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STEUBENVILLE -- Addiction knows no boundaries and the impact of substance abuse on families is brutal. In 2023, nearly 76,000 Ohio women -- including 7,600 pregnant mothers -- received treatment for alcohol or drug use. During that same year, 13,728 women who needed treatment did not receive it.
This fall, Aim Women’s Center has launched its perinatal recovery services program for pregnant and postpartum women impacted by substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions who reside in Jefferson, Harrison and Belmont counties. The program will assist women at every stage of their recovery journey, including women who are actively using substances and seeking help, women already working toward recovery, women who are newly in recovery and women who are maintaining their recovery.
The Aim Perinatal Recovery Program will provide recovery support, service navigation, referrals and connections to community resources. The program is designed to meet women at their particular stage of recovery, help reduce barriers and support them in connecting with the services they need for themselves and their families.
Christina Bernardini, Aim’s new director of perinatal recovery services, will oversee the program, which is funded by the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, Ohio’s statewide framework for managing and distributing money from national opioid-related settlements. The private, nonprofit foundation was created by Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost, and other state and local leaders, with the mission of advancing Ohio’s addiction prevention, treatment and recovery efforts now and into the future.
The Aim program is designed to provide non-clinical recovery supports that are not reimbursable by insurance. A primary focus is serving women referred directly by the drug courts in Jefferson and Belmont counties and the Harrison County Community Corrections, ensuring that those involved in the legal system receive immediate access to recovery.
Aim will work alongside participants to help them navigate treatment and recovery resources, health care, community services and other supports. The program does not replace medical care or clinical substance use disorder treatment. Instead, Aim will provide ongoing support and help women connect with appropriate professional and community resources throughout pregnancy and the first year postpartum.
“Women do not have to be sober to participate in Aim Perinatal Recovery Services,” Bernardini said. “We will meet each participant where she is, build trust, provide recovery support and navigation and remain involved as she progresses through recovery. Recovery is a personal process and participants may move forward or backward throughout their recovery journey.”
The program offers varying levels of support based on participant needs and participants can move between support levels as their needs change. Support levels can be increased or decreased based on changes in substance use; recovery status; treatment engagement; pregnancy or postpartum need; safety; housing; mental health; treatment attendance; recovery supports; basic needs, other significant circumstances and any combination of these.
Aim Executive Director Rebekah Cohen Morris said the program fulfills a tremendous need in the community, as evidenced by the need at the center.
“Many of our clients come to us with substance use disorder while pregnant, parenting or both,” she said. “Our new perinatal recovery program is just another service we can offer to help strengthen the families we serve as they navigate complex mental health issues.”
To learn about the program or to enroll, call the center at (740) 283-3636 or visit aimwomenscenter.com.