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Welcome to the Mountain West Addiction Technology Transfer Center (Mountain West ATTC) section of the ATTC Network Web site. We are pleased to bring you this internet site as a principal source of addiction-related information for the public and the community of addiction professionals to enhance the quality of addiction treatment and recovery services within our region. The site includes current news relating to addiction, training events in our region, academic programs, drug and alcohol related links and a variety of products.

About Us

The Mountain West ATTC began in 1993. As one of the original eleven ATTC programs, the Mountain West Regional Center developed continuing education training and undergraduate/graduate courses in addiction counseling for pre-service students and substance abuse professionals. During this initial five year funding period, the states targeted for services included Nevada and Montana. In 1998, the Mountain West ATTC received funding to continue and expand its efforts (e.g., providing services to Wyoming, and Utah), in 2004 the Mountain West ATTC expanded again to include Colorado, then in 2007 expanded once again to include Idaho. The Mountain West ATTC is part of the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT) located at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Activities of the Mountain West ATTC

• Develop and maintain an interdisciplinary consortium of health and human service professionals representative of the SSA, addiction educators, Tribal College and University addiction educators, faith-based groups, consumers and recovery networks, constituency, community-based treatment providers, and certification and licensing board members who are knowledgeable about research-based, effective, culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to substance abuse treatment and recovery and who will guide and oversee Mountain West ATTC systems change activities and technology transfer initiatives. 
• Assist in the development of a workforce reflective of treatment populations in the target area and who are prepared to function in managed care settings.
• Upgrade the standards of professional practice for addiction workers in various setting in the target area by advancing addiction education opportunities in universities and colleges for counseling and generalist students, creating/upgrading research-based curricula, and assisting state licensure/certification boards. 
• Shape and impact the care of individuals with substance use disorders in the target area by providing innovative training and technical assistance opportunities based on empirically- supported, culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to treatment and recovery. 
• Collect and use regional cross-site evaluation and lessons learned data to create a feedback loop from the substance abuse treatment field to CSAT to ensure the needs of the field are met through technology transfer activities.

Our Mission

Improve substance abuse treatment and recovery systems of care through the education and training of health and human service professionals, and the implementation of technology transfer initiatives and workforce development activities in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. To accomplish this mission, the Mountain West ATTC focuses on 6 (six) key areas:

• DEVELOPING & DISSEMINATING TOOLS by putting insights into action and maximizing the flow of knowledge to the addiction treatment workforce. The Network creates and distributes a wealth of information in a variety of forms including continuing education and academic courses, specialized publications, presentations and curriculum enhancements.

• ENHANCING CULTURAL APPROPRIATENESS by identifying standards of culturally appropriate practice and then generating ways for these to be adopted.

• BUILDING A BETTER WORKFORCE by strengthening the knowledge, skills and attitudes of substance abuse treatment practitioners.

• ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE ADOPTION by helping treatment professionals not only access and understand but also adopt the most innovative and effective treatment strategies by keeping pace with the latest science on addiction and then translating it so that it can be understood and applied by the treatment workforce.

• ONGOING ASSESSMENT & IMPROVEMENT by fostering a continuous state of self-assessment to measure the efficacy and success of our work.

• FORGING PARTNERSHIPS by initiating partnerships and collaborative relationships that can maximize the effectiveness of the addiction treatment field by drawing on the diverse expertise of related groups to create opportunities for positive systems change and the development of key resources for the field.