DC-COSIG Initiative

The District of Columbia (the District) received a five year Co-Occurring State Incentive Grant (COSIG) to build the necessary infrastructure to increase the District's capacity to provide treatment to consumers with Co-Occurring substance abuse and psychiatric disorders.

In September 2006, the District initiated a partnership with the Danya Institute to develop an intensive training curriculum and related materials on co-occurring disorders.

The purpose of the curriculum is to train clinicians in the substance abuse and mental health treatment systems on the "Best Practices" for effectively treating consumers with co-occurring disorders.

The project was headed by Lynn Smith, MA, COSIG Director of Training Director at the DC Department of Mental Health. In addition to her role as project lead, Ms Smith was also the primary author of the COSIG training curriculum.

As part of COSIG training team, The Danya Institute participated in a pilot training of the curriculum by assisting Ms. Smith in the training of a select group of mental health and substance abuse treatment providers. This pilot training was design to:/p>

• Teach the basic principles of integrated treatment
• Educate clinician as to how they can provide the best care to the co-occurring consumer within the context of their particular agency
• Finalize the curriculum

Click here for access to the DC-COSIG training manual and other related materials