Missouri Cadre: 2010 SAMHSA Award Winner

Congratulations and a very big round of applause to the Missouri Change Agents!

SAMHSA Announces the Missouri Cadre for Co-occurring Excellence as a 2010 Science and Service Award Winner

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has selected the Missouri Cadre for Co-occurring Excellence as one of 28 organizations to receive the agency’s 2010 Science and Service Award. These awards recognize exemplary implementation of evidence-based interventions that have been shown to prevent and/or treat mental illnesses and substance abuse.

The awards program is part of SAMHSA’s strategic initiative on the prevention of substance abuse and mental illnesses. Now in its fourth year, this annual award program recognizes public- and private-sector organizations, as well as community-based coalitions, that have worked to improve their communities and the lives of individuals by providing the best services possible.

“Families and individuals deserve the most effective services possible for the prevention and treatment of health conditions, including mental health and substance use disorders. These award winners deserve to be commended for blazing new trails in providing such cutting-edge, effective services in their communities.”

— Pamela S. Hyde, Administrator (SAMHSA).

To be eligible for these awards, an organization had to demonstrate successful implementation of a recognized evidence-based intervention, including interventions that have been published in the scientific literature and/or appear on a federal or state registry.

The Missouri Cadre for Co-Occurring Excellence received this award in the category of co-occurring disorders. The Cadre evolved from a core of 23 initial agencies into a statewide partnership of community mental health and substance abuse frontline supervisors, clinicians, and consumers engaging in multi-year efforts to make integrated treatment for these disorders part of Missouri’s culture. Based in St. Louis, MO, the Cadre supports each member’s efforts, as well as influencing state policy, to develop and sustain systems of care that are welcoming, recovery oriented, and co-occurring, complexity-capable.

The Cadre was established through funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health, with strong policy support from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, research/evaluation assistance from the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, and consultation/technical assistance from Drs. Ken Minkoff and Christie Cline. The Cadre has successfully pursued change in the following areas: (1) systems of care, creating an empowered partnership with system leadership; (2) agencies, facilitating quality improvement efforts to create co-occurring capability; (3) services, training and supervising staff to become co-occurring comfortable, confident and competent; and (4) consumers, insuring systems are shaped by consumer and family needs and input.

In its first two years, the Cadre achieved near-statewide adoption and faithful implementation of a complex set of evidence-based principles and practices. Based on results from a research-based assessment, co-occurring capability improved significantly among Cadre members, and the improvements were widespread, occurring in both substance abuse and mental health and in both urban and non-urban organizations. Most importantly, these changes are translating into substantial improvements among individuals and families served by the Cadre membership, including symptom reduction, reduction in substance use, and improved quality of life, among other benefits.

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