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Arlene Brown

CEO
Crossroads Recovery Center and Skoden Native Harm Reduction Services, California

Ms. Brown (Bishop Paiute Tribe) is the founder and CEO of Crossroads Recovery Center and Skoden Native Harm Reduction Services, which was the first CA state certified syringe program specifically created for native people. Previously, Arlene served as a Tribal Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Specialist providing culturally appropriate support to tribal communities for California’s statewide initiative to identify and integrate tribal best practices into opioid and methamphetamine treatment for urban Indian and tribal communities and to support the tribal traditional best practice and SUD integration initiative She has more than 15 years of experience providing organizational leadership, community outreach, and education to tribal communities. She brings expertise on topics including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) services, harm reduction and Native harm reduction, culturally responsive techniques, increasing positive outcomes with American Indians, best practices in working among American Indians, child abuse and victimization, historical trauma implications on health, healthy relationships, communication skills, evidence-based practices, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Ms. Brown received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and American Indian studies from the University of North Dakota and then pursued her Masters of Counseling Psyscholoy with an emphasis in Addiction.

Previously, Ms. Brown worked as a recovery support navigator for Northern Inyo Hospital and helped develop thier medication assisted treatment (MAT) program; created workflows for the MAT, a syringe exchange, and harm reduction distribution programs; and built community partnerships and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with other service providers. Ms. Brown supported community education by conducting ongoing stigma reduction, opioid overdose, and Naloxone trainings to community members, staff and organizations; creating educational and awareness campaigns for Naloxone, HCV, and MAT; and conducting live radio broadcasts for MAT services outreach and awareness. She built a contingency management program for stimulant use disorder and a perinatal contingency management program for various substance use disorders.

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