Projects & Impact

AHP has built its business on applying best practices, many of which we have helped to shape, and real-world, hands-on knowledge to improving systems and business practices for our clients.

In all of the work that we do, we are guided by our mission to improve health and human services systems of care and business operations to help organizations and individuals reach their full potential.

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SAMHSA’s Homeless and Housing Resource Network

SAMHSA contracted with AHP to provide training and technical assistance (TA) on housing and homelessness to SAMHSA Homeless Program Branch (HPB) grantees and other homelessness housing and service providers operating across the United States and U.S. territories. Housing and service programs are united by a vision of ending homelessness by supporting individuals through a process of change as they improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. 

The goals of this project include the following: 
 

  • Promoting the adoption of best practices for serving people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless and have chronic mental illness or co-occurring disorders; 

  • Increasing workforce capacity through TA and training;
  • Disseminating information to the homelessness services field in support of SAMHSA’s strategic initiatives;
  • Collaborating with other agencies and organizations to improve the coordination of SAMHSA activities focused on addressing homelessness and building effective partnerships; and
  • Measuring meaningful change.

The HHRN TA team is led by AHP and includes partners HomeBase, Policy Research Associates (PRA), JBS International, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), and Abt Associates.  

Through AHP's team, HHRN provides assistance to the public and to HPB grantees, which includes PATH, Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI), and Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) grantees that touch people in every state and territory. HHRN serves as the TA and training resource for SAMHSA. 


Examples of work included updating, enhancing, and field testing two evidence-based practices KITs focused on people experiencing homelessness—the Permanent Supportive Housing Evidence-Based Practices KIT and the Integrated Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders Evidence-Based Practices KIT. In addition, HHRN has conducted multifaceted, interagency policy academies on chronic homelessness in collaboration with other federal agencies, such as a policy academy on youth homelessness and a policy academy on outreach and engagement to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.  
 

Related resources and publications: 

Technical Assistance and Training on Women and Families Impacted by Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders (also known as: Women, Children, and Families)

The WCF project supported SAMHSA’s advancement of state-of-the-art knowledge around substance use and mental health needs of women and families through supporting leaders, workforce development efforts, product development, and expert consultation. The project utilized a multipronged approach to increase the field’s capability for meeting the needs of women, adolescent girls, and families across the nation, which included working with policy makers, providers, and leaders committed to improving women’s services throughout the nation.

AHP also provided expert consultation on gender-responsive prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery support services for adolescent girls, pregnant women, and families with children.

AHP provided training and technical assistance through the WCF project from 2008 to 2018. AHP provided subject matter expertise and consultation to SAMHSA, NASADAD, states and community groups on effective interventions, treatment and recovery support for women and families. 

 
Key project components included: 

  • National conferences
  • Webinars, trainings, and online courses
  • Research; internal and external reports
  • Expert panels
  • Support for the National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)/Women’s Services Network 

BHbusiness Plus

BHbusiness Plus was funded through SAMHSA. Utilizing a coached learning network model that lasted 3 to 6 months per network, AHP conducted more than 50 learning networks, each involving hundreds of participants, around the following topics:

  • Value-based Purchasing
  • Bundled Payments
  • Data-Driven Decision Making
  • New Business Planning
  • Costing Out Your Services
  • Setting up a Third-Party Billing System
  • Improving Your Third-Party Billing System
  • Third-Party Contract Negotiations
  • Eligibility and Enrollment
  • Strategic Business Decision Making
  • Planning for the Next Generation of HIT
  • Exploring Affiliations, Mergers, and Acquisitions

The goal was to help behavioral health providers identify and implement customized change projects that expanded their service capacity, harnessed new payer sources, and ultimately made them able to thrive in the changing health care environment. The program empowered participating organizations to actually make quantifiable changes, rather than just learn how to do so. It linked participants into specific learning networks that focused on a specific topic of interest and provided opportunities for networking and peer support.

Everyone within individual learning networks received hands-on expertise and guidance to initiate, continue, and complete business operations changes.

Currently, BHBusiness offers virtual technical assistance through self-paced online courses, coupled with a robust library of web resources on these same topics, at no cost to participants.

 



 
 

Access to Recovery (ATR)—Commonwealth of Massachusetts, DPH/BSAS

ATR is an innovative program that provides access to community services and resources to people with substance use disorders in Massachusetts. ATR has supported thousands of participants through their recovery in Boston, Worcester, New Bedford, Springfield/Holyoke, and Lowell.  
 
ATR provides participants with a menu of recovery support services to choose from including care coordination, access to basic needs, public transportation passes, health and mental health services, recovery coaching, rental assistance for sober housing, and employment training. When ATR participants have the opportunity to make their own decisions about their recovery, there is hope for sustaining that recovery.  
 
ATR focuses on providing wraparound support to participants, helping them toward self-sufficiency and employment. Along with providing a standardized comprehensive job readiness program, ATR provides tuition for select occupational training programs. 
 
Eighty percent of ATR participants have a history of involvement in the criminal justice system, so finding a job comes with significant barriers. ATR works with community partners to provide job training opportunities in fields that are receptive to hiring people with criminal backgrounds, such as culinary and food services, commercial cleaning, construction, carpentry, hospitality, truck driving, HVAC, introductory IT, personal fitness training, office support, and customer service. 
 
With all the support ATR provides, graduates are better equipped to continue their recovery path, find jobs, maintain stable housing, and make a sustainable change for a brighter future. 

 


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