RIZE Massachusetts Awards Nearly $440,000 to Train Social Workers in Evidence-Based Approach to Opioid Overdose Crisis

RIZE News

August 25, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2025

CONTACT:

Molly McKinney, Ball Consulting Group, LLC
Phone: 617-243-9950; Email: molly@ballcg.com

RIZE Massachusetts Awards Nearly $440,000 to Train Social Workers in Evidence-Based Approach to Opioid Overdose Crisis

HaRT Scholars Program Educates Master of Social Work Students in Harm Reduction Practices at Four Colleges and Universities

BOSTON (Aug. 25, 2025) – RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), a nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to funding and collaborating on solutions to end the opioid overdose crisis in Massachusetts, today announced that it is awarding nearly $440,000 in grants to develop a pipeline of social workers trained in harm reduction approaches to this crisis.

The Harm Reduction Training (HaRT) Scholars program supports specialized internships for Master of Social Work students at Boston College, Bridgewater State University, Simmons University, and Westfield State University. The funding will also support Northeastern University in its continued evaluation of the program.

“As the HaRT Scholars program enters its fifth year, it continues to identify important commonalities between social work and harm reduction, providing evidence for integrating the two fields to improve services for people who use drugs,” said Julie Burns, president and CEO of RIZE Massachusetts. “The program also opens Master of Social Work students to the possibility of a career in addiction treatment and infuses their professional practice, regardless of specialty, with harm reduction principles. HaRT Scholars will enter the front lines of the opioid crisis prepared to compassionately support individuals on their path to better quality of life and overall health.”

The HaRT Scholars program was the first of its kind in the country in 2021. It has supported paid internships and specialized training for 55 HaRT Scholars, and will support an additional 20 scholars in the upcoming 2025 to 2026 academic year.

“Substance use focused education, especially harm reduction education, is rarely present in social work curriculum, leaving social workers underprepared to effectively intervene and support the individuals, children, and families in the communities we work in during an ongoing opioid crisis,” said Taylor Hall, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Bridgewater State University. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from our HaRT Scholars, the internship organizations, and from other faculty, and I wish that every social work student in the country had access to this training.”

Harm reduction training sites for the program receive increased clinical presence and a financial payment to offset time for intern supervision. Each of the participating universities promotes the HaRT Scholars program to students who identify as BIPOC to increase the presence of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse social workers in the field.

“Our partnership with RIZE has stoked curiosity, conversations, and commitment to advancing best practices in the area of substance use throughout the entire Simmons learning community of students, staff, faculty, administrators, and the community organizations with which we partner,” said Jeffrey Steen, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Simmons University. “The HaRT Scholars program offers a different level of support, providing financial incentives, and opportunities for mentoring that profoundly shape students’ career trajectories.”

Harm reduction services, especially when integrated with access to clinical addiction treatment programs, can prevent death and improve care for people living with opioid use disorder. RIZE’s Enabling Health: Enhancing Harm Reduction and Saving Lives grant program identified a need to augment harm reduction services throughout the substance use disorder continuum, but found that many providers, including social workers, do not receive the proper training and specialized education for utilizing harm reduction approaches in their practice.

Harm reduction is an approach that focuses on reducing the negative consequences of drug use and supporting individuals in embracing any positive change in their lives and health. The interventions can include a range of services such as overdose education, naloxone distribution, drug checking, and syringe exchange. Harm reduction itself should not be seen as a way to end opioid use, but rather as a survival plan that keeps people alive and safe.

About RIZE Massachusetts

RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE) is solely dedicated to funding and collaborating on solutions to end the overdose crisis. Guided by those with lived and living experience and unafraid of new ideas, RIZE is building networks, creating programming, and investing in community partners using novel approaches to preventing overdose and increasing access to treatment and recovery supports. RIZE makes health equity a programmatic priority by addressing root causes such as racism, systemic barriers to care, and power imbalances. Learn more at www.rizema.org.

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Position Summary

Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership (Mosaic), funded by the MA Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and powered by RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), is a partnership like no other. It is a unique, public-private collaboration designed to support initiatives that are addressing the opioid overdose crisis in communities that have been historically underserved and have experienced a high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths.

The funding for Mosaic comes from the Massachusetts Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund (ORRF), which resulted from the historic legal effort to demand justice from several private companies for the harms caused by the opioid epidemic. This is one of the first public-private partnerships of this magnitude using settlement funds for community-led initiatives.

In partnership with BSAS and municipalities receiving opioid abatement funds, RIZE manages the Municipal Training and Technical Assistance (Muni TTA) Program. This program aligns with Mosaic’s mission to ensure that opioid abatement funds are invested and remain in the communities most deeply impacted by the crisis while also fueling transformative change through grassroots, community-led efforts.

The Muni TTA project manager provides project management, data, and operational support, ensuring the Muni TTA Program runs smoothly, is well documented, and is grounded in data. This role translates program strategy into concrete workplans, tracking systems, and reporting products, and provides day-to-day task direction to the program coordinator on project deliverables.

