Senate Leadership
May 21, 2009
A Decade of Effort Pays-off: Senate Majority Leader Secures Funding for Bilingual Drug Treatment Program in New Haven
$2.1 million to help Crossroads improve facilities for women and children
Hartford: It took ten years of persistence, but Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven) has secured $2.1 million in bond funding to help Crossroads, Inc. — a non-profit treatment center — expand its facilities by constructing at 2 South Genesee St. in New Haven a 26,000 square foot state-of-the art residential treatment facility for women.
Crossroads is licensed to provide outpatient and residential treatment for substance use disorders and outpatient services for mental health disorders to adult men and women, including pregnant and parenting women. Crossroads annually serves up to 120 individuals in the Outpatient Behavioral Health Unit and 312 in the residential units which include a 66-bed Men’s Unit, a 44-bed Women’s Unit, and a 15-bed Women and Children’s unit, Amethyst House. Since the agency began providing bilingual services in 1971, approximately 8,000 persons from throughout the state have been served.
The $2.1 million funding was approved by the Bond Commission a few weeks ago and will pay for a significant portion of the construction of a new building on land recently acquired by the agency. The new building will eliminate the need to lease space by consolidating all residential services for women.
“I started fighting and advocating for this funding ten years ago,” said Senator Looney, “and I am thrilled that it is now a reality. Crossroads will now be able to improve the services it offers its clients and this has huge ramifications for not only their lives but their families, and the community as a whole.”
Crossroads participates in the Women’s Services Practice Improvement Collaborative, a DMHAS initiative to improve treatment outcomes and the quality of behavioral health services for women. Gender-responsive design has been incorporated into the building plans. This new building will have space to allow women to bring more than one child into treatment when needed; the gender-responsive design will create a safe, inviting, homelike, and culturally welcoming environment for women and children.
This building project began with the foresight of Miguel Laguna, the Founder and first Executive Director, and continued upon his retirement in 2000, when Dr. Miguel Caldera was appointed Executive Director. Dr Caldera expressed his gratitude to Senator Looney for his partnership with Crossroads on this project, stating that “I especially want to thank Senator Looney on behalf of the women served by Crossroads, both the pregnant and parenting women in Amethyst House and those in the Women’s Unit. Women in treatment know that this award of bond funds recognizes that gender-responsive treatment is important, that investing in women’s recovery, even during this difficult economy, is worth doing. By creating an optimal environment for women’s recovery we are creating a better future for our community.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, treatment of addiction is as successful as treatment of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. Individual outcomes depend on a variety of factors, including the length of treatment, the degree of active engagement of the person served in the treatment process, and the comprehensiveness of the services received. A 2004 SAMHSA study showed improved treatment results for women with histories of psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, and trauma when treatment addressed all three issues.
Crossroads provides a continuum of care from outpatient, to intensive outpatient, to residential services for substance use disorders and concurrent mental health services through the Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic. Since February, the Hill Health Center began operating an Outpatient Clinic to provide primary care for clients receiving services in any program of Crossroads.
Dr. Caldera noted that this inter-agency collaboration is significant to assist clients in treatment to improve their overall health and learn to manage chronic health conditions. “Recovery is a lifelong commitment to wellness and Crossroads is grateful that this new facility will assist the agency to better meet the needs of the women served,” said Dr. Caldera.
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