What is the Recovery Navigator Program?
The Recovery Navigator Program (RNP) provides intensive, field-based case management which helps participants access services that meet their needs. The RNP staff respond to community referrals and work to engage individuals with behavioral health needs. They provide short-term assistance while addressing the immediate needs of the individual.
Who does the Recovery Navigator Program serve?
The priority population for the RNP are individuals with substance use disorders, or co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders who are at risk of arrest and/or have frequent contact with first responders, community members, friends and family, and who could benefit from being connected to supportive resources and public health services.
Approach to Care
The RNP is voluntary, and designed to engage people at all stages of the recovery process. Abstinence from substance use is not a requirement for participation in RNP. Services offered may be adjusted depending on an individual’s situation and choices.
The RNP Team consists of both case managers and peer counselors with lived experience. The goal is to engage individuals in the field, meeting them where they are at and breaking down barriers to access services. The program is intended to reach and engage individuals who are not actively seeking care in medical or behavioral health treatment facilities.
RNP staff use a trauma-informed model of care. They utilize a harm-reduction framework and take a culturally mindful approach.
Goals of the Recovery Navigator Program
As part of a larger, multi-system effort to identify and address the root causes of justice involvement for people with behavioral health disorders, the RNP hopes to improve outcomes for individuals by reducing barriers to service, increasing engagement, and decreasing involvement in the criminal justice system for low-level offenses related to drug use, mental health and other concerns.