UCDD Working On Grant To Place Two Certified Peer Recovery Specialists In All 14 UC Counties

Upper Cumberland Development District working on an application to secure certified peer recovery specialists in all 14 Upper Cumberland counties.

Director Mark Farley updated the Executive Committee during a meeting Wednesday. He said the goal is to put a male and female specialist in each county, or at the very least one in each depending how the grant works out.

“Our goal is to try and put those things in place over a three-year period and get those individuals in place working,” Farley said. “And our goal is to embed them in non-profits all over the 14 counties that are doing the opioid work. ”

Farley said by having certified individuals designated to each county, they hope to build more momentum for substance abuse recovery efforts. He said they also want to potentially partner with Tennessee Tech to do research and document the process.

Farley said the process will to implement the specialists will expand over three years. He said at the end of those three years, he asks local county and city governments to consider contributing a portion of their opioid abatement funds to continue the efforts.

“Looking at year number four, if we can show that we put in place a program that works, maybe year four or five, the counties would take some of their money and look at putting it into that after we put together the data and are able to show what’s been happening and try and show some impact like that,” Farley said. “I know each one of you have a lot of your local non-profits and local groups that are coming to you for funding, and you need to take care of them for those first three years at least.”

Farley said they then can look at potentially creating a bigger program for the region. He said applications open up in August.