Project ECHO® is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide the application of best practices. The heart of the ECHO model is its hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks, led by expert teams who use multi-point videoconferencing to conduct learning sessions about evidence-based practices in education, health, and disability services. With this method, educators, healthcare providers, special service providers, case managers, administrators, and families have access to expert advice right in their homes, schools, and offices.

ECHO Networks provide ongoing support for educators, healthcare providers, and families in state regions, e.g., rural areas, where specialized knowledge is not always locally available. By removing these barriers to specialized knowledge, outcomes for students, patients, and families are improved.

Project SCOPE links research to practical application in local communities, improves outcomes, provides opportunities to share knowledge and findings with national networks and federal agencies, and provides recommendations for future interventions. Participants receive highly relevant professional development, specific guidance, and ongoing support related to their needs and concerns. This results in interdisciplinary teams that are trained to work more effectively with their clients.

The Project SCOPE network provides ongoing resources and support to train participants in evidence-based best practices on screening, monitoring, and ongoing support to children and families coping with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS), and related issues.

Lorraine F. Kubicek, PhD, IMH-E ^(R) Project Director, JFK Partners, CU-AMC

Abigail Angulo, MD, MPH, Developmental Pediatrics, CHCO/CU-AMC

Melissa Argenti, MS OTR/L, JFK Partners, CU-AMC

Anne Auld, Illuminate Colorado

Renee Charlifue-Smith, MA, CCC-SLP, JFK Partners, CU-AMC

Katie McCoy, Social Work LEND Fellow

The initial pilot of Project SCOPE was developed in 2018 by the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, in partnership with the Nisonger Center at The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Training is focused on the impact of childhood trauma, medication-assisted treatment for addiction, developmental outcomes, family supports, and service coordination. Training participants included special educators, early interventionists, social workers, physicians, psychologists, nurses, administrators, foster parents, and recovering mothers. 

The Nisonger Center and the University of Cincinnati UCEDD have provided the curriculum that includes current research on brain development, developmental outcomes of prenatal exposure to opioids and other substances, trauma-informed care, provider secondary trauma stress, and strategies to support caregivers. The Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) has developed an ECHO model network to implement this curriculum. 

This Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities project also reflects an exciting collaboration between federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Programs National Training Initiative, Health Resources and Services Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the U.S. Department of Education. (2020-2022)