FSSA expands program supporting mothers with substance use disorder
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Indiana has received a federal grant to expand a program to support expectant and new mothers with substance use disorders.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration received the three-year, up to $2.7 million grant to expand its Pregnancy Promise Program. Under the free program, Hoosier mothers who use opioids or have used opioids receive prenatal and postpartum care, additional physical and mental health care, and treatment for their opioid use disorder, the state agency said in a news release.
The program has supported more than 900 mothers since it launched in 2021, and the grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is expected to provide services to an additional 300 pregnant Hoosiers over the next three years.
“The program’s goals are clear—to save infant and maternal lives, preserve family units by securing needed resources, ensure reliable access to appropriate care and put an end to generational cycles of substance use and trauma,” program manager Elizabeth Wahl said in the release. “This program has witnessed families persevere, transform their lives and find hope for the future.”
Substance use disorder is the leading contributing cause of pregnancy-associated deaths in Indiana, according to the most recent annual report from the state Department of Health’s Indiana Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
The Pregnancy Promise Program partners with Indiana Medicaid managed care health plans to provide case management and coordinate services, the agency said. Outcomes include high rates of sustained recovery, prevention of preterm births, and healthy infant birth weights.
“The program’s multigeneration approach supports pregnant women and infants from the prenatal period through 12 months postpartum,” FSSA Secretary Dr. Dan Rusyniak said. “Not only are we helping mothers find treatment and sustain recovery, but we also ensure infants have an established pediatrician, appropriate referrals to pediatric specialists as needed, and developmental support services.”