SPRING 2020
COVID-19
FirstLink is here to provide a listening ear and help connect you to resources. CARING CONTACT COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR: Reducing Barriers to Treatment through Community Collaboration The community navigator program continues to build upon the framework laid by the Mayors’ Blue Ribbon Commission to enhance coordination and improve access to substance use treatment and recovery support. The program’s demonstrated success and steady growth have emboldened our community partners to engage in meaningful discussions. Some of these discussions have centered around improving processes to alleviate constraints, or “bottlenecks” as they are often called. Some are aimed at reducing the shame and stigma that prevent people from seeking help. Still others are utilizing FirstLink’s resource directory and community navigator services to provide ongoing support and linkage to basic needs like stable housing, employment, and peer support.
In addition to the work we are doing with community stakeholders, the community navigator continues to be an agent of support for people seeking help. Between calls to our helpline and community navigator contacts, FirstLink provides listening and support for hundreds of individuals with substance use concerns. Although most calls to the community navigator are from people seeking help for themselves, 24% of callers are concerned about a loved one. We also get calls from providers, sometimes seeking to refer a patient and other times calling to receive up-to-date information on resources. We welcome any and all calls, and those calling during evening or weekend hours will still get support from our trained call specialists as well as a call back from the community navigator within one business day. As FirstLink prepares to take over after-hours answering for seven more human service center regions, we are looking at how this will impact call volume and referrals for the community navigator. We are reaching out
FirstLink’s Caring Contact Team has been fortunate enough to secure funding from partnering hospitals to keep providing this valuable resource for the 2020 year, and we hope to use these funds to expand the program. So far this year, the Caring Contact team has received over 500 referrals, sent over 350 handwritten caring cards, and made over 2,600 outgoing calls to participants! Despite the growing concern of COVID-19, the Caring Contact Team is still operating as normal by providing listening, support, and follow-up for individuals in our community. We will keep phone lines open and continue to provide support and resources for those in need.
to providers across the state of North Dakota to explore interest in a partnership with the community navigator program. We are also working with our technical support team to develop tools to share information on program capacity and coordinate referrals. We are so excited about all the possibilities that the future holds for the community navigator program! If you would like more information or to learn how you can be an agent for change in your community, please contact FirstLink by dialing 2-1-1 or calling (701) 235-7335.