Announcing the 2017-2022 ATTC Network

Laurie Krom, MS
Project Director 
ATTC Network Coordinating Office

A new five-year Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network grant cycle launched on October 1. The new cycle continues the funding that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has provided to the Network since 1993. Over the past two decades, ATTC Network’s mission has been to develop the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services workforce. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue this mission, and to support the workforce in meeting the treatment and recovery needs of people with SUDs.     

Changes to the Structure of the ATTC Network

The 2017-2022 ATTC Network is comprised of one Network Coordinating Office, 10 domestic regional centers, and six international HIV centers. The international ATTCs are funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through SAMHSA. The National Focus Area ATTCs were not included in the latest funding opportunity announcement for the ATTC program, however, the National American Indian and Alaska Native ATTC and the National Hispanic and Latino ATTC will both operate on a no cost extension through the end of 2017.

The grantee organizations for the Central East, New England, Northeast and Caribbean, Pacific Southwest, and Southeast ATTC Regional Centers as well as the Vietnam HIV ATTC and Southeast Asia HIV ATTC have not changed. The Great Lakes, Mid-America, Northwest, and Mountain Plains ATTC Regional Centers are hosted by new organizations. The Ukraine HIV ATTC and South Africa HIV ATTC are new centers. The Network Coordinating Office will resume activity as a single office at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The table below provides more detailed information.

Changes to the Function of the ATTC Network

In the new grant cycle, SAMHSA has shifted the focus of ATTC Network efforts dissemination activities (e.g., stand-alone trainings aimed at building individuals’ competencies) to intensive technical assistance and quality improvement activities.

The ATTC Network uses its Technology Transfer Model as a guide for promoting the use of evidence-based practices for treating substance use disorders. The model illustrates how innovations evolve along a continuum, beginning with development and concluding with implementation--where the innovation is incorporated into routine practice in real-world settings. 

For about 25 years, the ATTCs have focused on the dissemination area of the model, providing numerous trainings to large numbers of participants.

The 2017-2022 ATTCs will focus on the implementation area of the model, with a goal to stimulate measureable change in practice. The brief skills training, conferences, workshops, and publications that the Network has always offered will still be available, based on local and regional needs. However, in the new grant cycle, the Network will offer more intensive technical assistance (TA), working with organizations to improve the quality of services offered across the continuum of care. This intensive TA may be delivered in formats such as:

• Connected learning series and communities
• Organizational development and systems change projects
• Technical assistance to organizations, localities, and states

This intensive TA may also be informed by an approach that engages consumers in all aspects of implementation, such as that described the Institute of Medicine’s Report in Brief: Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards.

ATTC Network Coordinating Office

The Network Coordinating Office (NCO) will continue to provide infrastructure to enhance communication and collaboration among the ATTCs. The NCO will also continue to be the gateway to the Network, building relationships with national and international stakeholders to expand the impact of the ATTC program. New in this round of funding, SAMHSA has indicated that the NCO will take on a stronger coordination role for the Network with specific activities to minimize duplication. Furthermore, the NCO is responsible for developing and implementing a project to encourage domestic opioid treatment providers to increase screening and linkage to care for Hepatitis C.  

ATTC Regional Centers

As in the past, the ATTC Regional Centers will work to meet SAMHSA’s workforce development goals. Centers’ activities to advance the SUD treatment and recovery services profession will include:

• Developing relationships with key stakeholders, to include state and local governments, provider associations, and academic institutions
• Designing activities and supporting efforts to attract students to pursue a career in SUD treatment
• Providing professional development opportunities to engage and retain practitioners already in the field
• Promoting the adoption of evidence-based practices, with an emphasis on evidence-based practices for the treatment of opioid use disorders
• Supporting efforts to help the SUD workforce deliver services in Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC)
• Serving as a resource for provider organizations, to include helping providers improve the quality of their services
• Developing tools to help patients and families select and evaluate treatment
• Building SUD professionals’ competence in providing culturally competent services has been identified as a pressing workforce need. To that end, the Regional Centers will provide training in the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Healthcare (National CLAS Standards).

Each regional ATTC work plan specifies how they will actualize these activities to meet regional needs. ATTC Regional Centers work closely with Single State Authorities, SAMHSA Regional Administrators, and other local partners to ensure their activities are optimized for the region.

International ATTCs

The international ATTC s are funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)through SAMHSA. PEPFAR supports a variety of infectious disease control efforts around the world, often in countries with limited resources that have strong relationships with the United States. SAMHSA provides training and technical assistance in-country through the international ATTCs. 

The first international ATTC was established in 2005 in Hanoi, Vietnam, when SAMHSA began work with the Vietnam PEPFAR team to address HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID). This effort has enabled Vietnam to transform drug use from a public safety/criminal justice issue to a public health issue. The success of this model led to additional PEPFAR funding for SAMHSA’s international initiative, which now includes three ATTC sites in Vietnam, the Southeast Asia HIV ATTC (covering Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Southern parts of China), the Ukraine HIV ATTC and the South Africa HIV ATTC. 

The international ATTCs will work toward the 90-90-90 treatment target established by UNAIDS: 

By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. 
By 2020, 90 % of all people diagnosed with HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. 
By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.  

The ATTC Network continues to be one of SAMHSA’s flagship workforce development programs. While the structure and function of the Network is shifting, the mission remains the same. ATTCs will continue to work to:

• Accelerate the adoption and implementation of evidence‐based and promising addiction treatment and recovery-oriented practices and services;
• Heighten the awareness, knowledge, and skills of the workforce that addresses the needs of people with substance use and/or other behavioral health disorders; and
• Foster regional, national, and international alliances among culturally diverse practitioners, researchers, policy makers, funders, and the recovery community.

We look forward to the next five years. Follow our progress at ATTCnetwork.org.