Replication Model
The Collegiate Recovery Community at Texas Tech University is a unique program. There are currently only three universities in the United States offering assistance to recovering students in higher education. Of these, the Collegiate Recovery Community is the only program offering a comprehensive continuing care plan to assist college students with recovery, academics, financial resources, and life skills training.
One of the goals of the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery is to develop a program model of the Collegiate Recovery Community that can be replicated at other universities. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “a model program meets the highest scientific standards and its developers have the capacity to provide high-quality material, training, and technical assistance to communities that wish to use the program.” It is the vision of the Center to meet these requirements through the development and effective implementation of a replication model at other institutions of higher education across the country.
The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery received a federal earmark grant in 2004 through the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (a division of SAMHSA) for the purpose of developing a model curriculum. The Center is committed to developing a community support and relapse prevention model specific to collegiate populations. The literature of addiction treatment and recovery supports long-term interventions for individuals struggling with chemical addiction. This research correlates the length of time spent in treatment and other support services with outcomes in recovery. The longer an individual is participating in formal treatment and programs designed to support recovery, the more positive the outcome. Community support and relapse prevention models specific to colleges and universities allow recovering students to extend their participation in semi-structured programs, without having to postpone or eliminate the possibility of achieving their educational goals.
The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery is currently developing a curriculum which can be used as a guide for individuals or organizations interested in implementing community support and relapse prevention programs that are specific to the collegiate population. This curriculum will be written to incorporate both two-year colleges and four-year universities. Additionally, the curriculum will be able to be implemented through academic programs, student services or student health services. It is estimated that this curriculum will be complete by January 2005.
The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery is interested in beginning to collaborate with other institutions of higher education across the country in order to implement recovery communities on other campuses. Each interested university will be responsible for:
- Contacting the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery to obtain information and/or consultation concerning the implementation of community support and relapse prevention programs on their campus.
- Identifying and empowering current staff within an existing program to facilitate the formation of community support and relapse prevention programs on their campus.
- The recruitment, interviewing and hiring of a director and staff.
- Locating a facility on their campus to house their recovery program.
- Securing operating funds and/or scholarship endowments from private donors.
- The initial assessment and mobilization of the recovering collegiate population on their campus.
- The recruitment and retention of recovering college students.