Who We Are
We're Charting a New Course in Substance Use Policy and Practice.
Our Vision
To create healthy communities where all people regardless of race, class, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, ability or other defining characteristic are treated with compassion and dignity, regardless of how or whether they use alcohol or drugs.
Our Funders
The Substance Use Funders Collaborative is the only national funder’s group focused on developing and investing in a full and equitable community based non-punitive substance use system of care including prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction. We are not a grantmaking body, but rather a convening platform to help inform grantmaking strategies and support funder networking and learning.
The Promise Of Robust Equitable SU Services
We believe philanthropy can and should play a critical role in advancing practice and policy that results in a high quality, comprehensive, culturally, and linguistically effective, person centered, community-based substance use system of care
10.4%
Only 10.4 percent of individuals with a substance use disorder receive treatment, and only about a third of those individuals receives treatment that meets minimal standards of care.
$1.00
Every dollar spent on substance use disorder treatment saves $4 in health care costs and $7 in criminal justice costs.
Funder Spotlight
Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) in California
This site, produced by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, highlights the role of Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) for addressing California’s overdose crisis. The site provides brief background information on the overdose crisis and MAT, along with ten video case studies that highlight promising MAT practices from diverse programs across California.
Resources
Cross-Sector Partnerships for Equitable Non-Punitive Solutions
Local and state partners are working across sectors and within public/private partnerships to build services that will address current crises and help to build a more functional equitable system of care.
Relevant Research & Data
Funders often seek cost analyses, effectiveness research, prevalence data and more. While it is clear there is a need for more robust disaggregated data, these resources aim to bring some newer and innovative efforts to the fore.
Workforce
These resources seek to reveal local, state and federal efforts to build and sustain a behavioral health workforce that is culturally and linguistically effective.
Continuum of Care/System of Care
A continuum, or system, of care includes a coordinated approach to primary prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services. These resources will share ways to think about creating a full continuum with peer and natural supports woven throughout.
Health Equity and Racial Justice
Substance use systems have a long history of racial inequities. These articles discuss how to begin addressing inequities in order to achieve better outcomes across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability and other intersectional identities.
Communications Resources
Communications related to substance use are often fraught with negative, stigmatizing, and dehumanizing stereotypes and language. These resources provide examples of 'best practices' to improve how funders, communities, the media, and others communicate about substance use.
Research Update
Drug Checking Equipment Can Lead to Healthier Decisions, Saving Lives
From The Pew Charitable Trusts: Strong and dangerous substances such as fentanyl have become increasingly common in the illicit drug supply but often go undetected, causing overdoses. Drug checking equipment—namely test strips or spectroscopy machines such as the Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer—are tools that can identify harmful substances and reduce the risk of an overdose by providing valuable, potentially lifesaving information to people who use drugs. Pew spoke with Dr. Megan Reed, a research assistant professor in emergency medicine at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University, about the role of this technology in addressing the overdose crisis.
Become a Member of the Collaborative
Are you interested to learn more about us and the work we do? We would love to schedule a 30-minute call to see if you may want to join us in our efforts, please contact us.
