LEI Scorecard
Assess your organization’s current readiness to authentically integrate lived experience into SUD care and identify where to focus first.
Take the ScorecardLEI-SUD Implementation Framework · Part 1
Building Readiness
Build the foundation for meaningful lived experience integration by assessing organizational readiness, identifying opportunities for growth, and preparing your team for authentic partnership.
Why This Part Matters
Readiness Is the Foundation Every Other Part Depends On
Organizations that skip readiness work often default to token gestures of inclusion rather than authentic partnership. Building readiness means honestly assessing where your organization stands today, understanding what genuine lived experience partnership requires, and preparing your team, structurally and culturally, before asking anyone to share their story.
This part gives you the tools to make that assessment concrete, rather than aspirational.
Featured Resources
Companion tools and resources for this part. Items marked Coming Soon are in development.
Advocacy-Readiness Reflection Tool
A guided reflection to help your team prepare for authentic advocacy partnership work.
Partnership Readiness QI Matrix
A quality-improvement matrix for assessing partnership readiness across your organization.
Implementation Guidance
Where to start
- Assess current partnership practices honestly, not aspirationally
- Identify one or two areas of opportunity rather than everything at once
- Involve leadership early so readiness work has real backing
- Set realistic timelines — readiness is not a one-week exercise
Common pitfalls
- Treating readiness as a one-time checklist instead of an ongoing practice
- Moving to engagement before structures and compensation are in place
- Underestimating the support lived experience partners need
- Skipping honest assessment in favor of a comfortable narrative
Additional Learning
Incorporating Peer Support Into Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services
Read the Article →The Cost-Effectiveness of Long-Term Post-Treatment Peer Recovery Support Services in the United States
Read the Article →Competing Allegiance in an Unclear Role: Peer and Non-Peer Understanding of Peer Support in Massachusetts, United States
Read the Article →Continue the Framework
