The Women Embracing Life and Living (WELL) Project is among 14 projects funded by SAMHSA to develop integrated treatment for women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders and histories of experiencing violence and for their children. The project attempts to move the Massachusetts service system towards integration by working at three levels. At the state level, a State Leadership Council consisting of representatives from relevant state agencies, providers, and consumers meets to identify and address state-level barriers. At the level of three local communities, Local Leadership Councils (LLCs), consisting of local representatives of state agencies, providers of substance abuse, mental health, violence and children’s services, community representatives, and consumers, were convened to identify and address barriers to integration. At the local agency level, the project works with three large providers of substance abuse and mental health services, one in each of the three communities, to assist them in providing more integrated care. This paper presents outcomes of two years of the project including: 1) recommendations from the LLCs for addressing state-level barriers, 2) a successful strategy for addressing differences in points of view among the substance abuse, mental health, and violence provider communities, 3) the impact of cross-trainings for providers, 4) Principles for the Treatment of Women with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders and violence, 5) a design for an ideal integrated continuum of care, and 6) results of Interorganizational Network Analysis that map existing relationships among relevant service providers in the project’s three local areas.
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will be able to list the barriers to integration of services identified by the project 2. Participants will be able to describe the ideal integrated continuum of care developed by the project 3. Participants will be able to articulate a strategy for addressing the differences in points of view of providers of substance abuse, mental health and violence services
Keywords: Violence, Women's Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.