Peer Recovery Support Series: Taking the First Steps Together — Best Practices for Supporting Peer-Staff and Parents in Recovery

Time: 12:00 - 13:30 Eastern Time

Description:

Our session focuses on supporting families impacted by parental substance use. Attendees will be introduced to our innovative guide, "Taking the First Steps Together: A Guide to Creating Collaborative Peer-Led Services for Parents Affected by Substance Use." We will highlight our learnings from creating a strengths-based, person-centered, and trauma-informed program to serve families impacted by parental substance use across Massachusetts. We include tools and resources to help agencies implement these approaches within their own organizations. Our session will focus on the ways we have adapted our program throughout the continuum of service delivery to better meet the needs of those in recovery, including our own staff, as well as the families we serve. We will walk participants through our guide and family portfolio to highlight important tools and best practices for families affected by parental substance use.

Presenters:

Erica Napolitan is the Assistant Director of the Training and Technical Assistance Team for FIRST Steps Together at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Boston. She began her work 13 years ago as a Family Support Specialist and MOUD Advocate with the FRESH Start Program after successfully completing the program herself, as a client. Through her work with FRESH Start and later, Project NESST, she began speaking publicly, training providers and medical professionals from across the country on substance exposed newborns, benefits of peer support/coaching, using parenting as a catalyst to recovery, and the importance of trauma-informed practices for individuals and families with substance use disorder. Today, she provides training, collaborates with other agencies and programs across the state, and promotes the development and use of the peer workforce to support parents affected by substance use.

Sophia Terry, MSW, LICSW, is a clinical social worker who currently works as a clinical program specialist on the training and technical assistance team for FIRST Steps Together. For the past decade, she has worked to support children and families impacted by trauma and substance use. Prior to her current role, she worked in a variety of settings including residential, transitional, outpatient and home visiting programs, offering counseling and case management support for children and their parents. She is trained in several approaches, including newborn behavioral observation (NBO), facilitating attuned interactions (FAN), and mothering from the inside out (MIO), and holds a post-graduate certificate from William James in child and family forensics.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will develop an understanding of the importance of taking a strengths-based, person-centered, and trauma-informed approach when serving families impacted by parental substance use.
• Participants will be able to use the guide to inform policies and practices within their organizations to better meet the needs of staff and program participants in recovery.
• Participants will be able to use the family portfolio and provider guide in partnership with parents and the providers that support them to deliver collaborative care for families.