Harm
Reduction
Hacks

Harm
Reduction
Hacks

Harm Reduction Hacks is the product of a series of 38 qualitative conversations with harm reduction leaders representing every region of the US that took place in the Fall of 2020 and the Spring of 2021.

For Harm Reduction Hacks, two waves of leaders representing every region of the US participated in one-on-one conversations in the Fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. These leaders represented a wide variety of organizational types and structures providing harm reduction services in the US, including stand-alone non-profits, fiscally sponsored projects, horizontal collectives, and programs embedded in both county health departments and larger community-based organizations (CBOs).

This data was then analyzed for themes, practical tips, and other information. That analysis, and the wisdom of people who have between them nearly 500 years of lived experience, are woven throughout the information, tips, and insights in Harm Reduction Hacks.

Read full project background
Download as PDF
Download as PDF
PDF version contains all harm reduction hacks for offline reading.

The Hacks

We have divided the hacks into 14 logical sections for ease of navigation, but you also have the option of viewing the hacks as one big collection… we’ve even included the option to view a random hack for you if you just want to allow serendipity to guide you.
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Featured Hacks

Considerations for Hiring Peers

Featured in:
There are many things to consider before you hire anyone, but the points raised in this article were cited by many leaders as important to consider before hiring peers.
Read this Hack

Fundraising for Harm Reduction

Featured in:
Over the years, harm reductionists have used a variety of strategies to fund their services. Because of the stigma related to drug users and the mythologies that have arisen around drug use, harm reduction was seen as “enabling” problematic behavior at a time when much of the world was still trying to fix problematic drug use by criminalizing it.
Read this Hack

More Resources

Don’t reinvent the wheel
During our development Harm Reduction Hacks have collected together a large number of resources from around the web you can find these in our resource folder in Google Docs. We are also always looking for more so help us by suggesting any resources we may have missed.
Suggest a Resource

Notes About Language for Harm Reduction Hacks

The language used in Harm Reduction Hacks has been deliberately chosen to de-stigmatize drug use, people who use drugs, sex workers and other marginalized people and to be philosophically consistent with the Principles of Harm Reduction. Because of this the Hacks:

  • Uses the terms “syringe service provider” (SSP) and “harm reduction service organization” interchangeably to mean doing work to reduce the harms associated with stigmatized behaviors including drug use, sex, and sex work.
  • Uses and defines “social location” as “the social position an individual holds within their society, based upon social characteristics deemed to be important by any given society.” Some of the social characteristics deemed to be important in the US include class, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, age, regional origin, and appearance.

Acknowledgments

The people who make this possible
This overview represents the synthesis of the invaluable opinions, experiences, and knowledge of nearly 70 harm reduction leaders. The author and sponsors of Harm Reduction Hacks would like to gratefully acknowledge the harm reduction leaders, old and new, who took the time to sit down and share their insights and experiences in a series of unstructured conversations and focus groups. We hope we do them justice and, in turn, ensure that newer folks starting out in harm reduction can face some of the issues addressed here prepared with the hard-fought experiences and insights shared by these amazing leaders.
Read full acknowledgments
This project was commisioned by NASTAD (National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors) Harm Reduction TA Center.
Harm Reduction TA Center
We thank the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for providing the funding to make this project possible.
CDC

More Featured Hacks

Volunteers

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Volunteers are in many ways the lifeblood of harm reduction programs, representing a large portion of the total syringe access workforce. These volunteers can be peripheral, such as volunteers providing help with activities like kit making and paperwork, or they can help in more central, direct service roles providing syringe access and other harm reduction services on the ground.
Read this Hack

Peers

Featured in:
Peers are people who are actively using drugs, doing sex work, living unhoused, and/or with mental illness. Having peers volunteer, work for, and run harm reduction organizations is critical to ensure that (following the Principles of Harm Reduction) “drug users and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them.” and to “affirm drug users themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use”.
Read this Hack

Tips and Guarantees

  • These insights are offered in the spirit of saving emerging leaders the time and energy of re-inventing the wheel.
  • Apply harm reduction to your programs! This is not a book of guilty “to-dos”!! It is a menu of options to meet your program where it is at right now and make the incremental changes that will benefit the well-being of your program and, more importantly, your participants over the long term.
  • The insights and information here have been thoroughly researched against a variety of disciplines including public health, social work, business, public administration, and non-profit management.
  • There is no one-size fits all answer for the subjects discussed.
  • Jump in where you need to, this is not meant to be read from start to finish.
  • Tailor the insights and suggestions here to your organization and needs.
  • Know that this isn’t everything you will need, but it does cover some really important basics.
  • Everything here could be another book so use the resources section to learn more!

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Copyright

The hacks on this site are shared with you under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence. This allows you (with attribution) to adapt content for your own use, although we do ask you to then also allow others to have equal access to anything you develop. More details of this licence can be found on the Creative Commons website.

Disclaimer

We do not claim that this is an exhaustive set of strategies, shortcuts, or tips for running an SSP. What we do suggest is that Harm Reduction Hacks offers down-to-earth, practical information for being a better leader, starting and running an SSP, and providing syringe access services. We feel we can say this with confidence because the Hacks are based on interviews with, and the experiences of, literally generations of people who have been doing harm reduction work.

Please note that nothing in this guide should be construed as legal advice. Please consult an attorney local to your area to ensure your program is in compliance with all local, state and federal regulations that apply to your situation. 

Harm Reduction Hacks site design and implimentation by Nigel Brunsdon

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