Readiness of the Work Force to Offer Gender Specific Services Karen Mooney, LCSW, CAC III Nancy...

Readiness of the Work Force to Offer Gender Specific

Services Karen Mooney, LCSW, CAC IIINancy Roget, MS

Learning Objectives

• Identify components that characterize gender-specific treatment

• Identify ways in which Women’s Treatment Coordinators can support and reinforce adoption of gender-sensitive treatment in their states

Learning Objectives• Understand staff recruitment and

retention strategies specific to women’s treatment programs

• Increase awareness of educational activities (both external and internal) for treatment provider staff

Women’s Treatment Standards—Leveling the Playing Field

• Emphasis on relationships

• Assistance to overcome barriers to successful participation in treatment

• Child care, child care, child care

• Attention to co-occurring disorders

• Focus upon safety• Treat the family as

a whole

Components of Gender-specific Treatment for Women

1. Ancillary services to increase access to treatment

2. Service needs specific to women are addressed

3. Women-only environment

4. Modalities tailored to women’s needs

Ancillary services to increase access to treatment

• Transportation• Child care• Case management

Service needs specific to women

• Prenatal care• Mental health treatment• HIV prevention• Primary health care• Parenting support/education• Case management to

coordinate services

Women-only environment

• Provides increased safety• Comfort• Mutual support• Practice non-sexual relationship skills• Normalizes experience• Decreased isolation• Access to positive role models

Modalities tailored to women’s needs

• Group treatment• Emphasis on self-worth• Validation of perceptions, feelings• Attention to process• Educational content focused upon

women’s health, relationship and parenting issues

• Individual sessions as needed

Modalities tailored to women’s needs

• Residential treatment• Women remain in treatment longer if

their children can be with them in treatment

• Measures of depression lower in women with their infants in treatment

• Measures of self-esteem higher in women with their infants in treatment

• The earlier an infant resides with woman in treatment setting, the longer the mother stays in treatment

About services to children:

• Primary health care• Developmental assessments• Services to address

emotional/behavioral/developmental needs

Important to maximize the chances of success in parenting

Activities of Women’s Treatment Coordinator

• Active email list • Quarterly meetings of all SWS

providers• Dissemination of research articles,

information about training opportunities

• Licensing activities reinforce treatment standards

Activities of Women’s Treatment Coordinator

• Licensing activities include extensive TA (facilitation rather than regulation)

• Contract monitoring looks at direct services, ancillary services, referrals and financial record-keeping

• Contract monitoring includes review of treatment philosophies, policies and procedures

Activities of Women’s Treatment Coordinator

• Training provided to referral agencies: child welfare, TANF, judicial, medical and treatment staff

• Training covers women’s treatment needs, addiction and recovery

• Emphasis on systems fluency and problem-solving between systems