Family Supports
Learn to Cope is a non-profit support network that offers education, resources, peer support, and hope for family members coping with a loved one addicted to opioids or other drugs. Meetings occur regularly in locations throughout the state of MA (see calendar). Family members may receive overdose prevention, recognition, and response education at group meetings.
Crisis Response
Crisis response services for staff and employees of Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS)-funded programs.
BSAS-funded program staff are on the front lines of the overdose crisis. Many program staff have experienced loss, grief, and trauma related to working with individuals and families with substance use disorders. BSAS has resources available to support providers affected by trauma and loss.
BSAS offers on-site crisis response services to BSAS-funded programs, through a collaboration with Institute of Health and Recovery (IHR).
The BSAS/IHR Crisis Response Initiative provides on-site support for staff and/or clients of BSAS programs that have experienced a traumatic event. To access these services, call 617-661-3991 and say you are calling for crisis response.
Grief Supports
Support After a Death by Overdose (SADOD) is a project managed by Peer Support Community Partners that provides resources, information, and assistance to people throughout MA who have been affected by the death of someone they care about from a substance-use-related cause. SADOD’s focus is on increasing the capacity and effectiveness of peer grief support for bereaved people, frontline care providers, people in recovery, and people struggling with drug use. After a death caused by substance use, people experience grief as others do, but substance-use-related deaths can also bring with them unique challenges and hardships. SADOD’s resources for bereaved individuals address every aspect of grief and offer an extensive collection of items focused on grief after a substance-use-related death.
Additionally, Coping With Overdose Fatality: Tools For Public Health Workers (PDF) l (DOCX) is a resource written for staff of BSAS-funded programs that outlines initial steps to take in the aftermath of an overdose death to best support program staff and clients.