National Organization of Forensic Social Work
460 Smith Street, Suite K, Middletown, CT 06457 Phone (860) 613-0254, fax (860) 613-1650, email pbrady@nofsw.org, www.nofsw.org
NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
1. Title: Falling Through the Cracks: Homeless Men with Severe Addiction and Trauma issues; A Recovery Management Approach 2. Type of presentation: a. b. c. d. Pre-Conference Institute—4 hours, Pre-Conference Institute—8 hours Workshop—1.5 hours Workshop—3 hours
3. Presenters (repeat for each presenter, list primary contact first): a. Name: William Holt , MSS b. Presenter Affiliation: Horizon House & Drexel University c. Mailing Address: d. Phone number: e. Fax number: f. E-mail address: g. Professional license: state and number:
a. Name: Jacqueline Blatt, MCAT, ADTR b. Presenter Affiliation: Horizon House & Drexel University c. Mailing Address:
2007 NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
d. Phone number: e. Fax number: f. E-mail address: g. Professional license: state and number: Short biography including educational and experience information: JACQUELINE BLATT MCAT, ADTR a. Jacqui Blatt has thirty- nine years experience in behavioral health services and the educations sector in the United States and abroad. During her career, she has led teams as a Director and clinician. She has initiated and developed many programs for profit and notfor-profit treatment agencies. Jacqui is currently the Director of Susquehanna Park a recently transformed Horizon House Residential Treatment Program for the Chronically Homeless with Addiction and Trauma Issues. She is an Assistant Professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She has a MCAT and ADTR Dregree from Hahnemann University, in Philadelphia, PA She has. lectured and published in United States and abroad WILLIAM HOLT, MSS b. William Holt has a BA Degree with a major in Psychology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a MSS degree from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work in Bryn Mawr, PA. Bill is currently the Philadelphia County Director of Behavioral Health Services For Horizon House, Inc., a specialized behavioral health agency in Philadelphia, PA. Bill is an Adjunct Professor for Drexel University Behavioral Sciences Counseling Program in Philadelphia Bill served as a Substance Abuse and Military Equal Opportunity Specialist in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard for 20 years until his retirement in 2004 after 29 + years of total military service. He was the Senior Forensic Specialist for the Philadelphia Office of Mental
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2007 NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
Health for 15 years, a family therapist at Aldersgate Youth Services Bureau in Montgomery County, PA for 10 years and a Mental Health Specialist for the U.S. Probation Office in Philadelphia for 8.5 years. Bill has been Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania Forensic Rights & Treatment Conference for over 10 years, he is a member of the Board of Directors at Aldersgate Youth Services Bureau, he is a member of the NAMI PA Forensic Interagency Task Force, Co-Chair of the Southeast Community Support Program Advisory Committee and is the past President and current Secretary of NOFSW. Bill is a trustee, treasurer and activities/education chairperson at the Valley Road Church of Christ in Warrington, PA.
h. Synopsis of the topic: Falling through the Cracks: Homeless Men with Severe Addiction and Trauma Issues A RECOVERY MANAGEMENT APPROACH Susquehanna Park, Horizon House is a modified therapeutic community with a recovery management orientation This transformation is a joint effort of Horizon House, the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health/ Mental retardation Services and the Office of Addiction Services to address the multifarious recovery needs of the chronically homeless population. Specifically, this program’s client center approach to treatment addresses men who have struggled with homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, criminal justice involvement and trauma. This year-long residential treatment program utilizes an approach designed to assist the residents to maintain sobriety and mental health stability, gain employment and/or increased education, and to obtain safe, permanent housing. This workshop will address the support and preparation of staff to re-adjust their theraputic approach to engaging and addressing these complex participants. We will be discussing the program structure, its development, our challenges and successes to date We will be describing how to incorporate and utilize evidence based and promising practices to develop a theraputic environment that supports peer governance, motivational enhancement and a holistic approach to addressing the needs of program participants.
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2007 NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
i. Explanation of the relevance of the topic to the profession: The homeless population in the United States over the past 20 years has grown in rural and urban communities. The U.S. government has a committment to end homeless in the United States by 2020 and the City of Philadelphia is committed to ending it by 2010. This is a complex societal issue and only unique approaches by service providers working in collaboration with local, state and federal governments in partnership with the community will be able to solve this problem. Social workers and other behavioral health professionals have been addressing this issue for generations and bring to the table their experience and commitment to solving this problem. Many of the individuals who find themselves on the Streets of this nation find themselves in conflict with the law either due to the quality of life laws that many communities have adopted , their conflict with societal norms in an effort to survive or simply from complications from their disabilities. Professionals in our field need to know what works and what does not work in treatment and we need to utilize the collective knowledge that currently exists to develop services that meets the needs of those we serve. The Susquehanna Park Chronically Homeless Program was designed from this perspective and is the first program of its kind in the United States . During the first year of the program we have learned far more than we could have anticipated and it is our commitment to share this knowledge with the broader treatment community. j. Learning objectives (See samples at our web site): Objectives:
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To identify characteristics of the Chronically homeless with severe addiction and Trauma Issues To discuss ways to engage a disenfranchised population
2007 NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
Identify programs and develop Collaborative avenues with City wide/ provider / funding services to close the cracks. Identity four elements that are essential in serving a population who needs have not been met by traditional treatment To share Insights garnered from one year of providing services to this complex and challenging population
k. Describe how session content reflects current literature (within the past five years), materials and references, and how it relates to one or more of the following social work educational areas: a. Theories and concepts of human behavior in the social environment. b. Social work practice, knowledge and skills: i. Social work research, programs or practice evaluations ii. Social work agency management or administration iii. Development, evaluation and/or implementation of social policy iv. Social work generalist practice v. Social work clinical practice vi. Diversity and social justice c. Social work ethics. d. Other (please specify):
This workshop addresses each of the 4 areas as listed above. We will be describing how the work of George De Leon in 2000 influenced the development of our modified thereutic community and how the assertive approaches to continuing care based on a model developed by William White in 2006 was
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2007 NOFSW Annual Conference Call for Presentations
important in the retraining of our staff. We will be introducing the concept of Recovery & Recovery Management as defined by White, Kurtz and Sanders in their Recovery Management monograph in 2006. The Stages of Changes nodel introduced by Proschaska & DiClemente in 1985 and Miller & Rollnicks strategies for motivational enhancement & interviewing. All of these approaches were incorporated and/or modified into the structure of this new model. Most importantly we will be introducing the work of Community Connections in Washington, DC and Dr. Saundra Bloom’s work on trauma and how it was a key issue to address and ncorporate in our program. We will be identifying some of the ethical issues that impacts the homeless addicted population and plagued treament programs for years around the issuev of total abstinance versus harm reduction. We will also be looking at the diversity within the homeless population and how to create flexibility in programs to address the diversity and social justice issues that emerge during the treatment process.
l. Format of presentation (lecture, panel discussion, etc.): lecture & Discussion m. Outline/timeline of presentation: n. Level of presentation: o. AV needs: Presenters will be expected to provide NOFSW with handout material (PowerPoint slides, reference material, contact information, etc.) in electronic format not later than 3/24/2009. If the presenter desires to sell books, recording or other products or services at the presentation or conference, the presenter must request permission from NOFSW not less than thirty days prior to the program date. Beginner Intermediate Advanced
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