Recovery Oriented Systems of Care

WELCOME TO TEECH FOUNDATION

Recovery Oriented
Systems of Care

Recovery Oriented Systems of Care

ROSC is a network of organizations and services within the community that provides resources and solutions to those in or seeking recovery, family, friends, and the community.

Addiction affects us all in some way, it can be personally within our families or visible within our communities…it’s not just the problem of the person with an addiction.

ROSC was developed to provide a broad range of recovery support by recognizing the impact of addiction on family, friends and communities and inviting them into the process. There are many paths one can take to overcome addiction; and T.E.E.C.H adopted the ROSC model to help participants explore what works for them. It is a community effort designed to reduce the stigma associated with addiction, include those who are invested in the success of the participant, and provide support so the family can rebuild.

There are many paths to recovery. People will choose their pathway based on their cultural values, their socioeconomic status, their psychological and behavioral needs, and the nature of their substance use disorder.

Discover Your Path

TEECH Multiple Pathways Recovery Resource Guide

This Recovery Resource Guide has been developed to promote and explore the varied pathways of recovery. While comprehensive, this Recovery Resource Guide cannot possibly contain all pathways of recovery. This Recovery Resource Guide is intended to show people there are many choices in recovery, how to access them and what is required to become a trained facilitator if possible. This was created for T.E.E.C.H as a resource for individuals, families, and supporters seeking information by outlining and describing different pathways of recovery and demonstrating the diversity of recovery. Multiple pathways of recovery are defined as those practices, programs, rituals, and customs people use to maintain and sustain recovery. In comparison pathways to recovery can range from crisis events like treatment, experience within the criminal justice system, or a personal epiphany.

What Is Recovery?

A voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship.

- Betty Ford Institute Consensus Panel

The word “recovery” is used to mean a range of different things. For example, members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) may say they are “in recovery” or are “recovering alcoholics.” Substance use treatment program directors sometimes speak of their “recovery rate,” meaning the proportion of patients who have graduated and remained abstinent. Some activists describe themselves as being part of a “recovery movement.” Professionally, recovery may be considered, a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Even individuals with severe and chronic substance use disorders can, with help, overcome their substance use disorder and regain health and social function. This is called remission. When those positive changes and values become part of a voluntarily adopted lifestyle, that is called “being in recovery”. Although abstinence from all substance misuse is a cardinal feature of a recovery lifestyle, it is not the only healthy, pro-social feature.

– Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health

Note: The diversity of concepts and definitions associated with recovery, in recent years the term has been increasingly applied to recovery from mental illness. Studies of people with schizophrenia, some of whom have co-occurring substance use disorders, have found that recovery is often characterized by increased hope and optimism, and greater life satisfaction.

How to get involved with the Far Southside ROSC Initiative (FSSRI), Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC)

How to get involved with the Far Southside ROSC Initiative (FSSRI), Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC)
FSSRI identifies ROSC Council members who live in the community as well as representatives from local hospitals, primary care, mental health, law enforcement, local business owners, local government representatives and policy makers, persons with lived experience and SUD intervention, and treatment and recovery support service providers. Our recruitment methods included but not limited to individuals from each of the afore-mentioned community groups by providing a recruitment campaign utilizing social media, (i.e. E-mails, Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter, etc.), focus groups, newsletters, and word of mouth.

The Recovery-oriented systems of care has been nested in the community for the purpose of enhancing the availability of support capacities of families, social networks, community-based institutions, and other people in recovery. Research shows that social and community resources promote better recovery outcomes.

FSSRI engages councils’ members and identify roles. We also provide support and feedback regularly, providing opportunities for training, involving volunteers in team meetings and in all matters that affect them, rewarding and recognizing them appropriately, connecting and maintaining open communication with other ROSC Council members. Persons with lived experience are actively recruited and encouraged to participate in the ROSC Council to ensure input from a broad spectrum of the community.

Expectations of ROSC Council Members
Community improvement and collaboration, multiple pathways to recovery, peer supported recovery, and focus on values, person-centered services, participant choice and health and wellness.

