The purpose of the OWEP grant was to enhance community-based experiential training for students preparing to become behavioral health professionals with a focus on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and other Substance Use Disorders (SUD) prevention, treatment, and recovery services. In 2019, the Department of Counseling & Marital and Family Therapy (CMFT), in collaboration with the Hahn School of Nursing (HSON), was awarded an OWEP grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), allowing Project TeamUP to expand its work. Students who participated in this track of Project TeamUP worked to contribute to the expansion and improvement of direct access to quality treatment while also working to foster an integrated and/or interprofessional approach to address OUD and other SUD treatment, emphasizing the role of the family and lived experience of the consumer through academic, community and non-traditional community organization partnerships. The OWEP grant concluded during the 2022-2023 academic year.
"I feel so lucky to have been chosen for the stipend recipient opportunity. First during my time at USD, the funding allowed me to reduce my full time work load to part time so that I had the capacity to focus on learning and my practicum site. I believe this opportunity allowed me to grow as a Mental Health Clinician working with vulnerable and underserved communities with the ongoing and previous training opportunities for professional development. I have continued to learn so much that has allowed me to incorporate these skills in my work as an APCC. I have appreciated how broad and diverse the training opportunities are, this has given me experience to carry into my work. I feel so grateful and lucky for this opportunity as it was a transformational experience for me and my career" - Meg Martin, OWEP 2023