Transforming Youth Recovery, Brochure (Rev. 11-22-13)

8/13/2019 Transforming Youth Recovery, Brochure (Rev. 11-22-13)

1/16

Transforming Youth RecoveryOne Community, One School, One Student At A Time

Connecting People, Ideas and ResourcesSo youth and young adults in recovery can thrive in educational settings


2/16

The Stacie Mathewson Foundation was founded in 2011 to

focus on addiction recovery and prevention for young people

and is committed to erasing the social stigma associated with

substance use disorders. In 2013 the foundation created the

501(c)(3) nonprofit, Transforming Youth Recovery, to support

educators, parents and community members in helping students

in recovery thrive in the fullness of everyday life. The vision of the

nonprofit is to transform youth recoveryone community, one

school, one student at a time.


3/16

Transforming Youth Recovery 3www.transformingyouthrecovery.org

To find whats working anddo more of it, more often, inmore places

How can we build the capacity of institutions, local communities andfamilies to help youth and young adults in recovery thrive within primary,secondary and post-secondary educational settings? And how mightthose efforts create a ripple effect in our communities and the world?

To answer these questions, Transforming Youth Recovery is lookingspecifically at the educational, peer and family networks that influenceyouth development and achievement, and we are both studying andconceiving novel approaches that could dramatically expand school-based recovery support services.

For us, the key is to mobilize localized community assets into relevantrecovery practices and coalitions. To help remove barriers to local action,we advocate for reforms in public policy, work to erase the social stigmaassociated with addiction and fund studies aimed at uncovering andpromoting best practices within the recovery field.

Were all about giving students, families and communities the ability tolook out, find others who are building capacities similar to their own,and rapidly copy and emulate those recovery practices that are helpingyouth and young adults live their best life.



4/16

4 Transforming Youth Recovery www.transformingyouthrecovery.org

A lot of young people use alcohol and drugs.

The use of alcohol and drugs leads to substance use disor-

ders.

Because of a change in criteria, substance use disorders

will be more widely diagnosed in the years ahead.

Because of the Aordable Care Act, more youth with the

diagnosis of substance use disorders will have access to

treatment.

When more youth have access to treatment, current re-

sources will be overloaded.

Info-Graphic Treatment Here

A Conversation for Now

A CONVERSATION FOR NOW

A lot of young people use

alcohol and drugs.

The use of alcoholand drugs leads tosubstance usedisorders.

Because of achange in criteria,substance usedisorders willbe more widelydiagnosed in theyears ahead.

Because of the Affordable CareAct, more youth with the diagno-sis of substance use disorders will

have access to treatment.


5/16


To deal with the overload, more school-based recovery

services are required.

To reinforce the eort to create more school-based re-

covery services, The Stacie Mathewson Foundaon has

launched a 501(c)(3) nonprot, Transforming Youth Recov-ery.

Transforming Youth Recoveryis not shy in proclaiming that

acceleraon is why we exist. While signicant contribu-

ons connue to emerge from academic and governmen-

tal sectors, the rate of change has been too slow in the

context of lives that need saving. We simply have run out

of me.

When more youth have accessto treatment, current resourc-es will be overloaded.

To deal with the overload,more school-based recoveryservices are required.

To reinforce theeffort to create moreschool-based recoverysupport services, TheStacie MathewsonFoundation has

launched a 501(c)(3)nonprofit, TransformingYouth Recovery.

Transforming Youth Recovery is

not shy in proclaiming that accel-eration is why we exist. Whilesignificant contributions continueto emerge from academic andgovernmental sectors, the rate ofchange has been too slow in thecontext of lives that need saving.

We simply have run out of time.


6/16


AddictionAddiction is a preventable disease with its origin in adolescence.For individuals who begin using alcohol and drugs before theage of 18, one in four will develop an addiction. When first use isat age 21 or older, the addiction rate is one in twenty-five.

RecoveryRecovery from addiction is not a linear process. It is a personalpath whereby people achieve abstinence, improve their healthand wellness and strive to live the best life they can. It can takeyears or a lifetime to recover, and recovery is often marked bymultiple relapses and treatment episodes. The younger a personstops using, the greater the prognosis for recovery.

Building Blocks of TYR


7/16


AssetAn asset, in our usage, can be a place, a resource, a service, anexperience or a relationship. Our work focuses on finding individual andorganizational assets in a community and mobilizing them into recoverypractices and local coalitions.

