For years, substance-abusing women in Massachusetts who appeared in a civil court were treated like criminals –the treatment they were ordered to receive was found in prison hospitals, behind facility walls. The mixed message set to these women came to the attention of state officials recently and they realized that civilly committed women needed more options in order to achieve rehabilitation.

“In a sense, it's demeaning to these women to put them in these facilities; to house them in correctional institutions when what they really need is treatment,” says Michael Botticelli, Assistant Commissioner for Substance Abuse Services for the Department of Public Health. “Our understanding around addiction has changed dramatically over the last few years – we know that addiction is a chronic disease. I often say, imagine if you had diabetes and you tried to get treatment for it -- and you were placed in a prison for treatment.”

With this new understanding of addiction, Massachusetts officials decided that civilly committed women should not be housed in corrections facilities – and this April, the state will open its first non-prison treatment center for women in New Bedford. 

“From the moment they enter this facility, they will focus on rehabilitation and focus on their re-entry and aftercare services,” says Botticelli. “This facility will be designed as a beginning point for treatment, not the end point. Part of our success will be engaging the women who come to these programs in the care they can receive.”

The New Bedford facility, financed by $20 million in state and federal funds, will hold 60 beds, 25 of which will be used as detox beds, while the remaining 35 will serve as step-down beds that prepare the population for release. The facility, which has yet to be named, will be run by Highpoint, a behavioral health services agency that was awarded a four-year contract by the state.

Women in Focus: Brand New Rehabilitation

Many officials, including those at Highpoint, are energized about this new focus on diversion and treatment – and the chance to help females specifically.

“We're very excited about this,” says Daniel Mumbauer, President and CEO of Highpoint. “The fact that this is gender-specific is especially neat and unique – there are very few treatment facilities dedicated to just one gender. It's also especially important because from an environmental perspective, it's more therapeutic to be in a treatment program such as ours than in a prison complex. Even if you decorate a prison complex, it's still a prison complex. These women need more.”

Officials also hope that by offering a non-prison treatment center for women, more females will seek the rehabilitation that they need.

“Being pulled into a correctional facility rather than a treatment facility might be a deterrent,” says Mumbauer. “A lot of folks who need treatment, and their families, are probably afraid to go for treatment because they don't want to end up in a prison.”

Currently, civilly committed women – who require treatment under state law – are being housed at a women's prison in Framingham. In the last 10 years, the number of civilly committed women housed at the facility annually has increased, jumping from just nine women in 1997 to over 150 this year.

“For women who are civilly committed and have no criminal involvement, they really require no incarceration,” says Botticelli. “And our prison system was becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the number of women that were coming to these facilities.”

With the opening of the New Bedford facility, officials are doing more than just lowering the number of civilly committed females in the general prison population; they are also adjusting their programs and philosophies to better accommodate the needs of women.

“We will assess their needs when they enter – do they need substance abuse treatment? Should they be enrolled in programs that focus on their family relationships? These are all important things to take into consideration,” explains Mumbauer.

Botticelli says the state also realizes how necessary it is to gear programs towards issues that pertain to women.

“With women, particularly, we need to focus on issues in mental health and trauma because those are usually apparent,” explains Botticelli. “Obviously, we also need to address family and re-unification issues which are especially important for women. Women need additional service elements as part of their ongoing substance abuse treatment.”

And Highpoint plans to specifically gear its programs to do just that.

“We're going to have domestic violence programs, family programs, programs that focus on the issue of children,” Mumbauer says. “These need to be offered because of the unique needs of a female population. We're going to address the single-parent part of the population, those who need to deal with the social service aspect, and we will also have to address sexual abuse. These are all crucial aspects of treatment for women.”

A Long-Term Treatment Plan

Beyond providing programs that focus on the short-term needs of females, Highpoint also plans to address the long-term needs of women. Although many of the facility beds will be used for detox purposes, the step-down beds are an important part of the rehabilitation program, preparing the women to take their new knowledge and therapy back into their daily lives.

“This step-down program is going to be a really intense, 10 to 14-day engagement in care,” explains Botticell. “We want to actually prepare them to return to their communities and teach them to make the best use of follow-up services.”

Mumbauer agrees that the long-term aspect of the facility will truly set it apart from the treatment women currently receive. Women at the Highpoint facility will also be provided with an out-patient counselor to help them with their needs after their release.

“Prison systems do not offer these kinds of services, and they are necessary,” Mumbauer says. “We believe in long-term help, as well as a focus on community programs. Our agency offers many community based services, and we think that's important for many of our clients.”

Long-term residency programs and out-patient treatment are just two aspects of the customized programming that will be offered to the women at the facility.

“This will be all women, all day, receiving the treatment they need,” says Mumbauer. “We're very much looking forward to the opening of this facility and the opportunities it will provide to women who are seeking treatment.”

By combining a new treatment facility with specific programs geared towards the needs of women, officials in Massachusetts are preparing to welcome a new kind of rehabilitation process – and they look forward to a brand-new kind of result.

“It's tremendously exciting to have the financial means to bring services like this to people,” says Botticelli. “Not only do we view this as great treatment for women, but it's really cost-effective for the state as well. Our philosophy now is really focused on rehabilitation – and we're going to be able to provide that for women.”