b'Circling Back Through the YearMedication Treatment Expands to Meet NeedsSubstance use and mental health disorders very often intersect, and these co-occurring conditions are best treated together. We are pleased to report that we have scaled up Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) services within Riverside to better serve individuals living with addiction disorders. Theseservices are available at our two Community Behavioral Health Centers and four Outpatient Centers. Providing medication treatment (including MOUD or Medication for Opioid Use Disorder) is a best-practice approachthe more integrated services we can offer in one location, the more we can6set individuals up for success on their pathway toward recovery.police departments Peer Support Is a Game-Changer have embeddedLived-experience staff have become a transformativecliniciansforce within the behavioral healthcare community. As someone who has been there and navigated their own recovery journey, a staff person with lived experiencePolice Partnerships Strengthen Crisis Interventioncan share their challenges and successes, offering hope and a path to healing to others on the same road.As part of our Mobile Crisis Intervention service, Riverside now has clinicians embedded in six We have integrated lived-experience staff into multi-local police departments: Ashland, Dedham, Needham, Norwood, Sturbridge, and Walpole. disciplinary teams throughout Riverside programsClinicians accompany officers on calls that may involve mental health or substance use issues as Certified Peer Specialists, Recovery Coaches, Youngand provide crisis intervention, avoiding unnecessary incarceration. Adult Peer Mentors, and Family Partners. They Riverside clinicians partner with police officers to provide immediate help to the individual, collaborate across programs, guide recovery, and connect them with local services, and initiate follow-up care, while also serving as a critical provide practical support for daily living. The opening ofresource for the police department where they are embedded. Equally important, familiesCommunity Behavioral Health Centers in 2023 providedand individuals who have come through a crisis know they have a trusted Riverside clinician the opportunity to greatly expand peer roles, and as athey can continue to reach out toin a way they are unable to with their police department.measure of impact, our Connect2Recovery program This partnership model has been very successful; in fact, the most recent quarterly data launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic withdemonstrates an 84% reduction in potential arrests or hospital drop-offs for these 91157 just two team membershas now expanded to 20! emergency calls by keeping people in the community for care.employees workingin lived experience 2 roles 3'