The Institute for Health and Recovery is funded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to provide integrated, trauma-informed, home-based intensive outpatient treatment and case management for female offenders leaving the Bristol County Women’s Center after serving sentences of at least six months. Collaborators include the Bristol County Women’s Center (an ACA-accredited medium security facility), AdCare Criminal Justice Services, Inc. (the forensic arm of the AdCare Healthcare System), and the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., will manage the collection and reporting of process and outcome data. RENEW expects to serve a total of 150 women and their families over three years.

The RENEW Project addresses the need for women to receive continuous services during the critical period of transition from jail to various community settings. By combining several evidence-based practices into a home-based, trauma-informed, intensive outpatient program, RENEW will help women maintain recovery from substance use and co-occurring disorders. Women who enroll in RENEW are assigned a Recovery Facilitator as they prepare to leave the Women’s Center. The Recovery Facilitator conducts a comprehensive assessment that includes the Global Assessment of Individual Needs (GAIN), in addition to collaborating with the woman and jail personnel to develop a comprehensive reentry plan that addresses the critical needs of housing, reunifying with children and family, and finding employment. When the woman is released, the Recovery Facilitator assists her in following through on the proposed reentry plan. Trauma-informed, integrated case management, rooted in the principles of Motivational Enhancement and Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment, will initially focus on a woman’s most pressing needs, such as safe housing, food, and medical needs, and will later move on to goals including employment and reunification with children. Longer term goals, such as education and sober recreation, will be addressed after other critical needs are met.

In an effort to prevent relapse during this critical period, the Recovery Facilitator also provides substance use disorder treatment using the Community Reinforcement Approach, a cognitive behavioral treatment for substance use disorders that emphasizes the importance of positive reinforcement in making lifestyle changes and building sober life skills. Because most women leaving incarceration have histories of trauma/violence and trauma triggers often lead to relapse, RENEW promotes safety skill building tools through Seeking Safety. Parenting support is offered through the Nurturing Program for Families in Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery. Further, RENEW enhances vocational and employment skills utilizing the Women’s Offender Reentry Collaborative and IHR’s Pre-Vocational Handbook for Women in Treatment.

For more information, please contact Kath Schilling, MEd, CAS, LADC at kathschilling@healthrecovery.org or (508) 386-6031.