New Directions for Families (NDF) is a specialized Valley Hope treatment center dedicated to providing life-changing drug and alcohol addiction treatment for women with children (ages 0-12) and pregnant women. NDF provides a safe place for mothers to receive treatment for substance use disorder without having to be separated from their children. NDF offers evidenced-based, family-focused substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, powered by fully licensed, compassionate clinical experts and conveniently located in a recently renovated facility in the Denver suburb of Littleton.
The family unit is the focus of the program.
All services are sensitive to the impact of trauma on women and children.
Services meet families where they are and tailor interventions to the individual’s motivation to change.
Supporting women by identifying high risk situations and building coping skills.
MAT therapy uses medications to support recovery from alcohol and opioid addiction.
Services are tailored to the unique experience of women and favor interventions that build on relationship development.
New Directions for Families treatment center provides intensive residential treatment of substance use disorders for adult women in a gender-responsive, 24-hour setting that allows a woman to care for her children and develop skills in her role as a parent. The philosophy and approach of the treatment is to provide gender-specific, trauma-informed care in a setting that addresses the needs of the entire family. As such, the treatment schedule is oriented to both the intensive counseling needs of the woman and the structure and support needs of the family. This includes structured times for family interaction and recreation, an intensive emphasis on parenting skills, and a trauma-informed service environment. For pregnant women, the center provides intensive treatment of substance use disorders as well as parenting and health education and support designed to minimize the risk of poor birth outcomes. For women post-partum, the treatment also promotes parent-child bonding and creates a safe, nurturing environment for both the mother and her infant.
The treatment services have available three levels of treatment: high intensity residential, low intensity transition residential, and continuing care. All patients enter the high intensity treatment, which meets the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Level 3.5 standards for Clinically Managed High Intensity Residential Treatment. In addition, NDF is licensed to provide Gender-Responsive Treatment. Patients who no longer meet the criteria for high intensity treatment may be stepped down to the transitional phase of the service, which is licensed as ASAM Level 3.1 Clinically Managed Low Intensity Residential. When patients no longer meet the need for this level of care, they are transitioned to outpatient continuing care for women.
The New Directions for Families treats families as a unit to include children, partners and other supports. In addition, the treatment prioritizes the individual safety of patients and children. A family counselor is an integral part of the treatment team and engages extended family, older children, partners and other adults that are supportive of the woman and her family. A structured family program offers education for family members, multi-family group and individual family counseling for women and their families.
Treatment services are structured around the mother and her children. The schedule is complementary of children’s needs with parent-child time built in, and activities that help to normalize the experiences of the child. Discipline and supervision policies are trauma-informed and designed to ensure that the care of child and parent are provided in a physically and emotionally safe environment.
