Chicago Substance Use and Recovery Services Evaluation
Project Director:
EDC Staff:
Funded by:
Chicago Department of Public Health Office of Substance Use and Recovery Services
Partners:
Healing, Empowering, and Learning Professionals (H.E.L.P.™), LLC, Multilingual Connections
Focus Area:
Suicide, Addictions, & Violence Prevention
Services:
Research & Evaluation
Region:
United States
Duration:
2020-2023
Challenge
Chicago’s opioid overdose rates have increased markedly in recent years. Recent data indicate that opioid overdoses have disproportionately impacted Chicago’s west side communities. In response, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is supporting health care providers and community-based agencies in those communities to implement outpatient, inpatient, prevention, and linkage programs.
EDC has worked closely with CDPH to lead evaluation capacity building that helps all partners better understand the ongoing challenges, success stories, and strategies for substance use program quality improvements.
Key Activities
EDC has collaborated with CDPH and their substance use and recovery services delegate agencies to do the following:
- Develop evaluation questions, logic models, and other evaluation measures and tools that help CDPH advance their learning around evaluation practices across a diverse cohort
- Advance local learning around outcomes and quality program improvements specific to harm reduction and medication-assisted recovery, youth substance use prevention, opioid overdose response, and recovery homes
- Design and lead a monthly Evaluation and Learning training series with subject matter experts on key topic areas that agencies identified to help them advance their goals and meet their clients’ needs
- Facilitate responsive technical assistance with each delegate agency and offer tailored support on their unique evaluation and learning needs
- Convene and coordinate evaluation roundtables that facilitate peer sharing and learning around common challenges and best practices in substance use treatment and prevention in Chicago
- Build agency’s organizational capacity to advance their own data collection and evaluation practices to support their unique goals
Our Impact
- Routine evaluation and monitoring of Chicago’s substance use and recovery services has offered insight on opportunities to advance outcomes and reduce opioid overdoses.
- Capacity building has helped agencies to develop evaluation skills and knowledge to make data-informed quality improvements to their services.
- Trainings and evaluation roundtables has strengthened relationships among agencies across the city of Chicago to facilitate capacity building and peer sharing around how agencies can best serve those in need and overcome current challenges together.
