Racial and ethnic composition of peer recovery community members and barriers to acquiring funding for organizations in the ecosystem of recovery

Introduction

Organizations in the “ecosystem of recovery”—most often non-profits led and staffed by individuals with lived substance use disorder (SUD) experience—offer peer services, group counseling, and a wide variety of programs to help those struggling with SUD. The efforts of such organizations are effective in transitioning those suffering from SUD into long-term recovery. Despite well-established evidence depicting inequitable access to SUD treatment between BIPOC and non-Hispanic White Americans, there has been no empirical undertaking of whether organizations in the ecosystem of recovery face barriers to fund their operations based on the racial and ethnic composition of their community members.

Methods

In this 2022 needs assessment, “Optimizing Recovery Funding,” we combined the results of quantitative and qualitative data for a mixed methods analytic approach. The study employs bivariate descriptive statistics and inferences along with thematic analyses. From an initial list of 537 organizations across U.S. states and territories, 145 leaders of these organizations comprise our survey analytic sample. A total of 85 leaders participated in one of 16 focus groups, with 10 based on geography and 6 based on population identity. This needs assessment produced comprehensive data on the operations of organizations in the ecosystem of recovery.

Results

A lack of training and existing organizational funding, as well as non-inclusive language in funding requests for proposals contributed to some organizations' decisions not to pursue certain grants and funding mechanisms. There were no statistical differences in applying for, nor success in receiving, federal and state funding between organizations serving predominantly BIPOC community members and those serving mostly non-Hispanic White community members. However, there were key instances of—at times inexplicable—inequity in funding outcomes.

Conclusions

All leaders of organizations in the ecosystem of recovery who participated in the needs assessment made it clear that there are fundamental issues to accessing peer recovery operational and programmatic funding. Innovative strategies for developing inclusive and culturally responsive funding approaches that prioritize organizations predominantly serving historically marginalized communities are needed.