The Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care Technical Assistance Center (UBHC-TAC) in collaboration with the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) facilitates the Co-occurring Disorder Learning Community project. This project began in response to the increasing awareness of the growing number of people with co-occurring disorders who were not receiving integrated treatment for both disorders. Research has shown that sequential and/or parallel treatments are less effective than integrated treatment (Drake, O’Neal, & Wallach 2008). Through an application process, DMHAS licensed community behavioral health providers can embark on a yearlong quality improvement process to enhance services for people with co-occurring mental illness and addiction. Selected agencies will receive free, onsite program assessments along with training and individualized, program-specific support from our experienced Integrated Treatment consultation team from DMHAS and Rutgers UBHC's Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
Dr. Mark McGovern developed the Dual Diagnosis Capability Addiction Treatment (DDCAT) and the Dual Diagnosis Capability in Mental Health (DDCHMT) scales which assess an agency’s capacity to provide co-occurring services. Both Rutgers UBHC-TAC and DMHAS personnel have been trained by Dr. McGovern to utilize these assessment tools. Agencies are able to implement or enhance integrated services at their own pace and can apply to be a part of the project regardless of their current level of integrated treatment implementation. For additional information, please feel free to contact us at (732) 235-9290 or at tac_training@ubhc.rutgers.edu. Please include “COD Project” in the subject line of your email.
We gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship and support of the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services for this project.