To foster the implementation of integrated approaches for New York State residents with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse conditions.

Target Areas - Training

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Training – Each program requires a written training plan, which should include the means by which the program will assist staff to maintain and enhance their competencies to provide services for people with co-occurring disorders (e.g., through the use of current literature, film or other media, inservice trainings, and external trainings). The plan should incorporate training in specialized treatment approaches and pharmacotherapies.

Training

  • Staff of a “Dual Disorder Capable” program receive basic training in the other disorder, its prevalence, common signs and symptoms, screening and assessment, and appropriate treatment protocols, according to the agency’s strategic training plan; at least 50% of the staff is cross-trained.
  • “Dual Disorder Capable” programs providing treatment services to individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders have staff with basic skills and/or training in co-occurring disorders, its prevalence, screening and assessment, signs & symptoms, and decision-making in triage and treatment. Similarly, “Dual Disorder Capable” programs support cross-training of their staff to increase the capacity to provide treatment for co-occurring disorders within the program. This aspect of training is incorporated into the program’s strategic training plan.
  • Programs that provide only addiction services might not have an overall training strategy that includes mental health topics and will likely not have developed mechanisms to coordinate staff training needs or to track training actually received. The same is likely to be true of mental health only services. A “Dual Disorder Capable” program will have made efforts to organize this critically important and common venture in addiction and mental health treatment systems. “Dual Disorder Capable” programs aim to have 50 to 75% of staff cross-trained in addiction and mental health or co-occurring disorders services. Staff training and cross-training has not been observed to be cost-intensive, but rather forces an organization to be more directed and strategic in the use of its training dollars and time allocations.

CEIC Experience in New York State – Direct care staff are variably trained with respect to prevalence, common signs and symptoms, and screening/assessment – management typically encourages staff to participate, but does not have a formalized agency administrative training plan. Similarly, direct care staff members are variably cross-trained.

CEIC COD Training Document

SAMHSA’s “Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-occurring Disorders: Inservice Training”

(a manual based on Treatment Improvement Protocol [TIP] 42 “Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-occurring Disorders”)

SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 42 “Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-occurring Disorders”

Contact Info

General /
Technical Assistance

Michael Chaple, Ph.D.
Project Coordinator
(212) 845-4539
chaple@ndri.org

Related Links

OMH-OASAS COD Package

Commissioners’ letter to Clinic Directors & NYS Guidelines for COD

CEIC COD Training Document

SAMHSA’s Inservice Training manual

SAMHSA’s “Substance Abuse Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders: Inservice Training”

SAMHSA’s TIP #42

“Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-occurring Disorders”