Jacqueline, a 29-year old African American woman, had a history of alcohol use, but had been sober for two years and was living in an emergency family shelter when a worker from the Department of Public Health's FOR Families program referred her to Project RISE.
When she met with the Project RISE Outreach and Engagement Specialist, it emerged that she also had a history of abusing cocaine and other drugs and that her son had been born prematurely. She also admitted that she had been hospitalized "about 7 to 10 times" in the past two years because of suicide attempts.
Jacqueline was terminated from that shelter after it was reported to shelter staff that she had been drinking alcohol again. She had lost custody of her child and was feeling hopeless, when the Project RISE Specialist contacted her at another shelter.
The RISE Specialist talked to Jacqueline on her cell phone to discuss her options. Since DCF had temporary custody of her child, the RISE Specialist focused on reunifying Jacqueline with her baby in a safe place where she could receive treatment and parenting support. The RISE Specialist spoke to the Central Intake Coordinator for Family Residential Treatment. Caseworkers for both the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Transitional Assistance were supportive of Jacqueline's efforts to reunite with her baby and receive treatment for her substance use and her mental illness. The client was placed in Genesis II, a residential family substance abuse treatment shelter in Newton.
Within a month, Jacqueline regained custody of her young son while living at Genesis II. Jacqueline has now begun to set up positive life goals as a woman and a mother, and has restarted her journey towards a positive recovery.