AMISTADES INC

The Noche Oscura Overdose Task Force, through a combination of culturally adapted best practice prevention and intervention strategies, is increasing awareness and prevention of opioid and psychostimulant use in the border community of Douglas Arizona. The focus of this project is to promote collaboration between public safety and public health agencies to ensure that overdose reduction efforts are robust and that our community benefits from a comprehensive and coordinated response. The street outreach team focuses on harm reduction, distribution of Narcan/Naloxone, primary prevention, evidence-based treatment, and recovery assistance. Noche Oscura also focuses on early intervention by providing Douglas youth awareness, knowledge, and refusal skills related to psychostimulants and opioids, and by implementing evidence-based and culturally responsive curriculum through schools and grassroots community groups.

Prevención Sin Fronteras is a trauma-informed substance abuse prevention program in the rural border town of Douglas, Arizona. This program provides three evidence-based curriculums targeting youth vaping and marijuana use and methods to address factors related to low perceived risk of using these substances and the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, and toxic stress on youth substance use. This program will help foster attachment and resiliency by building consistently safe, stable, and secure environments for youth. Community education and awareness messaging will also address perceived risks of youth substance abuse among those caring for youth and promote healthy family attachment by providing tangible trauma-informed suggestions and resources. This project is funded through the Arizona Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family (GOYFF).

The Curando Familias Project aims to research and address the disparities in Tucsons' Latino community caused by Covid-19 Long-Hauler Syndrome. Emerging data suggests that as much as 50% of these long haulers are unable to return to activities of daily living including full time employment six months post-acute infection. Importantly, racial/ethnic minorities including Latinos experienced a disproportionate COVID-19 infection burden. Unfortunately, Long COVID prevalence rates amongst Latinos are largely unknown. Issues related to low access to quality healthcare and accurate diagnosis coupled with low socioeconomic conditions driving a need to work may artificially suppress prevalence rates. Amistades will focus its efforts on the four most Latino-dense zip codes, 85745, 85713, 85706, and 85746.

The Familia Adelante Program targets at-risk Latino youth, 10-14 years old and their parents through a two-generational approach in three Tucson school districts: Sunnyside Unified School District, Tucson Unified School District and Chicanos Por La Causa schools. Familia Adelante is a dynamic, culturally-responsive education-community prevention program to address the rising rates of substance abuse, acculturation trauma, and behavioral health problems. The first goal is to increase parental and youth awareness by increasing education about the devastating risks and public health problems caused by the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. The second goal of the program is to increase parent and youth collaboration opportunities for prosocial involvement in the community. Program activities focus on improving communication, stress management, substance abuse education, HIV/AIDS education, suicide and bullying education, and improved study skills for youth.

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), CARAS de Esperanza is a youth-centered prevention program focusing on youth in several Tucson middle schools. The program focuses on educating and preventing the use of prescription medications, opioids, and psychostimulants. The goals of the program are to reduce and change the culture of substance abuse among Latino youth. Program staff utilize the Razalogia Community Outreach Framework, Jerry Tello’s Finding your Sacred Purpose, Rx 360 toolkits, and trauma-informed care to empower youth to make change within themselves and their community.

The Mayahuel Prevention Consortium (MPC) is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's (SAMHSA) Strategic Prevention Framework Partnership Grant. The goal of the consortium is to prevent and reduce the progression of substance misuse and potential obstacles while enhancing prevention capacity and infrastructure at the community and state levels. MPC has adopted three evidence-based strategies and community-defined best practices to address the issues of alcohol/underage drinking, marijuana, and opioid misuse within Latino youth and adults.

The Por Vida Program will enhance system infrastructure capacity to support and sustain culturally and generationally responsive substance abuse and HIV/STI prevention and screening/testing services to the Latino youth and young adults in Pima County. Por Vida seeks to improve services for those at highest risk of HIV and substance use disorders and implements a navigation approach: community health workers, neighborhood navigators and peer support specialists. Youth engagement and adult participation is established through educational sessions which utilizes the Cuidate and Too Good for Drugs curriculums. Both curriculums implement innovative, culturally and generationally responsive prevention and navigation approaches to serve Southern Arizona’s Latino Gen Z population (13-24) in Pima County.

Si Se Puede is also an opportunity to build comprehensive prevention, treatment, and recovery infrastructure supporting the rural community of Coolidge, Arizona, and is funded by the Health Rural Services Administration. Coolidge was selected as the target area because it is a HRSA-designated rural service area and is experiencing a documented and dramatic increase in SUD/OUD. At the same time, there is a rising influx of first-generation Mexican Americans whose cultural, ethnic, and language differences often prevent them from seeking treatment.

This program seeks to expand and increase access to MAT services for opioid use disorder to address medically underserved Latino communities; ensure timely treatment engagement for those with dual-diagnosis, and support individuals with OUD re-entering the community following incarceration through an existing consortium of health/behavioral health providers in Pinal County, Arizona. Project partners will expand current outreach strategies to focus on reaching Latinos and special populations currently underserved and/or at risk for OUD and to more intensively engage providers in culturally-responsive service provision. Providers will only use grant funds for services to individuals not covered by public or commercial health insurance; individuals for whom coverage has been formally determined to be unaffordable, or for services not sufficiently covered by an individual's health insurance plan.