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Substance Use

Office of Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

About Us
A-SBIRT
Contact Us
FAQs (about Substance Use)
GAIN
Kognito A-SBI
Resources
Services

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A Message from the Director, Mary Painter LCSW, LADC

The Office of Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery sits within the Division of Clinical and Community Consultation and Support.  DCF has the statutory authority for providing an integrated system of services and supports for children and adolescents with substance use and mental health disorders. DCF-funded Substance Use Services are designed to offer children, youth, caregivers and their families a range of services for mental health, psychiatric, and substance use disorders that are grounded in best practice and evidence.   These services are provided in the home or community, often preventing the need for more intensive or restrictive care such as hospital, residential, or group home services.  The adolescent substance use service array is available to all families in the community and do not require DCF involvement.    

It is our hope you find this information useful.  It contains a range of material from where services are available, service descriptors and other additional resources.   

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About Us

The Office of Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery supports DCF's mission of "healthy, safe, smart and strong" families by providing a recovery-oriented system of care to all children in Connecticut and DCF involved parents/caregivers experiencing difficulties with substance misuse.  Our objective is to provide a recovery-oriented system of care designed to:

  • Prevent the negative impact of addiction;
  • Promote health, wellness and resiliency for our children, families, and community at large;
  • Intervene and support children and caregivers who need services to recover from addiction related problems; and
  • Sustain recovery for children, adults and families by providing recovery supports, recognition that recovery is possible, and the elimination of stigma in our communities.

Our substance use treatment services are:

  • culturally informed;
  • engaging, empowering, and strengths-based;
  • trauma-informed and gender responsive; 
  • developmentally appropriate;
  • community-based;
  • family driven/centered and child/youth guided;
  • evidence-based, flexible, and innovative; and
  • seamless, comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated.
 
Prevention Intervention Recovery

 

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Contact Us

Mary Painter, LCSW, LADC
Director, Office of Intimate Partner Violence 

& Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

505 Hudson Street

Hartford, CT  06106

860-560-5035

mary.painter@ct.gov

 

Inés Eaton, MS

Program Supervisor

Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

505 Hudson Street

Hartford, CT  06106

860-550-6570

ines.eaton@ct.gov

 

Tere Foley, LMFT

Program Supervisor

Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

505 Hudson Street

Hartford, CT  06106

860-550-6534

tere.l.foley@ct.gov

 

Melissa Sienna, MS
Project SAFE Coordinator
Substance Use Treatment and Recovery
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT  06106
860-560-5087
melissa.sienna@ct.gov

 

Marsha Murray, MS
ASSERT Project Coordinator
Substance Use Treatment and Recovery
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT  06106
860-550-6579
marsha.murray@ct.gov

 

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Adolescent Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (A-SBIRT)

 A-SBIRT is a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for adolescents with substance use disorders, as well as those who are at risk of developing disorders.

 Screening is the first step of the SBIRT process and determines the severity and risk level of the adolescent’s substance use.

  • Uses a reliable and valid brief questionnaire (S2BI, CRAFFT).
  • Determines whether a brief intervention or referral to treatment is a necessary next step.

A Brief Intervention is a short, structured “conversation” with adolescents reporting “monthly” use in the past year to build commitment to change through Motivational Interviewing. 
  • Weighs pros and cons of behavior in light of goals and values.
  • Describes risks associated with use.
  • Provides advice about substance use limits.
  • Supports change by helping adolescents develop action plans.

Referral to Treatment facilitates access to specialty care for adolescents showing more severe signs of substance use involvement (those reporting “weekly” or more frequent use).
  • Requires relationships with local substance use treatment services to provide an immediate link with appropriate levels of care and acceptable options.
  • Incorporates a warm hand-off process to increase success rate (before the adolescent changes his or her mind!).
  • Includes exchanges of information between the referral source and the behavioral health provider in order to allow for ongoing follow-up and monitoring of the adolescent. 

To request A-SBIRT training, please fill out this online Request Form. You will be provided with the names of trainers in your area.

 

 

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Kognito Virtual Learning  on Adolescent Screening and Brief Intervention (A-SBI)

In addition, there is a free web-based training which offers three online training simulations:  SBIRT with Adolescents, SBIRT Skills Assessment, and At-Risk in Primary Care.  There are 7,000 licenses available in order to access this training.  Licenses will be available through August 2018 and include Continuing Education Units (CEU) for CME, CNE, and NASW. 

To request access to the Kognito Virtual Learning on Adolescent Screening and Brief Intervention (A-SBI), please fill out this online Request Form.

To obtain information on adult SBIRT, please check out the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) CT SBIRT Program.

Check out our A-SBIRT resource booklet and related brochures!

 

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Substance Use Resources

Check out the CT Connection, Strong Connections, Strong Teens Brochure to learn more about reasons and resources for teen substance use.

The following list provides information on national and local resources:

 PREVENTION
CT Prevention Network

CT Youth Services Association

Governor’s Prevention Partnership

National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children

Regional Action Councils

 FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS
FAS - Kids Health
FAS Diagnostic & Prevention Network - WA
FASDs FAQs - Healthy Children
FASD Coordinator (ABH-CT)
FASD Webinars - NOFAS
Living with FASD Tips - NOFAS
 GOVERNMENT SITES
CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS)
Monitoring the Future
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
 INFORMATION & TRAINING

CT Clearinghouse
Language of Recovery
Partnership for Drug Free Kids
Narcan Brochure
Narcan Brochure (En Español)
Opioid Overdose Prevention (Nalaxone/Narcan)
SBIRT Training Institute (adults)

 RECOVERY & SUPPORTS
Al-Anon
Alcoholics Anonymous

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)

Cocaine Anonymous
CT Community for Addiction Recovery

CT Recovery Oriented Support System for Youth (CROSS)

Families Anonymous
Nar-Anon
Narcotics Anonymous            

Nicotine Anonymous
Turning Point (CT website for youth)

 TREATMENT SERVICES
CT Network of Care
CT Quitline (tobacco)
DCF Funded Substance Use Treatment Services
Infoline

This list of resources is not all inclusive, as additional resources may be available.
                                                                               

 

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Substance Use Services

DCF funds a broad mix of substance use treatment services for adolescents in CT and DCF involved parents/caregivers experiencing difficulties with substance misuse.  Services include:

  • outpatient, intensive in-home services, and residential care for adolescents aged 12 and older,
  • intensive in-home re-entry services for youthful offenders transitioning from secure facilities back to the community,
  • specialized treatment approaches for priority populations such as transition age youth and youth with problem sexual behavior, and
  • intensive in-home treatment services and recovery support services for caregivers involved with child protective services.

Adolescent Services

Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach-Assertive Continuing Care (ACRA-ACC)

ASSERT Treatment Model
Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)
Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST)
Multi-Systemic Therapy-Emerging Adults (MST-EA)
Multi-Systemic Therapy-Problem Sexual Behavior (MST-PSB)

SMART Recovery Groups through the CT Recovery Oriented Support System for Youth (CROSS)

 

Adult Caregiver Services

SAFE Family Recovery

Family Based Recovery (FBR)
Multi-Systemic Therapy-Building Stronger Families (MST-BSF)

 

 

DCF-Funded Services, by Region
Click on a region below to see which services are available in each DCF Region. 

Region 1 (Bridgeport, Norwalk)
Region 2 (Milford, New Haven)
Region 3 (Middletown, Norwich, Willimantic)
Region 4 (Hartford, Manchester)
Region 5 (Danbury, Torrington, Waterbury)
Region 6 (Meriden, New Britain)

For additional services in your area, please contact:  Infoline