The nation’s substance use disorder crisis disproportionately impacts Appalachia, where in 2021 overdose-related mortality rates for people ages 25–54 was 72 percent higher in the region than the rest of the country. Appalachians struggling with substance use disorder encounter additional barriers including transportation, housing, access to care, education, and steady employment. These challenges make it even harder for those in recovery to connect with long-term recovery solutions and reenter the workforce and community. Furthermore a compromised workforce can impede economic output. Using a multi-pronged approach – including the Investments Supporting Partnerships In Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Initiative – ARC supports innovative efforts to establish community-based recovery ecosystems to save lives and strengthen the Region.
What ARC is Doing to Address Substance Use Disorder
The SUPPORT Act, passed by Congress in 2018, offered additional guidance to ARC for taking on the opioid epidemic throughout the Region. ARC is applying that guidance to regionally-focused solutions that help establish recovery ecosystems, which encourage communities to take a holistic view of the support services and training needed to maintain recovery and obtain employment. Since Fiscal Year 2020, Congress has appropriated funds for ARC to invest in pilot recovery-to-work initiatives across the Region.
INSPIRE Initiative
The Investments Supporting Partnerships In Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) is an initiative addressing the substance use disorder crisis by creating or expanding a recovery ecosystem that will lead to workforce entry or re-entry. Successful projects will support the post-treatment to employment continuum, as well as initiatives designed to coordinate, or link, recovery services and training that support the recovery ecosystem.
Investments in Action
Philip Cooper: Inspiring Change
Recovery-to-Work Listening Sessions
ARC held listening sessions in six states between December 2018–April 2019. These listening sessions focused on the impact that the substance use disorder crisis is having on economic and workforce opportunities across the Region and the support services needed to help Appalachians in recovery obtain employment. The session findings are summarized in this report, identifying five common themes that ARC should consider when addressing the economic issues stemming from substance use disorder.
Substance Use Disorder Advisory Council
ARC formed the Substance Use Disorder Advisory Council—a volunteer advisory group of community leaders from a variety of Regional sectors—to offer additional guidance and recommendations for ARC’s recovery ecosystem support. The Council convened in May 2019 and presented their recommendations for supporting a robust recovery ecosystem to ARC in August 2019.
Opioids in Appalachia: The Role of Counties in Reversing a Regional Epidemic
ARC partnered with the National Association of Counties (NACo) to offer tools and resources that equip local leaders in the fight against substance use disorder.