Montana's Recovery Residences Go Digital: How RAM and Behave Health Are Transforming Certification and Connection Statewide
What if every Montana recovery residence could get certified and connected—without paperwork headaches, lost emails, or outdated directories? The Recovery Residence Alliance of Montana (RAM) has joined forces with Behave Health to turn this vision into reality, making Montana one of the first states to streamline certification and statewide connection using the groundbreaking Behave Health Affiliate Management Platform (AMP). Here's what this game-changing collaboration means for operators, residents, and the future of recovery support across Big Sky Country.
Montana's Recovery Landscape: Why Change Was Desperately Needed
Montana presents unique challenges for recovery support services. As Peter Maney, RAM's Director, explains: "We're the fourth largest state in land mass, but we only have a little over a million people in the whole state. So there's more cows than people here."
This vast geography creates a complex puzzle for recovery residence certification and oversight. Towns with recovery homes, treatment centers, or peer support services are often hundreds of miles apart, with "no one place having the full ecosystem" of recovery support services. For state affiliate leaders like Peter, managing certification processes across such distances seemed nearly impossible using traditional methods.
Before the collaboration with Behave Health, RAM faced the same administrative chaos plaguing affiliates nationwide: Google Sheets, sticky notes, and manual processes that scattered operators "everywhere at once." Peter recalls his pre-digital days as operations director at Crosswinds Recovery: "I was running around town collecting rent checks... instead of doing what I was really hired to do. That's spending time with my residents."
The inefficiency wasn't just inconvenient, it was a barrier to growth and quality oversight across Montana's recovery ecosystem.
The Big News: RAM and Behave Health Unveil Statewide Partnership
RAM has officially adopted Behave Health's Affiliate Management Platform (AMP) for all recovery residence certification and compliance management across Montana. This represents a milestone: RAM becomes one of the first NARR affiliates to fully digitize their certification workflow while simultaneously powering their statewide directory through Behave Health's integrated technology.
"There has to be a better way to do this," Peter said when he first reached out to Behave Health CEO Ben Weiss about adapting their recovery residence software for state-level affiliate management. "Not only can we try to get all of the operators in the state of Montana on one system, but can that system be adapted for me to do my job at a state level?"
Ben's response? "Yeah, we can do that, and here's how we're gonna do it." That conversation sparked the development of what became the Behave AMP, a platform now serving affiliates nationwide.
What the Affiliate Management Platform (AMP) Actually Does
The Behave AMP transforms recovery residence certification from a paper-heavy, travel-intensive process into a streamlined digital workflow. Here's what makes it revolutionary:
Automated Certification Workflow: Applications, documentation reviews, site visit scheduling, and compliance tracking all happen within one secure platform. No more chasing emails or lost paperwork.
Digital Site Visits: While on-site inspections remain important, the platform supports remote compliance monitoring and virtual check-ins, crucial for Montana's vast geography.
Standardized Data Collection: Every certified residence reports outcomes and operational data using the same format, creating consistency that was impossible with scattered spreadsheets and manual processes.
Real-Time Directory Management: The RAM directory, now powered by Behave Health's technology, provides live bed availability and up-to-date facility information for residents, families, and referral sources.
For Peter, the transformation was immediate and personal: "It saved me time. Which meant that I got time back." The efficiency gains are measurable. RAM accelerated from certifying 10 homes in their first year to 60 homes the following year. Being on a "very, very limited budget, very limited time, and understaffed." As Peter explains: "Software and technology was the way that we were able to do that."
How the New RAM Directory Empowers Operators and Residents
The digitized RAM directory creates benefits across the entire recovery ecosystem:
For Recovery Residence Operators:
Streamlined compliance updates and reporting
Online certification application and renewal processes
Single dashboard for all affiliate communications and requirements
Reduced administrative burden, more time for resident support
For State Leadership:
Real-time data for oversight and compliance monitoring
Comprehensive outcomes reporting for funding applications and advocacy
Standardized processes that ensure consistent application of NARR standards
Ability to manage certification across Montana's vast geography efficiently
For Residents and Families:
Transparent access to certified recovery residences statewide
Real-time bed availability information
Confidence in quality standards through verified certification status
Easier navigation of Montana's recovery ecosystem
The platform also breaks down the silos that historically separated recovery services. "Now we can refer clients to one another," Peter notes. "Now we can refer to programs and services that weren't ever connected or really knew about each other ever before."
What This Means for Montana—and What's Next
Montana's partnership with Behave Health represents more than technological advancement—it's a blueprint for how rural states can leverage digital innovation to overcome geographic and resource challenges.
The immediate impact speaks for itself. Peter describes the transformation: "We wouldn't have been able to do what we're able to do, going from 10 certified homes the first year to 60 homes the next year, on a very, very limited budget, very limited time, and understaffed. Without the software, we wouldn't have been able to do what we're able to do."
But the vision extends beyond Montana's borders. RAM's success demonstrates how Behave Health's AMP can "standardize the standard"—operationalizing NARR's certification requirements in ways that other states can replicate and adapt.
As Peter explains the broader impact: "The standards themselves are very systematic, very organized, very methodical and thought out. They're amazing. But the way that's implemented throughout all of the 32 affiliates wasn't standardized at all. That's what Behave does. They standardized the standard, they operationalized us doing the certification work."
This standardization creates opportunities for data-driven advocacy, improved funding applications, and evidence-based policy development—benefits that extend far beyond individual residence operations.
RAM, powered by Behave Health, is setting a statewide—and soon, nationwide—standard for how recovery residence certification should work: efficient, transparent, and always focused on better outcomes for people in recovery.
Ready to See What a Connected Future Looks Like?
Curious how your state or program could mirror Montana’s success? Discover more about Behave Health AMP and the power of digital transformation in recovery.