The Safe and Sound Return (SSR) program, which began in 2009, expands and enhances substance abuse treatment and reentry services for women returning to their communities after being incarcerated.
This project responds to the well-documented needs of incarcerated women for substance abuse treatment and support services, sexually-transmitted disease, job training/placement, medical/mental health services and housing assistance.
Housed in the Boston Public Health Commission’s (BPHC) Bureau of Addictions Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Support Services, this program will serve 195 women with a history of recent incarceration.
The goal is to improve the overall well-being of program participants by decreasing substance use and abuse; improving physical and mental health; decreasing involvement in and exposure to crime, violence and physical, emotional and sexual abuse; and improving coping skills.
The program works closely with the judicial system and supports women through probation and parole while providing substance abuse treatment, individual counseling and case management, trauma treatment, HIV prevention services and a tailored entrepreneurship training course provided by the Northeastern University College of Business Administration.
