Navigating Recovery: Community College Student Journeys Through Collegiate Recovery Programs

There is an inherent regional need to support students in recovery, and often their demographics and lived experiences coincide with the student body of a community college. This is particularly salient to the segments of this population which concurrently suffer maltreatment due to other intersectional biases implicit in many health care and education-based systems inside the United States (Cole, 2009; Mance et al., 2010; Rosenthal, 2016). Community colleges are not doing enough to equitably support students in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) and help buoy their recovery capital (Appiah, 2021; Ashford, Curtis, et al., 2018; Association of Recovery in Higher Education, 2022; Laudet et al., 2015; Staton et al., 2018; Vázquez et al., 2022). Recovery capital is the entirety of all resources, internal and external, that can be utilized to sustain recovery from SUD (Cloud & Granfield, 2008; Hennessy, 2017). One means of support is a collegiate recovery program (CRP), broadly defined as a cohort of students on a college campus who are in active recovery from a substance use disorder and participate in a mutual support system based on the college campus (Laudet et al., 2015). The purpose of this study was to comprehensively assess the impact of collegiate recovery programs on community college students navigating their recovery from substance misuse. This is inclusive of their perception of the impact on their recovery journey and recovery capital. There is a review of the current literature on collegiate recovery programs followed by consideration of CRPs and recovery capital within the framework of the theory of planned behavior with an eye towards creating new programs at more community colleges, elucidating the relationship between the missions of community colleges and collegiate recovery, engaging community and local workforce and economic partners, and towards differential outcomes due to inherent, systemic biases in design. It also researched the recovery capital and lived experiences of students in a collegiate recovery program at several community colleges and proposed growth opportunities for more programming in the future to address this social justice need. The research specifically explored the influence of CRPs on students' self-perceptions regarding their capability to maneuver through the challenges of community college life while in recovery. Furthermore, the study quantitatively measured students' recovery capital, utilizing a standardized assessment tool known as the Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC-10), and a mixed methods satisfaction survey designed by this researcher. After these surveys were completed, semi-structured, confidential interviews were executed to seek deeper meanings. This comparative analysis aimed to provide empirical evidence of the program’s impact on students' resources and strengths in recovery. Additionally, the study examined students' personal definitions and understandings of recovery capital, aiming to capture the subjective and nuanced perspectives of those who have engaged with CRPs at community colleges. By exploring how students describe and conceptualize recovery capital, the research illuminated the personal and shared meanings within the recovery community at the college level, and across community stakeholders. The investigation also assessed how these perceptions and attitudes towards recovery capital evolve following participation in the CRP. Outcomes of the BARC-10, the satisfaction survey, and the interviews showed strong support for CRPs at community colleges. Main themes that emerged in the data included a feeling of fellowship or “not being alone”, connection to the college and external community, pride in the CRP’s accomplishments and supports, learning new ways to support personal recovery journeys and grow recovery capital, and the desire to remain in a CRP for the foreseeable future. This comprehensive analysis did not only enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of CRPs in community colleges but summarily the researcher hopes that it contributes to the development of more tailored and impactful recovery support services within higher education institutions.