PracticeA practice, for our purposes, is the useful application of assets. Forexample, an AA community might be an asset, and a dedicated meetingspace might also be an asset. Hosting regular AA meetings in thededicated meeting space would be a practice.

CoalitionA coalition is an alliance of assets working together to removebarriers to local action and to build an academic communityscapacity for helping students in recovery thrive in the fullnessof their educational experiences.

NetworkNetworks are a means of connecting people, ideas and resources. Tohelp local organizers amplify school-based efforts and connect recoverycommunities that span geographies, we offer a specially designednetwork platform known as Capacitype.

AccelerationAcceleration is why we exist. While significant contributions continue toemerge from academic and governmental sectors, the rate of changehas been too slow in the context of lives that need saving. We simplyhave run out of time.


8/16


Acceleration in Five Key AreasWe are accelerating the rate of change in five areas of focus:

Higher Education (School-Based Recovery Support)

Community Colleges (School-Based Recovery Support)

High Schools (School-Based Recovery Support)

K-8th Grade Prevention and Intervention (Family Educationand Support)

Life Skills Initiatives

A key accelerator will be funded seeds of hope grantprograms to kick off the early-stage building of capacity forrecovery efforts, both school-based and community-driven.

Through these early-stage activities, our intention is to movedispersed or underutilized services into networked supportstructures accessible to any youth vulnerable to a substanceuse disorder.


9/16


Higher Education

Mobilizing existing assets for collegiate recovery

When we rst got involved with

collegiate recovery, we found

a convenonal wisdom that

colleges lacked the dedicated

resources for helping students

in recovery fulll their academic

and personal potenal. In otherwords, there was a percepon

that the problem was a

resource gap.

This percepon had led

federal agencies and academic

instuons to adopt a problem-

solving approach that soughtto add acvies and services to

address supposed deciencies.

However, through an asset-based

research project funded by The

Stacie Mathewson Foundaon,

we discovered a nearly universally

held opinion that the real issue

was how to manage access to

resources that in many cases

already existed. And the real need

was for help in building

the types of relaonships

that enable students to take

advantage of the full breadth of

the collegiate experience.

Consequently, we have pivoted

from aprogram focusto a

relaonship focus, a migraon

fromproblem solvingto capacity

building. Its a maer of starng

with the assumpon that college

communies already havethe resources and capabilies

necessary to help students in

recovery to thrive. When you start

there, you can then concentrate

on removing barriers that may be

constraining students in recovery

from accessing those assets that

could help them thrive in the

fullness of their college experience.

Our focus is on smulang

community support for collegiate

recovery programs. Our goal

is to work toward instuonal

acceptance and ownership of

support services necessary in an

environment prone to drug andalcohol exposure.

Toward that goal, we are

providing toolkits, assistance

and $10,000 seed grants to help

student-led groups nd and

mobilize collegiate recovery

assets that already exist.

Extending further, we recognize

that advocacy is needed to

inuence state and federal

policies that might beer support

collegiate recovery eorts.


10/16


11/16


12/16


K-8 Family Education and Support

Aiming to delay the age of first use of alcohol and drugs

Sixty-ve percent of Americans

report that addicon to alcohol

and other drugs has had a signif-

icant impact on their lives and

families. Emerging research is

poinng to a new direcon that

may assist in reducing the dam-aging eects of the disease of

addicon. That direcon is rooted

in delaying the age of rst use of

alcohol or drugs.

For those who are at-risk for

substance use or co-occurring

disorders, iniaon happens be-tween the ages of 15 and 17. But

studies have also shown that rst

drug and alcohol use can occur as

early as age 11 or 12. Many mes

behavioral issues displayed by a

child as young as ve years old

can be red ags for predisposion

to the disease of addicon.

An early age of rst use is cor-

related with a higher rate of

dependence later in life. What is

clear from 20 years of Naonal

Instutes of Health research is

that most eecve programs sll

need to be implemented broad-ly. This is parcularly true when

it comes to family educaon on

intervenon and prevenon pro-

grams available for children ages

5-13 and in their early years of

schooling.

We are posioned to be part ofa soluon of delaying substance

use iniaon and nding novel

ways to strengthen the support

system for youth who are unable

to escape the disease of addic-

on. Our focus is on beer un-

derstanding the life trajectory of

youth when they are introduced

to substances such as alcohol,

medicine and prescripon drugs

at certain ages. Our belief is that

a greater awareness of the po-

tenal impact of substance use

iniaon at certain ages can help

families and communies pro-

tect the well-being of youth atall points of life and educaonal

development.

