In response to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s request for applications under FOA No. TI-19-007--Targeted Capacity Expansion- Special Projects, PROCEED, Inc., proposes to implement Juntas/Together (English/Spanish)—a comprehensive, woman-centered and trauma-informed substance use disorder/ co-occurring disorder (SUD/COD) treatment program for Latina and African-American women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and their children, in the City of Elizabeth and broader Union County, NJ.
Juntas/Together integrates best evidence supported SUD/COD treatment practices, with IPV safety planning, case management and navigation services, peer support, and age-appropriate counseling and referrals for the children of women enrolled in the program. Research has shown that survivors of IPV may use substances at higher rates than people who have never been abused; it has also been suggested that people accessing SUD treatment experience high rates of IPV.
PROCEED has also seen an increase in IPV among our mostly Latina clientele who are especially vulnerable due to language barriers, immigration status and racial discrimination. Addressing IPV and providing substance use treatment are priority areas for Union County, NJ. The strength of Juntas/Together is that it addresses the interaction and duality of IPV and SUD/COD in the misuse, treatment and long-term recovery of substances in a supportive, trauma and woman-centered manner, inclusive of children. Program strategies are multi-pronged and will include:
1. SUD/COD treatment using a) Seeking Safety – an evidence-based, present-focused, intervention to help people address and overcome trauma and addiction; combined with b) Motivational Interviewing- a client-centered, clinical method of counseling and communication used to help motivate and elicit behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.
2. IPV Safety Planning: universal IPV screening, resource identification, safety planning
3. Psychiatric/Mental Health Services: to address clients’ multiple traumas and substance use
4. Case Management/Navigation services: includes legal, health, education and human services
5. Referral/Provision of age-appropriate counseling services for the children of enrolled women
6. Peer support: cohort of women in recovery trained to provide emotional support to their peers
7. Universal HIV testing and Viral Hepatitis (VH) screening; VH testing offered based on risk
It is anticipated that up to 75 women and 20 children will be served in year 1 of Juntas/Together, and 100 women and 30 children in years 2 and 3, for a lifetime project total of 275 women and 80 children.
