South Southwest ATTC

The purpose of the listening sessions was to gather information from family members and loved ones of people with substance use challenges to better understand family members’ experiences supporting and seeking support for their loved one who is using substances; to ask what questions family members have about supporting their loved one who is using substances; to ask who or what is providing support for family members; and the unmet needs for support for family members. Version 1 of this report in February 2023, which described the process and findings from the initial round of listening session in 2022. Version 2 of this report describes the process and findings of additional follow up community outreach in 2023 to enhance the first phase of this consultation process: including a new round of listening sessions with family members and loved ones of people who use substances.  This project is in collaboration with the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence and National Hispanic and Latino ATTC.

The South Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (SSW ATTC) collaborates with Faith Partners, Inc. a non-profit 501©3, which was founded in 1995 by religious leaders seeking ways to mobilize faith communities’ resources to address alcohol and drug issues in their communities. Faith Partners provides the leadership, training, educational materials and consultation to initiate, develop and sustain a faith communities’ efforts to address drugs and alcohol and its impact on their members. Faith Partners provides an individualized plan to start an effective team effort to address the needs of the whole faith community. As part of the process of building capacity and identifying the unique needs and goals of each faith community around the development of their ministry, Faith Partners utilizes community surveys at several points in time. Following is a practical guide developed by the South Southwest ATTC with best practices for engaging the entire faith community in the survey process.

The purpose of the listening sessions was to gather information from family members and loved ones of people with substance use challenges to better understand family members’ experiences supporting and seeking support for their loved one who is using substances; to ask what questions family members have about supporting their loved one who is using substances; to ask who or what is providing support for family members; and the unmet needs for support for family members. This report describes the process and findings of the first phase of this consultation process: listening sessions with family members and loved ones of people who use substances. This project is in collaboration with the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence and National Hispanic and Latino ATTC.