Equity and Recovery
Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic and Latinx people experiencing substance use and mental health challenges need access to effective, culturally responsive, racially equitable recovery services and supports.
Deeply rooted structures, systems, and beliefs have perpetuated racism and racial inequities within substance use and mental health treatment and recovery settings. Criminalization of substance use and mental illness has had a disproportionately negative impact on communities of color and especially Black Americans—leading to tragic and often fatal consequences across generations. In the US, people of color are more likely to enter the criminal justice system than receive treatment, care, and recovery supports. Racism and associated traumas add to these injustices and may influence how people of color experience and seek help for behavioral health needs.
Equity is a strategy to address disparities and ensure that people in recovery who are most severely marginalized by race can access recovery support services in the amount, duration, locality, and by the provider of their choice. At C4 Innovations, we start with racial equity because racism permeates every institution and system in the US, denying millions the right to a fair and just society in which they can thrive and prosper. Through partnership with communities and people with lived experience, we incorporate person-centered, recovery-oriented, and trauma-informed approaches to understand factors that drive inequities and achieve transformative outcomes.
We Can Help You
Assessing and taking steps to address systemic and structural racism can be a challenging commitment for any agency. Incorporating longstanding recovery principles of mutuality and egalitarianism and together with communities, we assist government agencies, non-profits, for-profits, and other organizations and systems to:
- Assess existing norms, practices and values that either promote or hinder racial equity and inclusion
- Learn the history of race and racism in the US with an emphasis on anti-Black racism
- Understand the historical context for racism in the recovery movement
- Expand knowledge of racial equity key terms and frameworks
- Identify historical and contemporary drivers of racism and incarceration for people with substance use disorders
- Understand the impact of discrimination, racism, and racial trauma on people who are in or seeking recovery
- Understand the impact of racism on treatment and recovery services, programs, and systems
- Collect, identify, and assess and disaggregate data to differentiate populations that are most marginalized by substance use and mental health challenges
- Survey staff and board members to examine current practices and perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and equity
- Lead conversations, listening sessions, and structured interviews about racism with staff, board members, service providers, community leaders and those you serve
- Review, update, and operationalize policies and procedures to ensure equity
- Develop action steps to shift organizational culture and implement strategies for making equitable change
- Dealing with change fatigue
- Build shared accountability for achieving and sustaining results and measure progress towards goals
Learn more about partnering with us.
"Would absolutely recommend this training to other organizations/professionals looking to take a meaningful step into getting explicit about racism and working toward racial equity." –Training participant
"I thought the training was absolutely amazing...the trainers/facilitators did a great job of creating a safe space, encouraging engagement..." –Training participant
Our Experts
Transforming Systems to Promote Equitable Access to Recovery
As we learn more about social determinants of health and the complex and interconnected conditions that shape people’s lives, forward-thinking behavioral health leaders are striving to overcome bureaucratic, funding, and policy barriers to providing holistic, flexible, recovery-oriented supports. C4 works with systems to galvanize and sustain meaningful change—learn more about how we can partner with you to promote equitable access to recovery.
Learn More
- Equity in Action: Trauma-Informed Supervision: online course starts October 23, 2024
- Equity and Inclusion: Navigating Systemic Marginalization: online course starts November 14, 2024
- Advancing Racial Equity in Recovery and Behavioral Health (PDF)
- Morning Cup of Equity—podcast series
- Race Equity and Recovery—podcast series
- Power Hour: Roadmap to Racial Equity in Behavioral Health and Recovery Organizations—webinar recording (58:45 minutes)
- Equity Initiatives at C4 Innovations
- Equity and Homelessness at C4 Innovations
- Substance Use and Mental Health Recovery Support at C4 Innovations
More about our expertise and our training and technical assistance approaches and offerings.