Indiana 2021 Mentoring for Youth Affected by the Opioid Crisis and Drug Addiction

The Indiana Governor’s Task Force Report on Drug Enforcement, Treatment, and Prevention notes that following the national trend, Indiana is experiencing an unprecedented crisis of substance use disorders (SUD). Indiana’s state and local governments and private and public organizations have come together to find meaningful ways to prevent Hoosiers from becoming dependent, improving access to treatment, and supporting recovery opportunities. In January 2018, Indiana's executive director for drug prevention, stated that Indiana plans to fight against the crisis by creating mentoring programs for children impacted by their parent’s addiction. Mentoring, when aligned with the Elements of Effective Practice, is an evidence-based tool that can help children develop self-esteem, increase prosocial behaviors, and resist risky behaviors. Thus, in partnership with the State of Indiana, Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) will expand training with five Indiana mentoring organizations in regions across the state in order to match more children with adult mentors who are trained on opioid addiction, SUDs, and protective factors that can provide appropriate trauma-informed responses. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction will partner with and subaward funds to Indiana Youth Institute (IYI), a statewide organization that has served as the MENTOR state affiliate since 2008. The project will serve 355 mentees annually in four Indiana counties. IYI will train 56 staff and board members from the mentoring programs, and 88 family members will participate in family focused prevention and intervention activities. Project activities include, but are not limited to the following: screening all mentees for risked behaviors using the Youth Outcomes Survey tool, training of mentors in Opioid abuse/use and SUDs awareness, facilitating the referral process for youth impacted by Opioid and SUD use, and working with families and the community on decreasing the stigmatization surrounding Opioid abuse/use and SUDs. No portion of the project budget will be used to conduct research, only evaluation of the performance measures.