Managing Substance Use Disorder in Partner Abuse Intervention Programs

This 2 hour zoom presentation from the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence will: (1) review background research linking substance use disorder (SUD) in partner abuse intervention program participants; (2) identify key explanations of those SUD-IPV links, emphasizing the perfect storm model, culturally-based excuses, and expectancy. Finally, we will talk about drunkenness as both a key coercive tool used by people who batter and a key predictor of DV re-offense. We then turn to the basic questions of assessment of SUD in PAIP: (1) whose job is it to provide the assessment, how, and when? (2) what institutional policies and tools are in place to guide assessment and intervention? and (3) if the PAIP-providing institution does not have in-house SUD treatment capabilities, what policies and tools guide robust referral and coordination with the SUD institution? We will then look at serial, parallel, integrated, and coordinated approaches to linking SUD and PAIP interventions, including implementation issues with each. The focus will then shift to resources available for helping PAIP manage these admittedly complex issues. Time for questions will follow.