Syringe Service Program (SSP) Linkage to Care

In 2020, Minnesota Department of Health partnered with Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) across the state to provide vital, life-saving services to people who use drugs. This partnership is funded through the Overdose Data to Action grant funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

SSPs are a unique model of holistic client and community-focused healthcare that respond to the needs of people who use drugs while also developing strong community connections to support linkage to care beyond syringe services.

Participating SSPs

SSPs funded by MDH’s Injury Violence and Prevention Section (IVPS) in 2020 include:

• Harm Reduction Sisters
• Rainbow Health and Mainline Exchange
• Native American Community Clinic
• Northpoint Health and Wellness
• Rural AIDS Action Network
• Southside Harm Reduction Services
• White Earth Nation

SSPs Linkage to Care Strategies

SSPs are a primary avenue for providing harm reduction services in communities. SSPs provide a variety of services and supplies for safer drug use including:

• Sterile syringes and other supplies at no cost
• Sharps containers and safe disposal of used syringes
• Naloxone kits and training
• Overdose prevention education
• HIV & Hepatitis C testing, education, and linkage to care
• Referrals to medical, mental, and sexual health services
• Referrals to substance use disorder treatment and recovery support

SSPs Linkage to Care Impact on Communities

For many clients, SSPs are the most consistent community health service provider they interact with and rely upon for an array of services.

• Dignity and consistency
• Low barrier entry point to care and referrals to trusted healthcare providers
• Community connection and relationship building by providing emotional care, food, tents, sleeping bags, wound care supplies, and, above all, a trusting relationship built on mutual respect
• Provide services more holistically than traditional systems of care and response that can remove barriers to care

SSPs Linkage to Care Challenges

Displacement

The displacement of people who use drugs to shelters that do not allow continued use essentially forces the choice of either stopping use in a new, unsupportive environment or relocating to a different place that most are unfamiliar with.

Lack of Housing

The lack of connection between SSPs and housing programs, as well as the strict requirements in place for most housing programs, have contributed to persistent houselessness among people who use drugs.

Limited Supplies

Purchasing of safer smoking supplies and other harm reduction supplies, such as tourniquets and cotton pads, remains heavily restricted. Restrictions on funding result in limited supply inventories and reliance on sporadic donations from other organizations that can utilize different funding streams to purchase needed harm reduction supplies.

Limited Staff Capacity

A consistent challenge experienced by SSP staff is low wages and long working hours. Providing harm reduction can be emotionally intense and requires substantial emotional labor when responding to client testimonies of trauma, abuse, and violence.

Lack of Transportation

SSP staff and clients alike struggle with adequate transportation, especially in rural areas.

Further Information on SSPs

Contact a prevention staff member at health.drugodprev@state.mn.us