VARR & The REC-CAP

The process begins with the resident’s completion of the REC-CAP Assessment. A baseline assessment is administered when the resident first arrives at the program. The resident is then re-assessed at intervals with the intent of identifying recovery capital gains and to identify any persistent barriers or unmet service needs. REC CAP assessment is organized under nine sections: Demographics, Quality of Life & Satisfaction, Barriers to Recovery, Services Involvement & Needs, Personal Recovery Readiness, Social Recovery Capital, Involvements with Recovery Groups and Local Community, Commitment, and What do you See As Your Needs?  These nine sections evaluate the entire spectrum of recovery from a strength-based perspective and the results are as meaningful at ten years of recovery as they are at ten days. This process encourages continued focus on the achievement of recovery goals.

The results of the REC-CAP Assessment generate a results summary color-coded the same way as a traffic light. Red items are areas where a barrier exists or a strength is absent, yellow items that are moderately acceptable but perhaps need additional work, and green items indicating strength or the absence of a barrier. Unmet service needs are also identified based on involvement, satisfaction, and desire for additional help. With a bit of guidance, these results become a powerful, collaborative tool that the client and navigator utilize to frame a Recovery Plan tailored to the resident’s needs.

REC-CAP quantifies residents strengths in four categories: personal, social, well-being and support & commitment. The node-link map helps trained navigators to visualize assessment results and guide residents in establishing concrete goals to achieve resiliency. Barriers and unmet service needs are mapped to concrete goals designed to address them, alongside existing strengths that the resident already brings to the table.

Navigational support is frequently vital to sustain resiliency during early stages of the client’s recovery journey. Navigators are peer mentors with experience living fulfilling lives in recovery, not just clinicians with an academic understanding. Navigators help the resident to create finite, concrete goals and then mentor, monitor and measure goal achievement as residents execute their self-directed recovery plan.