DSW CANDIDATES

Jordan Geenen

LCADC, CSW

Addressing Treatment Disparities Among Dually Diagnosed Offenders in Treatment-Based Diversion Programs: Developing a Culturally Responsive Trauma Intervention

Abstract

Treatment-based diversion programs, such as Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and Veterans Treatment Court, redirect individuals who have substance use or mental health disorders away from the criminal justice system and into community-based treatment. Most participants in treatment-based diversion programs are dually diagnosed offenders (DDOs), or offenders with comorbid mental health and substance use disorders. In addition to being overrepresented in the criminal justice system, DDOs have significantly worse treatment outcomes than diversion program participants without comorbid disorders, including lower rates of graduation and higher rates of recidivism. This capstone presentation will focus on addressing treatment disparities among DDOs in treatment-based diversion programs, with an emphasis on racial minority offenders. Learners will hear about the barriers and facilitators to positive treatment outcomes for DDOs, how the socio-ecological model can be used to conceptualize the multi-dimensional factors that influence treatment outcomes, the relationship between racism, trauma, and substance use, and how to implement the Healing Us from Racial Trauma (HURT) intervention to help racial minority DDOs process and cope with racial trauma.

Bio

Jordan Geenen is a Certified Social Worker and Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor in Kentucky. Jordan received her Bachelor of Science in Global Security and Intelligence Studies from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and her Master of Social Work degree with a certificate in Substance Use Disorders from the University of Kentucky. She is a Doctoral candidate specializing in Clinical Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Before graduate school, Jordan worked with juvenile offenders and provided case management to homeless veterans.

Jordan provides telehealth services to dually diagnosed participants in Muhlenberg County Drug Court as a Substance Use Services Clinician. She works at the Pennyroyal Center, a non-profit community mental health center in western Kentucky. Jordan is passionate about fostering collaboration and communication between behavioral health and criminal justice systems. Her research interests are dually diagnosed offenders, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and treatment-based diversion programs. Her Capstone highlights the need for and suggests a culturally sensitive trauma intervention for criminal offenders diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance disorders. In 2022, Jordan was selected as a scholar for the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) to make telehealth substance use treatment more accessible for rural, low-income individuals and communities.