Our History
Our Roots in Helping Women Escape Substance Abuse
For more than 20 years, Ohio Women’s Network has been dedicated to expanding nonprofit substance abuse treatment and prevention programs across the state.
Our Beginnings
The genesis of Ohio Women’s Network was a 1999 meeting of alcohol and drug treatment program representatives from Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin at a session hosted by the Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center (GLATTC). The three-day training session centered on treatment issues for women, and participants soon discovered a common goal: the preservation, enhancement and integrity of gender-competent and trauma-informed services.
Our Guiding Principles
The Ohio Women’s Network was officially formed in 2000 to sustain and expanding treatment programs and rehabilitation centers for women across Ohio. We developed a set of assumptions about the importance of these programs, and those assumptions still guide us to this day.
Assumption 1
The women’s treatment and prevention system in Ohio is of high quality and continues to grow and improve.
Assumption 2
Family involvement is one of the keys to the success of treatment for women.
Assumption 3
While length of stay is associated with successful outcomes, the success of women’s treatment is not measured in hours or days, but in the impact that treatment has on quality of life, particularly self-sufficiency and independent living. These goals will only be realized if access to treatment is part of a holistic approach to self-sufficiency that goes beyond, but embraces, the traditional boundaries of physical health care.
Assumption 4
Ohio is a leader in women’s treatment because the program’s founders have focused on research and trends, and altered treatment to be responsive to the client’s needs and the demands of the times. Continued emphasis on “best practice” models and research will maintain Ohio’s position on the leading edge of women’s addiction and trauma treatment.
Assumption 5
To succeed, the women’s treatment system must blend with and complement the state service structure, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Assumption 6
Research concludes, and current programs demonstrate, that a full array of comprehensive services that provides a real and accessible continuum of care – including wrap-around services such as child care, transportation, outreach, case coordination and housing (sober housing) – is necessary to produce successful treatment outcomes from pregnant and parenting women with children.
Assumption 7
Any cost containment/managed care system that does not provide comprehensive medical and social services will negatively impact treatment outcomes for pregnant and parenting females. Women’s access to comprehensive treatment and prevention services must be preserved and assured adequate and continuous funding.
Contact Us Today
To learn more about our history and vision for the future, reach out to Ohio Women’s Network today.