The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service conducted a Statewide Community Needs Assessment in 2023 to identify and prioritize community needs, issues, and/or opportunities that UK the Cooperative Extension System could address through targeted educational programming and engagement efforts. “Support for substance use addiction prevention/recovery” was among the top 15 priority issues reported statewide.

Undoubtedly Kentuckians have experienced incredible physical, mental, and financial stressors due to the Overdose Epidemic. In 2022, more than 2,000 Kentuckians died to drug overdose. Individuals in recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) are particularly susceptible to relapse during the early stages of recovery. This increased risk is due in part to the financial stress that people in SUD recovery often encounter (e.g., debt, poor credit, limited employment opportunities). The existing paradigm for treating addiction has proven woefully inadequate.

To address these emerging, complex issues, the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension Service developed the program PROFIT: Promoting Recovery Online through Financial Instruction and addiction Training. PROFIT is funded by a USDA-NIFA Rural Health Safety Education (RHSE) award. The team includes Drs. Nichole Huff, Assistant Extension Professor for Family Finance and Resource Management (PI); Alex Elswick, Assistant Extension Professor for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (Co-PI); Omolola Adedokun, Assistant Extension Professor for Program Evaluation (Co-PI); and Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Extension Director for FCS (Co-PI). Additional grant support is provided by Kelly May, Senior Extension Associate for Family Finance and Resource Management, and Leslie Workman, Extension Specialist for FCS. 

PROFIT leverages Extension education to address the Overdose Epidemic in and beyond Kentucky. It includes two University of Kentucky FCS programs, Addiction 101 and Recovering Your Finances, with additional instruction on Rural & Cultural Competency Building. This two-hour online training is designed to increase the capacity of Extension educators and community-based professionals on factors that mitigate SUD reoccurrence, particularly financial stress.

• Addiction 101 was designed to reduce the stigma often associated with addiction, as well as foster a sense of comfortability in working with addicted and recovering audiences — especially for Extension educators, encouraging professionals to discover creative ways to engage with audiences impacted by substance use.

• Recovering Your Finances (RYF) is an eight-session, comprehensive financial education and soft skills curriculum for individuals in early SUD recovery. RYF was specifically designed to address financial stressors often associated with SUD recovery and recurrence. Upon completion of PROFIT, professionals receive digital access to the full RYF curriculum to use as an educational tool in their work with recovery audiences through a Licensure Agreement with the University of Kentucky.

• The third component, Rural & Cultural Competency Building, is designed to increase professional understanding of society’s multiplying cultural differences and offer considerations for working with predominately rural communities.

PROFIT launched through UK Online in November 2023 (state) and January 2024 (nationally). The program is self-paced; enrollment and matriculation will continue through August 31, 2025. PROFIT’s program efforts through June 30, 2024, include 94 community partners; 70 of whom have completed the course, earning two hours of continuing education credit through the Kentucky Board of Alcohol and Drug Counselors. Participation includes formal licensure agreements from nine partnering organizations in addition to Kentucky Cooperative Extension personnel. These include Penn State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Kentucky State University, Kentucky Christian Recovery, Voices of Hope, Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery, New Hope Community Services, Gateway Recovery Clinic, and Pennyrile Allied Community Services. Evaluation efforts are ongoing, with feedback collected immediately upon training, then again at 3- and 6-month post-training intervals.

Further, the PROFIT team has presented 10 times at state (5) and national (5) conferences, with two additional national conference presentations scheduled in September and November 2024. For her work on PROFIT and the licensure/dissemination of the Recovering Your Finances curriculum, Dr. Huff was selected as one of four Social Innovators by the UK Innovate program through the University of Kentucky Office of Technology Commercialization.