The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service conducted Statewide Community Needs Assessments in 2019 and 2023 to identify and prioritize community needs, issues, and/or opportunities that the UK 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 in 2019 and again in 2023. 

Undoubtedly Kentuckians have experienced incredible physical, mental, and financial stressors due to the Overdose Epidemic. In 2024, more than 1,100 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 complex social 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 was funded by a USDA-NIFA Rural Health Safety Education (RHSE) award (2023-2025). The PROFIT Specialist team includes Dr. Nichole Huff, Assistant Extension Professor for Family Finance and Resource Management (PI); Dr. Alex Elswick, Assistant Extension Professor for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (Co-PI); Dr. Omolola Adedokun, Assistant Extension Professor for Program Evaluation (Co-PI); Leslie Workman, Extension Specialist for FCS; and Kelly May, Senior Extension Associate for Family Finance and Resource Management. 

PROFIT leveraged Extension education to address the Overdose Epidemic in and beyond Kentucky. It included 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 was 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 received 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 as a self-paced course through UK Online in November 2023 (Kentucky) and January 2024 (nationally). The program reach through June 30, 2025, includes 180 participants, 133 of whom have completed the course (74%), earning two hours of continuing education credit through the Kentucky Board of Alcohol and Drug Counselors. PROFIT participation includes formal licensure agreements from 24 partnering organizations or independent contractors. These include university Extension programs at Kentucky State University, Penn State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, University of Nevada at Reno, and The Ohio State University, and other state- and community-based organizations such as the Kentucky Department of Reentry and Employment, Voices of Hope, and independent contractors who work with the U.S. Department of Defense. Additionally, 92 University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension personnel have completed PROFIT representing 71 out of 120 counties across the Commonwealth (59%). 

Evaluation efforts are ongoing, with feedback collected immediately upon training, then again at 3- and 6-month post-training intervals.