The Center for Great Expectations' Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program for pregnant and post-partum women in New Jersey, will provide integrated mental health and addition treatment, case management, HIV/AIDS prevention and peer support to 80 women annually (400 over the 5-year time frame of the program). The program has been launched through a federal grant called SAMSHA over the 5-year period.

The purpose of the IOP project is to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS in high risk pregnant and postpartum women through a comprehensive system of gender-specific care. In addition to the intensive and step-down outpatient services, the program will provide an enhanced package of specialized services to address issues of co-occurring mental illness and homelessness. The specific project goals are to:

	•		Reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS infection or transmission
	•		Reduce the addiction slips/relapses and decrease/eliminate injection drug use
	•		Improve family and social relationships
	•		Decrease legal/criminal involvement

Goals of the program will be achieved through

	•		Increased availability of, and women's access to, substance abuse treatment
	•		Increased awareness of women's personal HIV risk factors and by providing the ability to adopt HIV risk-reduction strategies
	•		Increased utilization of rapid HIV testing and counseling
	•		Increased availability of, and women's access to, substance-abuse treatment
	•		Increased availability of, and access to, integrated mental health treatment
	•		Increased availability of, and access to, parenting support and family counseling
	•		Improved linkages of women to other essential community services, including prenatal and pediatric medical care, housing support, employment services, and specialized psychiatric care

The IOP Project will provide expanded services to adult substance-abusing women (18+) who are not currently enrolled in substance abuse treatment. Our target population is predominantly Hispanic (55%) and African American (35%). All women are indigent, approximately half have mental health disorders, and half have recurring limited access to government benefits and services.

The Center for Great Expectations is partnering in this service expansion with St. Peter's University Hospital Prenatal Clinic and the Bloustein Center for Survey Research at Rutgers University. St. Peter's will refer eligible pregnant women to IOP and provide essential medical services to IOP patients, including rapid HIV testing and HIV-related medical care.

For more information or to take a tour contact our Adolescent clinical coordinator at (732) 993-6403.