Augusta County Commonwealth Attorney's Pathways Program

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for the County of Augusta,
Virginia proposes to implement a peer services expansion to its Pathways Program. The purpose
of the project is to expand its currently existing Pathways Program to serve the expanding
number of justice involved persons with Substance Use Disorder in Augusta County. Project
activities include establishment of peer counseling and peer recovery support services both
within the Pathways Program and within partnering agencies at intercepts 0 and 1 in the
Sequential Intercept Model. Within Pathways, peer counseling and peer recovery support will
focus on enhancing client retention, engagement, and quality of outcomes by providing
evidence-based peer services. Peers placed within partnering agencies will render on-demand
peer services to ordinary agency clients who present as needing services. They will also
collaborate with similarly placed peers in other agencies and within Pathways. Expected
outcomes include the development of a fully capable peer recovery and peer support
organization capable of deploying peers both internally and externally to respond to crisis
situations and participant needs in a flexible and efficient manner. Within Pathways, it is
expected that client engagement rate, retention rate, and quality of outcomes will improve over
their current levels. Within partnering agencies, it is expected that peers will enhance agency
outcomes by enabling cross-agency cooperation and more effective engagement with their
clients. This project serves Augusta County, a small, semi-rural county with the population of 77,
487. Its direct beneficiaries are those who are experiencing substance use disorder or are in cooccurring mental health and substance use crisis. However, the entire population of Augusta
County will indirectly benefit through the increased efficiency and quality of outcomes within
the criminal justice and public health agencies involved. The project includes partnerships
between Augusta County Sherriff’s Department, Blue Ridge Court Services, Valley Community
Services Board, Blue Ridge Criminal Justice Board.