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