Be active in the community providing resources for all individuals and families.
Endorse the values and general principles of the Far Southside ROSC Council, as reflected in its strategic plan.
Participate in at least (8) eight ROSC council meetings per year.
Participate in ROSC activities, such as community events, newsletters, sharing new ideas, data, best practices, and other important and relevant news related to the ROSC.
Link to the ROSC website from your organization’s website.
Actively initiate and participate in collaborative activities to achieve health for all.
Promote the work of the Far Southside ROSC council.
Keep profile contact information up to date by communicating changes to Far Southside ROSC.

The FSSRI Council Goal
The Gaps/barriers will be identified pinpointing the most prevalent as perceived by the stakeholders and peers. The Far Southside ROSC Council hoped to bridge the gaps by providing education, support and awareness for the community, and education and support for the person in recovery, and their family and friends.
Develop a sustainable ROSC Council.
Identify available resources and services for those residing on the Far Southside of Chicago. Use a holistic approach placing emphasis on the importance of a continuum of care which requires the assistance of the entire community. Identify gaps in resources or the absence of resources needed to enhance those who are in recovery, family, friends, and the overall community.

FSSRI Council Steps to identify community gaps/barriers.

Monthly Community
Communication Plan
Needs Assessment
Strategic Plan

Types of Recovery
Pathways

Natural Recovery

Recovery happens naturally all the time. For many people with Substance Use Disorders, remission and recovery is a process that happens naturally and over time. In fact, such individuals may never have thought of themselves as having an addiction at all, much less being in recovery—even though by all medical classifications they would have qualified as having an addiction to a substance.

Alternative Recovery Tools

Amino Acid Therapies, The Artist’s Way, Cognitive Therapy Dance, Music, Art, Journaling/Therapeutic Writing, Equine Therapy, Fitness for Recovery, Holistic Health and Natural Alternatives,, Hypnotherapy MBSR (Mindful-Based Stress Reduction), MBRP (Mindful-Based Relapse Prevention), Meditation Nutrition Therapy for Biochemical Recovery, Wolf Therapy, WRAP – Wellness Recovery Action Plan, Yoga in Recovery.

Mutual Support/Mutual Aid

Often called ‘self-help’ groups or ‘support’ groups, these groups are small scale community-oriented groups where people suffering from Substance Use Disorders meet and provide support to each other. These groups provide a safe space for people to share stories, talk about challenges, or share personal achievements often with an overarching framework guiding the group purpose. Mutual Support Groups are often an initial destination for people hoping to find recovery, and also serve to help people maintain long-term recovery. Most mutual aid groups meet face to face, but there are web-based groups as well.

Online/Digital Recovery Supports

Online recovery meetings can help you keep in touch with your support group so you can safely connect and work together during

Medicated Assisted Recovery

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is the use of medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies for the treatment of substance use disorders. A combination of medication and behavioral therapies is effective in the treatment of substance use disorders, and has been the primary factor in helping many people to sustain recovery.

Peer Based Recovery Supports

Peer-based recovery support services are a common and often effective means by which individuals have found and sustained long-term recovery. The services are provided by individuals who have suffered from a substance use disorder and then found and sustained long-term recovery.

Multiple Pathways:
A History

The diversity in pathways to recovery has sometimes provoked debate about the value of some pathways over others. For example, people who achieve recovery with the support of medications (e.g., methadone, buprenorphine, disulfiram, acamprosate, naltrexone, or even antidepressants) have sometimes been denounced by those who do not take medications, based on assumptions that using medication is inconsistent with recovery principles or a form of drug substitutions or replacement. Nonetheless, members of the National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery or Methadone Anonymous refer to themselves as practicing medication-assisted recovery.

Finally, some people who have had severe substance use disorders in the past but no longer meet criteria for a substance use disorder do not think of themselves as operating from a recovery perspective or consider themselves part of a recovery movement, even if they endorse some or all of the beliefs and values associated with recovery.