Offering Safe Choices: New England Conference on Integrating Services for Substance Abuse, Domestic Violence and Mental Health
The Institute for Health and Recovery (IHR) received funding from CSAT to support a New England Regional conference on the intersection of substance abuse, mental health and domestic violence. The conference presented best practices for working with individuals with substance abuse problems or co-occurring disorders who are victims or perpetrators of domestic violence and examples of policies to support such practices. The goals of the conference were to increase the capacity of participants to provide services for individuals with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders who are also victims or perpetrators of domestic violence, to increase collaboration among the three fields, and to assist states in developing policies that support integrated services. Four hundred twenty-six participants from nine states attended the conference. These included providers of substance abuse, mental health and violence services, along with consumers, policymakers and researchers. The conference will took place in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 28 and 29, 2005. The Planning Committee for the conference included representatives from the Single State Agency for Substance Abuse and the Domestic Violence Coalition of each of the New England states. Additional members include consumers, experts on a number of special populations, and representatives from Massachusetts state agencies, including the Departments of Mental Health, Social Services (child welfare), and Transitional Assistance and the Department of Public Health/ Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services and Batterer Intervention Services. Keynote Presentations, one on Integrating Services for Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Domestic Violence: Clinical issues by Patricia Bland and one on Family-Focused Services for Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Sexual Assault: Clinical Issues by Melodie Peet were followed by consumer presentations on what was helpful and not helpful in their experience of services. Additional keynote presentations by Larry Bennett of Illinois and Teresa Zubretsky of New York discussed implementing integrated services on a statewide basis. Workshops discussed the development of culturally specific services, with one focusing on services for African American victims and perpetrators and one focusing on Latino victims and perpetrators. Additional workshops focused on other special populations, including gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender individuals, rural populations, homeless victims, and perpetrators. Representative from the Massachusetts Department of Social Services offered a workshop on integrating child welfare with substance abuse, mental health and violence services. Following the conference, Conference Proceedings were published that include PowerPoint presentations, handouts, major points of discussion, and sample policies from states represented at the conference (See Products). This document was disseminated to the Single State Agency for Substance Abuse in all 50 states, and to CSAT.SAMHSA Conference Grant