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Welcome to our October newsletter!
Wisconsin CONNECT is a collaborative. We seek to provide technical assistance and training opportunities for substance use prevention and treatment grantees, providers, clinicians, social workers, and support staff.
We draw on local and national academic and community resources to reduce and prevent substance use and improve overall health and wellness in Wisconsin.
To that end, we want to help you connect the dots with this newsletter. It is a tool to support our efforts to promote new research, share tools and trainings that aim to help you engage in different communities, enhance practice and improve the health of your clients and program participants.
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Contingency Management for Stimulant Use Disorder and Association With Mortality: A Cohort Study
Article from The American Journal of Psychiatry
Objective:
While opioid overdose has begun to decrease in recent years, stimulant overdose has continued to increase and has not been adequately addressed. Unlike opioid use disorder, there are no medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat stimulant use disorder (StUD). The most effective treatment is contingency management (CM), a behavioral intervention that provides tangible rewards to reinforce target behaviors, such as biochemically verified abstinence. Despite the effectiveness of CM on near-term substance use behaviors, the long-term impact on key outcomes such as mortality are unclear. The objective of this work was to examine whether patients with StUD who receive CM have a decreased risk of mortality.
Get access to the article here.
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ACOG Releases New Recommendations on Cannabis Use in Pregnancy and Lactation
from American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
“Universal screening for cannabis use during the prepregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum periods is now recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, according to new and significantly updated clinical guidance released September 19th.”
Read more here.
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Study Shows Community Coalition-Prioritized Strategies Increased Naloxone Education and Distribution in Jails
from Addiction Policy Forum
"Recent findings published in Health & Justice show that the NIH HEALing Communities Study (HCS) was associated with a significant increase in the number of jails that provided overdose education and delivery of naloxone to individuals returning from incarceration in participating communities. These results underscore the value of a community-engaged intervention that leveraged local coalitions to plan and implement overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) strategies to expand access to life-saving overdose prevention services within correctional settings."
Read more here.
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Help Us Serve Hope: Cook Dinner for Our Shelter Guests
from Community Advocates
Looking for a meaningful way to give back to your community? We invite you to prepare and serve a meal to the 75 guests staying at the Milwaukee Women’s Center’s Emergency Shelter on the Near South Side of Milwaukee.
Details:
- Meals should be prepared, purchased, and served by volunteers at 6 p.m. daily.
- We provide a fully equipped commercial kitchen with all the utensils, pots, pans, and dishes, along with a commercial stove/oven. If you prefer, you can bring in fully cooked meals that are ready to serve.
- Volunteers will be required to wear hair nets, gloves, and masks when necessary to ensure the safety of all guests.
- Volunteers must complete an application and pass a background check.
This is a great opportunity for individuals, families, or groups to make a tangible difference in the lives of adults and kids who have survived domestic violence or homelessness.
Interested? Contact Jeri Kavanaugh at jkavanaugh@communityadvocates.net to discuss the details and schedule your date to serve.
Together, we can provide comfort, nourishment, and hope to those who need it most. Thank you for your support!
View more volunteer opportunities here.
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Dose of Reality: Drug Take Back Day
from Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Too often, unused and expired medications find their way into the wrong hands. That's dangerous and often tragic. Bringing unused and expired medications to a Drug Take Back Day collection site protects you, your family, and your community.
The next Drug Take Back Day is October 25, 2025.
Find a collection event near you.
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Connecting the Dots
from Wisconsin CONNECT
The Connecting the Dots podcast is back with a new three-part series on opioid use research, treatment, and community responses!
Opioids Use: Research to Practice (A Three-Part Series)
Guest hosts: Jay Ford and Cody Wenthur
- Opioids, Reward, Addiction, Overdose, and Treatment (Part One)
- The Role of Community Pharmacies in Support of Addressing the Opioid Epidemic (Part Two)
- How do we connect treatment agencies to community pharmacies? A Community Response. (Part Three)
Registration also allows you access to Stimulants: Research to Practice (A Three-Part Series), guest hosted by Richard Rawson and Albert Hasson.
Learn more and register here.
This series is free and continuing education will be awarded.
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Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Functional Screen
from Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Updated Training Curriculum Now Live
The updated Mental Health Substance Use Disorder Functional Screen training curriculum is now published.
Changes in the training
The updated training curriculum is more comprehensive and interactive. The changes include:
- Adding a mock interview.
- Providing reflection on how to answer screen questions based on the interview.
- Revising the threshold for suicide attempts.
- Previously, suicide attempts were based on the risk of dying.
- A suicide attempt is now regarded as an act where the individual intended to end their own life. A suicide attempt may or may not have needed medical attention.
Limited Cornerstone licenses
- The training moved to Cornerstone in June 2025.
- New usernames and passwords were sent to staff who have accessed the Learning Center system within the last 24 months.
- There are a limited number of Cornerstone licenses available. They should be used for new staff, inexperienced staff, and screen leads.
- To receive credit for the training, the user must have their own username and password.
- Screen leads need to keep their staff roster with UW-Oshkosh up to date.
Next steps
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If new staff, inexperienced staff, or screen leads did not receive a username/password email from UW-Oshkosh, contact regstaff@uwosh.edu.
- The former training will only be available until October 10, 2025. If staff began the training prior to September 30, it needs to be completed by end of day on October 10. If it is not completed by October 10, they will lose their progress and need to take the new training to receive their certification.
- Monthly emails regarding the agency’s roster are sent to screen leads by UW-Oshkosh. Screen leads should reply to those emails with any staff changes promptly to avoid a delay with access for new users.
Contact
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Check out past trainings from Wisconsin CONNECT
This winter, we plan on releasing updated versions of our on demand trainings, including the FASD Program and the SUD Certificate Program.
In the meantime, you can browse our past trainings. Let us know if there's something else you would like us to bring back!
Browse our training page.
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NAMI Walks Southeast Wisconsin
Saturday, October 4
Take strides for mental health at NAMIWalks Southeast Wisconsin! The annual walk brings together individuals, families, and teams from across Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Jefferson counties to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and show support for mental health. Registration is free and includes zoo admission and parking. Every step taken and every dollar raised fuels NAMI Southeast Wisconsin’s free programs providing education, support, outreach, and advocacy for those living with mental health conditions and their loved ones.
The NAMIWalk is scheduled for October 4 at 8:30 at the Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Bluemound Rd., Milwaukee.
Learn more here.
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Check out our video archive to find a session you might have missed.
You can also go back to the training session webpage to find other resources, slides and handouts.
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Click here below to see all the upcoming trainings and events across topics. | |  |
Have a training interest? Looking for technical assistance? Simply fill out this online form with what you are seeking, and we will follow up to further explore your needs. | | Wisconsin CONNECT Social Media | | Go follow the new Wisconsin CONNECT social media pages for regular updates on training opportunities as well as to connect and network with other professionals. | | |
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We do this in partnership with the Bureau of Prevention, Treatment and Recovery within the Wisconsin Department of Health Service's Division of Care and Treatment Services, UW-Milwaukee, and our network of training providers. |
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