New Phoebe House

Rebecca Singleterry
BSHS 311 - MODELS OF EFFECTIVE HELPING
November 20, 2012

Gerry Mc Farland

New Phoebe House

The New Phoebe House is a woman’s shelter located in Tacoma WA. It opened in 2002 as an emergency shelter and transitional home. Patients can come there and stay a short period of time up to two years. They live in that house that is their home for the time they arrive till they leave. They help women and children who have had chemical addictions. This is the opening statement when you first visit the New Phoebe House website. “In 2002, Pierce County was experiencing a high incidence of Methamphetamine labs, production & usage. Many young people were exposed to Methamphetamine (many times by their parents) and it's highly addictive properties. Young women with children developed chemical addictions. Children were removed or put in foster care because the mother was unable to care for the children. In many instances, the women experienced homelessness or incarceration. As a result of this cycle, they needed a place to recover… when others have given up on them. A group of concerned citizens banned together with the City of Tacoma and Pierce County to address this need and New Phoebe House Association opened the doors in December, 2002 and has been serving women at full capacity ever since.”(New Phoebe House, 2012) The population participates in the program are women and their children. Even though Methamphetamine addiction is still an ongoing epidemic, New Phoebe House also helps with other chemical addictions women may have including alcohol and crack cocaine. Many of their residents in different case are children of Meth addicts. The New Phoebe house does not discriminate on race, but it is strictly a women’s shelter no men are allowed in the house. Most women transition to The New Phoebe House from a treatment center and some are homeless who come to get their children back from state care. Is there a favored modality of treatment? New Phoebe House has thirteen different methods of treatment. The lady’s that come to The New Phoebe House must participate in four weekly treatment meetings. They also see a case manager once a week to keep them on track to recovery. The New Phoebe House has parenting classes that they offer, financial literacy classes, and relapse preventions that can help them once they leave the house. How is the effectiveness of their interventions measured? Since 2002 The New Phoebe House has help 450 women get off the streets and have a better life. In 2011 sixteen families has moved out of the house into permanent housing. Three have gone into collage, sixteen women have regained custody of their children, and thirty-two women have remained clean and sober. “New Phoebe House is a unique & valued program in the entire area "…a “gem.”" We offer a 2 year program that helps to mitigate the odds of relapse, (7 relapses are “normal” with methamphetamines). NPHA programming is structured to prepare the residents for long-term success, yes, to obtain permanent housing, but to be ready for life, parenting and the responsibilities ahead; …the needed resilience factors. Phoebe residents gain access to needed medical care, mental health assessments, medications and counseling as needed. This helps to build in a more permanent wellbeing platform for each woman and improves her ability to parent. Women are prepared with financial literacy, GED’s and other job skills such as conflict management. We teach, coach, observe and role model daily life and parenting skills. Onsite programming flexes to provide women with timely information and life skills such as: decision making, problem solving, stress management, self-awareness and self-management. Case Management provides valuable individualized referrals to appropriate resources in the community. Team Wraparound Sessions with the resident’s other providers is scheduled monitor progress and encourages continual successes. New Phoebe House strives to be a continuously learning organization by accessing the latest research, monitoring outcomes and receiving resident’s (past & present) feedback for process improvement. We work with women daily who have experienced multiple abuse traumas. We understand the challenges that women face early in recovery.”(New Phoebe House,2012) How did they determine a need for the program? Who Makes the “Ideal Phoebe”? The “Ideal Phoebe” needs to be from the City of Tacoma or Pierce County, must be experiencing homelessness, have issues with chemical dependence, be willing to have a mental health assessment and has her children with her, or is trying to re-unite with children under the age of seven. She must be an eager learner, to remain clean & sober, to accept feedback and be willing to change. How Do Women Access NPHA? Many of residents are referred from Child Protective Services, Pierce County Alliance/Drug Court, MOM’'s or Associated Ministries AccessPoint4 Housing. Some have concerned family members that research resources. However, many of our residents call to find help their own. Typical Backgrounds of Residents • Primarily women under 40 that come from backgrounds that often include: • Chemical & alcohol abuse • Homelessness • Domestic Violence • Sexual Trauma • Prostitution • Incarceration • Felonies • Lack of Completed High School Education • Mental Health Challenges • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder • The average number of children our residents have is 3. However the range is 1-7. • Most have had to relinquish rights to children and deal with that extreme loss. • Most residents started using drugs to cope with a childhood trauma or loss. Many times they were introduced to drugs and alcohol by their parents starting at around age 11. • Most residents come from 3-4 generations of poor parenting role models. • Most women have 2-3 co-occurring mental health challenges
What other models and theories are represented in their programs? The models for The New Phoebe House are that family is very important and mothers and children belong together. The clients that live at the house did have their issues with drugs, abuse, and hard times, but that is no reason to turn your back on them. To teach women how to live drug free and set up a healthy lifestyle for them and their children.
In conclusion The New Phoebe House is set up for taking in women who have taken steps to getting their live back in order. They want to have a normal and healthy live for them and their children.
References
The New Phoebe House. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.newphoebehouse.org/#!