The Prenatal Substance Use Prevention Program (PSUPP) is a three-tier prevention program administered by the Indiana State Department of Health and funded by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and the Maternal and Child Health Services. The goal of this program is to prevent poor birth outcomes, by assuring that babies born in Indiana are born to women who decrease or eliminate alcohol, tobacco and other drug use during pregnancy.
There are three primary objectives:
- Identify high risk, chemically dependent pregnant women, provide perinatal addiction prevention education, promote abstinence, provide referrals for treatment, and follow-up.
- Facilitate training and education for professionals and paraprofessionals who do not provide substance abuse treatment, but do work with women of childbearing age, on how to identify high risk, chemically dependent women.
- Provide public education on the possible hazards to a fetus when alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs are used during pregnancy. Free posters, brochures, and other materials are available upon request through the Indiana Family Helpline.
The products produced by this program related to PSUPP objectives are: improved birth outcomes; increased community awareness about the hazards of substance use during pregnancy and the need to change unhealthy behaviors; increased involvement from service providers and physicians to assist pregnant women to stop using substances; and increased community and professional networking to capitalize on programs in place already serving the PSUPP target population.
TRI-CAP provides PSUPP services to clients in Dubois, Pike, Warrick, Spencer and Vanderburgh Counties.