We willundertake outreach

eorts aimed at delaying rst use

of substances that correlate to a

higher rate of potenal depen-

dence later in life. Under thatumbrella, we will work to equip

families and communies with

emerging knowledge and strate-

gies aimed at protecng youth at-

risk for substance use disorders.


13/16


Life Skills

Focusing on the gap between secondary andpost-secondary education

Adolescent substance abuse is

one of the largest and costliest

preventable public health issues

in the United States. Total costs

to federal, state and local gov-ernments of substance abuse is

esmated to cost the naon more

than $600 billion per year. Add to

this the further impact that the

use of drugs and alcohol is having

on academic success and reten-

on in a naon where currently

30 percent of high school stu-

dents are not graduang.

Most substance use or co-

occurring disorders are

considered chronic. That is, once

an adolescent is facing these

problems, they will not go away

on their own. Suspending or

dropping out of tradional school

systems becomes a common

occurrence for the substance use

disorder populaon.

Students drop out or have limited

academic success for a variety

of reasons. We are looking to

play an acve role in two of the

leading reasons the need for

basic life skills and the call for

an evolved educaonal system

that recognizes the importance

of intervenon, prevenon and

recovery support services.

Our eorts are predominately

focused on the gap between

secondary and post-secondary

educaon, where students in

recovery are most vulnerable

to the failure to launch

phenomenon as the strategies

and supports that worked in high

school when protected at home

are not adequate to the new

demands that independent living

and advanced learning can place

on young adults.

We are iniang studies designed

to idenfy how best to dene and

deliver needed life skills to transi-

oning young adults in recovery.

It is expected that these iniaves

will require signicant outreach

and coalion building. We stand

ready to be a major contributorin helping those students just

idenfying their addicon to suc-

cessfully sustain recovery and nd

their lifes path.


14/16


Learning, investing and building behind

the scenesBehind the specic acvies in the ve Areas of Focus, we are connuing to build our knowledge

and understanding, to invest in infrastructure and to build capabilies. Behind-the-scenes

undertakings include:

Research-driven studies to uncover the programmac, polical andsocial landscape for school-based

recovery eorts:

The Assets for Building Collegiate Recovery CapacityApril, 2013

Market Study for Recovery High SchoolsSeptember, 2013

Thriving Quoent for Students in Recovery2014-2015

Asset Framework for Community Colleges2014-2015

Market Study for Youth and Family Intervenon, Prevenon and Recovery Support Services2014-2015

Investmentsin network plaorms to connect people, ideas and resources:

Transforming Youth Recovery is building a robust network plaorm, Capacitype, to serve as a vehicle for

mobilizing collecve acon on a large scale.

Allows acvies to spread quickly without being routed through a central authority.

Oers space for making connecons among people in order to strengthen exisng es, bring new people

into the fold and bridge divides.

Enables organizers and funders to amplify their place-based eorts and connect communies that span

geographies. Supports relaonship and network analysis within and among coalions emerging to serve youth in recovery

within communies.

All based on the discipline of community mapping to create an inventory of individual, organizaonal and

physical assets that shape the pracces of each school-based recovery eort.


15/16


Disseminaon of grants to provide seeds of hope, infuse energy and mobilize community-based assets to

dramacally expand the footprint of youth recoverysupport eorts.

The creaon of toolkits to implement capacity-building acvies and the promoon of a networked

community of students and praconers are to be smulated by seeds of hope grant programs

administered by Transforming Youth Recovery.

Takes advantage of mulple taccs understood to advance change and garner genuine community support

for local recovery support eorts.

Includes careful evaluaon to inform grant programs due to come online aer compleon of each

areas-of-focus study.

Sustaining the North Star of strengthening healthy acon taken by families to properly care for thedisease of addicon.

We invite you to join our growing network of individuals,

professionals and organizaons as we work together to create

viable soluons and leading edge programs that save lives and

change public percepons of addicon and recovery,

one community, one school and one student at a me.

Transforming Youth Recovery

c/o The Stacie Mathewson Foundaon

P. O. Box 6448

Reno, NV 89513

(858) 350-1111

www.transformingyouthrecovery.org

Stacie Mathewson, Execuve Director

Visit www.transformingyouthrecovery.orgfor helpful

tools and resources and to learn more about our

eorts to build pathways to recovery and success.

Join Us


16/16

Transforming Youth RecoveryOne Community, One School, One Student At A Time

www.transformingyouthrecovery.org

Documents

Transforming Youth Recovery, Brochure (Rev. 11-22-13)