RIZE seeks someone for this position who is passionate about ending the overdose crisis and unafraid of new ideas. Success will require a positive, can-do, learning mindset and a collaborative, team-oriented approach. We are looking for candidates who understand how complex and interconnected issues, such as funding, data systems, and municipal government structures, intersect with addressing the overdose crisis.

The project manager supports the implementation of the Muni TTA workplan and Salesforce data infrastructure, coordinates monthly and quarterly reporting, provides project management support to four regional community advisory boards (CABs), and manages the logistics and content pipeline for the program's webinar series and newsletter. This position reports to the chief program officer (CPO) and works closely with the senior program officer (SPO).

 

Key Responsibilities

1. Workplan & Data Management

  • Oversee the Muni TTA workplan and Asana project management structure across six program goals: Proactive Outreach; Communications and Engagement; Quality Assurance and Team Development; Evaluation and Reporting; Intermunicipal Collaboration and Partnerships; and Community Advisory Boards. Monitor and keep progress, and identify risks or adjustments needed to keep deliverables on track
  • Set and monitor Salesforce data quality standards, oversee the Mosaic Muni TTA dashboard in coordination with the program coordinator, and produce reports; identify data quality issues and recommend adjustments to tracked metrics as the program evolves.
  • Monitor case documentation and tracking; compile monthly quality-review summaries for senior management review.
  • Support municipal capacity assessments by synthesizing results, identifying gaps, and helping the SPO draft action plans that reflect program priorities and municipal needs.

2. Reporting & Leadership Support

  • Compile regular qualitative reports, drafting the consolidated narrative of outcomes, barriers, and strategic adjustments for the SPO to finalize.
  • Develop regular progress updates, data summaries, and briefing materials for senior leadership, translating program activity and outcomes into clear talking points for internal review and external stakeholder discussions.
  • Coordinate senior leadership meeting preparation by identifying needed inputs, shaping agendas around key decisions, and ensuring materials are ready for review and follow-up. Coordinate post meeting follow-up.
  • Participate in cross-sector coordination meetings as needed to support data, reporting, or project management needs.

3. Community Advisory Board & Event Support

  • Provide project management for CAB implementation tracking progress and outcome metrics.
  • Direct administrative support for CABs, including materials preparation and outreach coordination.
  • Coordinate logistics, timelines, materials, follow-up, and slide preparation for regional and statewide presentations, meetings, and events.

4. Communications & Content Pipeline

  • Project-manage Mosaic TTA webinars: in coordination with the program coordinator maintain the topic and speaker pipeline, coordinate scheduling and logistics, and track post-session evaluations.
  • Project-manage Muni TTA bulletin and newsletter production, coordinating content collection, drafting, and oversee program coordinator with distribution timelines, and tracking engagement analytics.
  • Direct the program coordinator's development of training materials and slide decks; review for quality and program alignment before routing to senior leadership for approval.

 

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong organizational and time management skills
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and virtual meeting platforms
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred

  • Experience in public health, behavioral health, or harm reduction
  • Familiarity with workforce development initiatives
  • Experience supporting coalitions or multi-partner collaborations
  • Experience working with communities disproportionately impacted by substance use and overdose

Core Competencies

  • Commitment to harm reduction philosophy and health equity
  • Cultural humility and trauma-informed approach
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
  • Strong interpersonal skills and collaborative mindset
  • High level of discretion and professionalism
  • Bachelor's degree in public health, public administration, business, or a related field and a minimum of five years of relevant experience; or a master's degree and a minimum of two years of experience.
  • Demonstrated project management experience, ideally within a public health, government, or nonprofit setting.
  • Strong data and systems management skills; experience with Salesforce, or a comparable CRM/database strongly preferred.
  • Experience managing workplans, timelines, and reporting cycles.
  • Experience with supervision preferred.
  • Excellent written communication skills, including experience drafting reports and briefing materials for review by senior staff.
  • Proficiency with Salesforce, Asana, Microsoft Office 365, and virtual conferencing platforms; familiarity with Canva, WordPress, and Constant Contact a plus.
  • Knowledge of the Massachusetts opioid settlement funding landscape and municipal government structures preferred.

Skills, Abilities, Attributes

  • Strong organizational skills and sound judgment in a fast-paced, small-team, collegial environment.
  • Comfortable managing competing priorities and shifting timelines with minimal oversight.
  • Demonstrated track record of sustained high-quality, independent work in fast-paced environments.
  • Effective relationship-builder able to coordinate across internal teams and external stakeholders.
  • Ability to exercise discretion in handling confidential or sensitive information.
  • Motivated by a keen sense of mission and values with a willingness to embrace and actively support RIZE's agenda.

Work Environment

The Municipal TTA project manager is a full-time, hybrid role. RIZE is in downtown Boston; travel, primarily in-state, will be required for meetings and events as needed. This role may require evening and occasional weekend work.

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