Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) and Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) are some of the hardest working, undersung heroes in the Recovery Community. These non-profit, grassroots organizations are often created and run by people with lived experience, in long-term recovery, in order to address the local needs of their communities. They are uniquely poised to connect with people in recovery because they are neither for-profit nor directed by the local, city, state or federal government. In this way, RCOs and RCCs are truly “by the people, for the people.”
And yet, with all of the recent developments in software designed to help every other sector of the behavioral health community, the hardworking people behind RCOs and RCCs are making do with unruly spreadsheets and shared Google docs for vital day-to-day operations.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the inefficiencies plaguing RCOs and RCCs and what emerging solutions are available to transform the management of these organizations.
What is a Recovery Community Organization (RCO) or Recovery Community Center (RCC)?
Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) are community-based nonprofit organizations, often hyper-local in focus, that are designed to advocate for the local recovery community. They are usually founded and run by people in recovery, for people in recovery. There are many different kinds of organizations that fall under the RCO umbrella. They include faith-based organizations, organizations designed to address the needs of specific populations within the recovery community, and organizations that provide services to the recovery community at large.
Most RCOs host some kind of recovery community center or other physical space designed to serve the recovery community, like a cafe or a recovery high school. Recovery Community Centers, or RCCs, are the umbrella term used to describe these physical community spaces that RCOs often manage.
How many RCOs are there in the United States?
It is difficult to know the number of active RCOs in the United States at present. in 2007, Faces and Voices of Recovery released a report that stated there are over 175 active RCOs in the United States, but it is likely that that number has expanded dramatically over the years. The same report points to the National Council in Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) as the nation’s first RCO. The NCADD was founded over 70 years ago.
What are some of the most time consuming inefficiencies plaguing Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs)?
The devil is always in the details.
This is, of course, also the case when it comes to the management of large community organizations like RCOs and RCCs.
In every conversation with those involved in RCO administration, the same pain points come up again and again. These tasks often invoke a sense of dread in the people responsible for tracking them. They are described as tedious, repetitive, annoying, time-consuming, and often prone to errors. At the same time, they are often mission-critical and it is very important that they are performed well. Too often, small, careless mistakes in these tasks result in big, long-term problems.
These “problem areas” for Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) and Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) include important administrative tasks like:
Volunteer coordination
Scheduling tasks
Fundraising tasks
Event planning and management
Tracking participant progress and outcomes
Tracking for grant eligibility and compliance
What kinds of Recovery Community Organizations or RCOs can benefit from specialized software?
Behave Health has developed specialized software especially designed for the needs of Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs). All RCOs can benefit from Behave Health’s smart software solution, including recovery community advocacy organizations, recovery coaching programs, recovery community centers, programs that offer peer recovery support services, recovery education programs, faith-based recovery programs, recovery volunteer networks, and more.
What measurable improvements have RCOs seen with Behave Health?
Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) and Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) have reported up to a 45% improvement in organizational efficiency, with particular emphasis on the “problem areas” listed above. Our partners have also reported a whopping 30% bump in participant engagement in RCO programming. Behave Health makes it easy to track these improvements, with easy, real-time dashboard access to customizable metrics like program attendance, grant funding dollars spent, volunteer hours logged, and participant outcomes realized.
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