PROJECT SCOPE: NATIONAL TRAINING INITIATIVE
Project SCOPE: Supporting Children of the OPioid Epidemic, is a national three-year ECHO training initiative intended to build nationwide provider capacity and confidence in applying evidence-based practices in screening, monitoring, and interdisciplinary support for children and families diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS), or who are suspected of being impacted by opioid use, trauma, or related exposure.
Care curriculum will include current research on brain development, developmental outcomes of prenatal exposure to opioid and other substances, trauma informed care, provider secondary trauma stress and strategies to support caregivers. This initiative is intended to improve outcomes by linking research to practical application in local communities, providing opportunities to share knowledge and findings with national networks and federal agencies, and providing recommendations for future interventions.
Project ECHO® is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide the application of best practices. The heart of the ECHO model is its hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks, led by expert teams who use multi-point videoconferencing to conduct learning sessions about evidence-based practices in education, health, and disability services. With this method, educators, healthcare providers, special service providers, case managers, administrators, and families have access to expert advice right in their homes, schools, and offices.
ECHO Networks provide ongoing support for educators, healthcare providers, and families in a rural state where specialized knowledge is not always locally available. By removing these barriers to specialized knowledge, outcomes for students, patients, and families are improved.
Project SCOPE links research to practical application in local communities, improves outcomes, provides opportunities to share knowledge and findings with national networks and federal agencies, and provides recommendations for future interventions. Participants receive highly relevant professional development, specific guidance, and ongoing support related to their needs and concerns. This results in interdisciplinary teams that are trained to work more effectively with their clients.
Project SCOPE network provides ongoing resources and support to train participants in evidence-based best practices on screening, monitoring, and ongoing support to children and families coping with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS), and related issues.
We will implement our first ECHO SCOPE cohort in 2021:
- Early Childhood providers will be educated on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome through a distance learning platform called ECHO
- 10-12 sessions will be facilitated over a 6 month period
- The curriculum covers NAS/NOWS, trauma, child development, interventions, and behavioral issues
Project SCOPE Team
The focus of this project is to educate early childhood practitioners to better support children of the opioid epidemic. The training is a distance-based professional learning and development program that will include information on the following topics:
- The current status of the opiate epidemic
- Basic brain development related to the biology of addiction
- Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)/ Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) and other developmental outcomes of prenatal exposures
- Trauma-informed care, including strategies to work with children in the classroom
- Information on practices to implement when concerns arise with a child’s development
- The impact of this work on the care provider/secondary traumatic stress and strategies to support caregivers
For more information, contact Molly Tucker
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