search, Display and OTT) in English, Spanish and Chinese. The objective of MAT Media Campaign is to raise awareness, break the stigma, promote recovery, build hope & save lives. It is an opportunity to educate Americans that treatment can enable those with a substance use disorder and/or a mental health condition to live a healthy and rewarding life. The MAT Project is targeted at individuals with substance use disorder and their families, with an emphasis on making connections to treatment. Visit the website ChooseChangeCA.org to learn more about the statewide “Choose Change” campaign, and to find MAT via the Treatment Locator.

This project receives funding from the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Project Highlights

  • Lorena Rey, a media coordinator for Media Solutions who works closely with DHCS and the MAT campaign conducted an interview with Edicion Digital CA that aired on Univision in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bakersfield (see below, video in Spanish).
  • In recognition of November as Native American Heritage Month, Media Campaign partnered with ABC10 to raise awareness and target the Native American population. As studies have shown, the Native American population had the largest year over year growth from 2021 to 2022 and is more afflicted with opioid use disorder than any other racial group. Through this collaboration, Media Campaign showcased Native American-focused creative content to amplify the significance of the month.
  • Merulo Media collaborated with DJ endorsements featuring Hosts Bryhana from KPWR in LA, who tragically lost a close friend to opioid use, and Romeo from KDAY in LA, who currently has a friend battling addiction (see audios below).
  • Audacy aired a 30 second spot featuring Megan Holiday, a recovering addict and DJ who is deeply committed to spreading the MAT message. Her heartfelt Endorsement was broadcasted on KROQ in LA.
  • Lotus Radio aired a 60 second “Minute of MAT” spot from November 13, 2023, to December 31, 2023, to enhance the delivery of the MAT message with greater depth. This longer spot provides detailed guidance on accessing help for oneself and offers additional information for loved ones supporting family members or close friends battling addiction.

Project Leads

Project Resources

Lorena Rey’s Edicion Digital CA Interview in Spanish

Lorena is a media coordinator for Media Solutions who works closely with DHCS and the MAT campaign who conducted an interview with Edicion Digital CA that aired on Univision in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bakersfield.

Transcript of Lorena Rey’s Univision Interview Video in English
Transcripción del video de la entrevista de Lorena Rey en Univision en español

DJ Endorsement Featuring Host Romeo from KDAY in LA

Transcript of DJ Endorsement Featuring Host Romeo from KDAY in LA

DJ Endorsement Featuring Host Bryhana from KPWR in LA

Transcript of DJ Endorsement Featuring Host Bryhana from KPWR in LA

MAT/SUD Posters

View an enlargement of the Choose Change California Find the Right Treatment poster View an enlargement of the Choose Change California Find Treatment Options poster

View an enlargement of the Choose Change California Find the Right Treatment poster in Spanish View an enlargement of the Choose Change California Find Treatment Options poster in Spanish

Pictured: Choose Change California ChooseChangeCA.org poster in Mandarin Pictured: Choose Change California ChooseMAT.org poster in Mandarin

 

 

MAT Access Points

Apr 10, 2019

The Center at Sierra Health Foundation works to promote health and racial equity throughout California with a community-first funding model that centers the voices and priorities of marginalized communities. The Center is partnering with DHCS to expand the reach of MAT services and wraparound care to all who need it. The project is centered on increasing access to comprehensive prevention, education and treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorders, and to improve health outcomes for communities of color disproportionately impacted by and penalized for substance use disorders.

In the first and second rounds, the MAT Access Points Project provided support to organizations to increase access to treatment services by building their capacity to provide MAT and substance use disorder treatment, as well as support for community-based organizations to conduct racially and culturally responsive prevention and educational activities focused on awareness of substance use disorder and reducing stigma. The focus for funding opportunities has been on disproportionately impacted communities such as tribal populations and communities of color, and has also included innovative projects through recovery housing and syringe services programs.

In the third round of the project, MAT Access Points is continuing to expand access to prevention and education for priority populations as well as partners with projects across the state that support various components of DHCS’ California MAT Expansion project including tribal MAT projects, youth focused work, and narcotic treatment programs, among others. For more information, visit the MAT Access Points Website.

This project receives State Opioid Response (SOR) grant funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and State General Funds from the State of California.

Project Leads

Other Resources: