Treatment Improvement Exchange - Special Topics

Technical Assistance*, Training and Education Opportunities

*Funded by the Department of Health and Human Services

AddictionED.org. This site, created by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center program (ATTC), is an international reference for distance education opportunities for the field. It serves as a resource for students and professionals to identify distance education opportunities around the world and acts as a marketing venue for ATTC approved sponsors of distance education courses. You can search for available courses on topics such as mothers and infants, co-occurring disorders, criminal justice, treatment planning, and child welfare, among others. http://www.nattc.org/addictionEd/index.asp
The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network. The ATTC Network, funded by SAMHSA, is dedicated to identifying and advancing opportunities for improving addiction treatment. It undertakes a broad range of initiatives that respond to emerging needs and issues in the treatment field, and seeks to upgrade the skills of existing practitioners and other health professionals and to disseminate the latest science to the treatment community. Serving the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Pacific Islands, the ATTC Network operates as 14 individual Regional Centers and a National Office. The ATTC Network focuses on six areas of emphasis for improving addiction treatment: Enhancing Cultural Appropriateness; Developing and Disseminating Tools; Building a Better Workforce; Advancing Knowledge Adoption; Ongoing Assessment and Improvement; and Forging Partnerships. Each ATTC in the National Network has worked to create a variety of publications of interest to the addictions field and you can search their catalog to find resources and publications specific to women. www.nattc.org
Co-Occurring Center for Excellence (COCE) The Co-Occurring Center for Excellence provides technical assistance and cross-training for States, tribes and local jurisdictions and other social and public health providers, Topics can include: screening and assessment, treatment planning, evidence and consensus based practices, workforce development and systems integration. For more information on Technical assistance and training or how to apply, go to http://coce.samhsa.gov/services/
CSAP Prevention Pathways. Through this site, CSAP offers prevention courses that are free to the public. Some courses are meant for professionals and have continuing education credits available. Other courses are designed to provide helpful information to members of the general public interested in prevention topics. Two courses specific to women’s issues include: It Won't Happen to Me: Alcohol Abuse and Violence Against Women (for those who are concerned about the issue) and Silence Hurts: Alcohol Abuse and Violence Against Women (for Professionals; CEUs are offered). http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Center for Excellence . The SAMHSA Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Center for Excellence provides education and training on FASD. To meet this objective, the FASD Center has developed online courses, educational materials, and training and technical assistance resources. http://fascenter.samhsa.gov/educationTraining/educationTraining.cfm
Homelessness Resource Center . The Homelessness Resource Center is a program of SAMHSA with the mission of improving the lives of people affected by homelessness who have mental health conditions, substance use issues, and histories of trauma. The Center is interactive community of providers, consumers, policymakers, researchers, and public agencies at federal, state, and local levels that shares state-of-the art knowledge and promising practices to prevent and end homelessness through: training and technical assistance, publications and materials, on-line learning opportunities and networking and collaboration. http://www.nrchmi.samhsa.gov/
National Center for Trauma-Informed Care. CMHS’s National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC) assists publicly-funded agencies, programs, and services in making the important cultural shift to a more trauma-informed environment that benefits both systems and consumers. NCTIC maintains a speakers bureau and offers free or low-cost trauma training and coordinates technical assistance to publicly-funded health and human service systems and programs in the U.S. To apply, or for more information go to http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/nctic/training.asp

National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW).http://ncsacw.samhsa.gov

Technical Assistance. The NCSACW provides TA on substance abuse issues in the child welfare population. TA is available to national, state, tribal, and local agencies and individuals. A key feature of NCSACW's efforts is assistance in developing the cross-system partnerships and practice changes that are needed to address the issues of substance use disorders among families in the child welfare system. In addition, the NCSACW provides in-depth technical assistance (IDTA) to a few selected sites. NCSACW works with these selected sites to develop a Scope of Work for the IDTA that includes working with the substance abuse, child welfare and court systems, as well as local tribes, to increase their collaboration and strategic plans for working together. http://ncsacw.samhsa.gov/ta.asp

Online Tutorials and Training. The NCSACW offers online tutorials for specific target audiences. The tutorials focus on the subjects of substance abuse and child welfare; they support and facilitate collaboration between the child welfare system, the substance abuse treatment system, and the courts. Two online self-tutorials are now available – Understanding Child Welfare and the Dependency Court: A Guide for Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals and Understanding Substance Use Disorders, Treatment and Family Recovery: A Guide for Child Welfare Professionals. Two more self-tutorials (for judicial officers and legislators) are being developed. There is no charge to complete the course or receive CEUs. For more information, visit http://ncsacw.samhsa.gov/tutorials/index.asp.
National Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Program (NDCTTAP). NDCTTAP is a training initiative that helps communities develop effective adult, juvenile, family, and tribal drug court programs. Communities interested in planning a drug court program are encouraged to register for NDCTTAP. This site provides communities participating in NDCTTAP training programs with resource materials that enhance the NDCTTAP training experience. Training resources contained herein are provided as supplements to the materials obtained at each NDCTTAP training program. The NDCTTAP is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). http://www.dcpi.ncjrs.gov/dcpi/index.html
National GAINS Center . The National GAINS Center is comprised of the Center for Evidence-Based Programs in the Justice System and the Technical Assistance and Policy Analysis (TAPA) Center for Jail Diversion and funded by the Center for Mental Health Services.The National GAINS Center offers a one-day strategic analysis workshop for States engaged in comprehensive statewide planning and cross-system coordination of their criminal justice, mental health and substance abuse systems. General TA and onsite TA is also available. http://gainscenter.samhsa.gov/html/tta/tech_assist.asp

The National Technical Assistance Center for State Mental Health Planning (NTAC). NTAC provides focused, state-of-the-art technical assistance and consultation to State Mental Health Agencies, state mental health planning and advisory councils, consumers, and families to help ensure that the best practices and most up-to-date knowledge in mental health and related fields are translated into action at the state and local levels. The NTAC is operated by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) under a contract with SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services. http://www.nasmhpd.org/ntac.cfm
Neonatal Substance Exposure/Substance Exposed Newborns (SEN) and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome [e-learning].
These are just two of a series of online training modules developed by the Arizona CASA Association and Arizona Supreme Court for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), Foster Care Review Board members (FCRBs), staff, volunteers and the general public. The training module on SENs will present you with information on the effects that intrauterine drug exposure has on children. While some drugs were studied many years ago, others have become topics of concern only in the past decade. You will also be given information on how a drug affects a child's long term development and methods for working with drug-affected children. The training module on FAS includes a history of the disorder, criteria for identifying and diagnosing FAS and related disorders, the effects of in utero exposure, treatments, and the behavioral and learning traits associated with FAS. For information on these and other training modules go to http://www.supreme.state.az.us/casa/prepare/training.html
Targeted Technical Assistance. This project provides state-of-the-art policy analysis and TA to multiple stakeholders in a State’s public mental health system, in an effort to implement recommendations of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. TTA is a program operated by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) under a contract with SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services. NASMHPD partners with the Federation of Families for Children’s Health, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the National Mental Health Association to carry out the TA. http://www.nasmhpd.org/targeted_ta.cfm

Other Technical Assistance and Training Resources
Children's Bureau Training and Technical Assistance Network. This booklet summarizes information on all the National Resource Centers (NRCs) funded by the Children's Bureau, within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist/cbttan/
Developing Competitive SAMHSA Grant Applications manual was created to help grantees acquire the skills and resources needed to plan, write, and prepare a competitive grant application for SAMHSA funding. http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/ta/