Community of Practice for Behavioral Health Organizations

Established in 2019, the Florida Tobacco Control Community of Practice for Behavioral Health (COP) is a statewide learning collaborative focused on tobacco control in behavioral health organizations. The COP is led by the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Cessation Program and utilizes peer-based learning, best practices and quality improvement strategies. During the collaborative, organizations have access to experts in tobacco control for behavioral health populations, benefit from peer-based learning and have an opportunity to develop and refine action plans for tracking and monitoring their tobacco control goals.

The COP is comprised of 8-12 behavioral health organizations seeking to enhance their tobacco control efforts.  New organizational members are selected each calendar year, and current/past members are encouraged to participate for as long as the process remains beneficial. Participants have access to targeted training and technical assistance through learning sessions, webinars, action planning, and coaching calls focused on building knowledge and skills to initiate and/or enhance their efforts. 

COP participants engage in an orientation and action plan development meetings (held annually in January or February) which includes educational sessions lead by national speakers on emerging trends in behavioral health and tobacco, and guides participants in developing an action plan for their organization.  Following the meeting, participants engage in 3 group affinity calls throughout the year where technical assistance is provided to progress participants’ action plans. Throughout the COP, participants are encouraged to report their accomplishments, challenges encountered and changes implemented.

Participants benefit by being part of a group of peers working together around similar goals, having access to individual coaching to achieve a better understanding of tobacco control initiatives and polices, and designing processes that will lead to better client satisfaction, compliance and improved clinical services for clients. Participants can expect to enhance organizational efforts in areas such as implementing tobacco-free polices, increasing tobacco use screenings, utilizing tobacco cessation supports, increasing and/or enhancing partnership with behavioral health treatment providers, and expanding tobacco control educational resources.

Karen Geletko, FSU AHEC Program Office: 850-645-1490/ karen.geletko@med.fsu.edu  

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Past and Present Organizational Members

Aspire Health Partners (Orlando)

Apalachee Center, Inc. (Tallahassee)

Banyan Health Systems (Miami)

Bridgeway Center (Fort Walton Beach) 

Broward Addiction and Recovery (Ft. Lauderdale) 

Centerstone (Bradenton) 

Community Assisted and Supported Living, Inc. (Sarasota) 

Costal Behavioral Healthcare (Sarasota) 

DISC Village (Tallahassee) 

Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordination Offices, Inc. (Tampa) 

EPIC Behavioral Healthcare (St. Augustine) 

Faith Farm Ministries (Ft. Lauderdale) 

First Steps of Sarasota (Sarasota) 

Flagler County Drug Court Foundation (Palm Coast) 

Gateway Community Services (Jacksonville) 

Gracepoint Mental Health Care Inc. (Tampa) 

Henry and Rilla White Youth Foundation (Tallahassee) 

IMPOWER (Longwood) 

Lakeview Center (Pensacola)  

Lakeview Health (Jacksonville) 

Lakewood Center (Fern Park) 

Jeff Industries (Hypoluxo) 

Operation PAR (Pinellas Park)  

Phoenix House (Citra)

Positive Behavioral Solutions (Orlando) 

Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare (Yulee) 

Wayside House (Delray Beach) 

Westcare Guidance Center (Keys) 

Westcare Gulf Coast (St. Petersburg)