The Vanessa Project will strengthen the continuum of services and improve outcomes for low-income, pregnant/postpartum women in need of residential SUD treatment services in Region 3 of SC. - Circle Park Behavioral Health Services will implement the Vanessa Project in its women's residential center, the Chrysalis Center, to strengthen the continuum of services and improve outcomes for low income pregnant and postpartum women in need of residential substance use disorder treatment services, and their families. Our population of focus is socially disadvantaged women at risk for poor birth outcomes in Region 3 of the public behavioral system, also known as the Pee Dee. These women experience greater social isolation, fewer material resources, and a higher prevalence of poor birth outcomes and behavioral health disparities compared to the state as a whole. The intergenerational patterns of poverty, trauma and addiction experienced by our families are difficult to interrupt, fostering ongoing health disparities in the communities.
The Vanessa Project will improve women's ability to recover from substance use disorders, nurture their children, and invest in mutually supportive family relationships. Through this funding, we will serve 30 women and their families in Year One, with 45 women and their families served in each of the remaining four years (total 210 women and their families). Demographics will reflect our region: 64% White, 32.2 % Black, 1.8% Two or more races, <3% Other Races, and 4.3% Hispanic.
We will implement Eat Sleep Console (ESC), doula-provided health education and support, Circle of Security Parenting (COSP), and peer navigation. Each of these interventions have been implemented with socially disadvantaged women in need of substance use treatment. Based on prior implementation studies, we expect that each of these additional interventions will improve mother-baby health and family functioning, foster secure attachment, and increase recovery support. Upon leaving Chrysalis, families will be connected to existing community-based EBP's: 1) outpatient MAT Bundled with CBT and peer support; and 2) certified home visiting programs (Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-up, Nurse Family Partnership, Healthy Families America, Parents as Teachers).
Our objectives are many. Through training in SBIRT and motivational interviewing, we will increase the capacity of healthcare, child welfare, and criminal justice entities to screen, intervene, and connect women to care. Using culturally representative peer navigators, we will conduct individual outreach to assist women who identify as Black or Hispanic/Latinx in accessing care. Participating women will experience decreased days of use and improved health, housing, financial, relationship and self-satisfaction. In addition to family-centered residential treatment at the Chrysalis Center, we will connect families to community-based outpatient substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services, including services to strengthen the family. In the Vanessa Project, diverse families affected by prenatal substance abuse will emerge from Chrysalis Center to thrive in their communities.
