Prestigious SAMHSA Grant Will Enable Adelphi University to Serve the Region by Training Healthcare Workers in Addiction Screening

Adelphi University’s Institute for Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training received notification of a grant award totaling nearly $900,000 to develop a multidisciplinary training protocol for professionals working with clients at risk for substance use disorders. The federal grant, to be paid in three annual installments of $290,000, comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. The new partnership will bring together three schools at Adelphi University—the School of Social Work, the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and the College of Nursing and Public Health—in a collaborative project named C-SPAN (Collaboration–Social Work, Psychology and Nursing). C-SPAN will create a skilled healthcare workforce proficient in the delivery of the evidence-based protocol named Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). The plan is to train at least 600 community health and mental health providers to provide additional support for the dissemination of SBIRT throughout medical and social service systems across the region.

The award starts September 2016 and ends September 2019.

Victor Labruna, Ph.D., and Mandy Habib, Psy.D., co-directors of the Institute for Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training

“With social work, psychology and nursing students currently placed in more than 1,200 practicum settings, including the majority of the region’s 80 hospitals and hundreds of local, regional and statewide community health agencies and service systems, this project will have a significant and far-reaching impact on the adoption and practice of SBIRT throughout a range of healthcare delivery systems on Long Island and in New York City,” said Victor Labruna, Ph.D, co-director of the Institute for Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training.

Exposing Adelphi students to SBIRT training as part of their graduate-level course work will give them the opportunity to learn about the model and how it is applicable to their professional careers, according to Mandy Habib, Psy.D., co-director of the Institute for Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training.  

“A sustainable education and training program is an important approach to substance and alcohol abuse intervention,” she said. “To sustain its delivery over time, SBIRT will be permanently integrated into the standard curriculum for social work, psychology and nursing, and continuing education events will also be offered regularly.”

Modifications to the SBIRT training protocol will be made to meet the specific academic and practical needs of each discipline targeted through this project, and will also reflect the patient populations frequently served by C-SPAN students, including high-risk groups such as adolescents and individuals with extensive trauma histories.

For more information about the project, contact Dr. Labruna at vlabruna@adelphi.edu or Dr. Habib at mhabib@adelphi.edu. To learn more about Adelphi University, visit adelphi.edu.