Building recovery communities for justice-impacted people in hawaii - makana O'ke akua (MOKA) proposes to build a community of recovery (BCOR) for justice-impacted people in recovery from substance…

Building recovery communities for justice-impacted people in hawaii - makana O'ke akua (MOKA) proposes to build a community of recovery (BCOR) for justice-impacted people in recovery from substance use (SUD) and other CO-occurring mental health disorders (COD). Our project targets adults 18 or older who are in recovery from SUD and COD and living in the honolulu county. The first BCOR grant awarded in hawaii, our project responds to the critical need to mobilize and connect justice-impacted people to an array of peer-led recovery support services (PRSS) that improve behavioral health treatment, affordable housing, competitive employment, and social reintegration outcomes. We also respond to the issue of historic service gaps and outcome disparities experienced by many underserved communities in hawaii, such as the indigenous native hawaiian and other pacific islander (NHPI) people. Considerable evidence shows the NHPI community has disproportionally higher rates of SUD and COD, chronic disease, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and justice involvement compared to other racial/ethnic groups living in hawaii. We plan to use grant funding to accomplish the following goals and objectives. (1) enhance PRSS offerings by providing (a) culturally and clinically appropriate peer support services within therapeutic living environments that are evidence based, trauma informed, and recovery oriented, (B) training, supervising, and mentoring a diverse PRSS workforce with experience overcoming criminal justice and behavioral health challenges, and (C) state certified and accredited recovery housing services with direct linkages to treatment, housing, employment and prosocial supports. (2) expand PRSS partnerships by (a) forming a steering committee and implementation team to ensure the timely completion of goas and objectives, (B) outreaching to key stakeholders from criminal justice, health care, and the recovery community at large to foster collaboration, (C) disseminating progress reports to law makers and policy makers at the federal, state, and county levels to raise awareness. (3) enhance and expand PRSS activities that work by (a) completing needs assessments and disparity impact statements, (B) collecting and reporting on key performance indicator data, and (C) developing strategic plans for scaling and sustaining services after the grant period ends. A non-profit 501 (C) 3 organization founded and led by members of the recovery community, MOKA has over twenty (20) years of experience providing peer-led supported housing and employment services for justice-impacted adults with SUD and COD. IT currently operates 8 recovery homes with a total capacity of 85 beds, serving over 125 people annually. In 3-years, this project services 180 unduplicated individuals at 3-separate recovery homes.