A New Initiative To Promote Long-Term Recovery
The Fletcher Group is honored to work with Vermont’s Department of Substance Use Disorder to expand the quality, capacity, and effectiveness of recovery residences throughout the Green Mountain State. Toward that end, over the course of the next two years the four Fletcher Group subject matter experts shown below will do the following.
What the Fletcher Group Will Do
- Create a comprehensive inventory of all recovery residences in Vermont including an assessment of employment opportunities and other community recovery resources near each facility.Determine the appropriate “Level of Support” for all recovery residences that have not yet received such designation from the National Alliance for Recovery Residences. (Those “Levels of Support” as defined by NARR appear in the chart below.)
- Recommend investments to improve the “recovery ecosystem” resources within each community surrounding a recovery residence.
- Assess the current capacity, knowledge, and ability of recovery residences to collect the data needed to improve resident outcomes. The assessment will include identifying the data systems currently used at each residence; their ability to collect, report, and utilize outcomes; and the resulting ability to bill for Medicaid-eligible services.
- Assess the willingness of leadership at each residence to invest in the staffing and technology for collecting the data needed to document outcomes. The assessment will also identify any barriers to implementation that might exist.
- Define the essential components of a data management system used to document outcomes so that Medicaid-eligible services can be billed. The components and minimum viable data set essential to enhancing the success of Vermont’s recovery residences will be defined in collaboration with Vermont’s Department of Substance Use Disorder and state-funded recovery residences.
- Assess the ability of Vermont’s Department of Substance Use Disorder to fund and expand the capacity of Vermont’s recovery residences. This will include identifying options, identifying sustainable alternative payment models, and providing technical assistance to help Vermont’s recovery residences develop a sustainable funding model, including reasonable fee structures.
- Identify and provide the training needed by recovery residence operators.
Meet the Team!
The four Fletcher Group subject matter experts shown below are committed to helping the state of Vermont expand the quality, capacity, and effectiveness of its recovery housing facilities. To contact the team or obtain more detailed information about the program, call or email Team Leader Rachael Nichols at 301-742-5001/ rnichols@fletchergroup.org.
Rachael assists recovery allies and recovery housing operators build effective programs and put together the financing necessary to support their clients in sustaining long term recovery. She collaborates with a wide range of partners to improve the capacity and quality of recovery housing and services throughout Ohio and her native Pennsylvania. Rachael previously resided in Washington, DC, where she helped raise capital improvement funds for one of the nation's largest school districts.
Robin provides overall guidance and support to the research team. With over ten years of experience in public health research, she has expertise in mixed methods study design, survey development, and program evaluation. Dedicated to preventive medicine and promotion of healthy behaviors, she completed her MPH in Health Behavior and DrPH in Epidemiology from the University of Kentucky College of Public Health in 2014 and 2019, respectively.
A graduate of Portland State University, Grace helps evaluate the impact and effectiveness of recovery support services, with a focus on policies related to recovery housing, measurement of client outcomes and recovery capital. Her evaluation interests include the impact of Oregon’s drug decriminalization and the state’s expansion of recovery support services. Grace coordinates work underway on numerous research and evaluation projects.
As a health economist, Madison leads various research projects related to substance use disorder stigma, the economic impacts of recovery support services, and program evaluation. She has expertise in designing evaluation protocols, developing survey instruments, implementing data collection processes, completing complex statistical analyses, and using economic modeling for program evaluation. She earned her PhD in economics from the University of Wyoming in 2023.
Keep Checking In!
Updates regarding this exciting new program will be posted regularly.
This web page is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $3.3 million with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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