Addiction: What Can We Do About It?

Deputy Warden Sandra Violette from the Department of Correction's Addiction Services Unit will be our keynote speaker.

Deputy Warden Sandra Violette received her MSW from the UConn School of Social Work and is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She began her career in the Department of Correction in 2005 after working in the community with several community organizations. After completing the academy, she was assigned to the Hartford Parole and Community Services Office as a Correctional Counselor. She later transferred to Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in 2007, where she worked as a Substance Abuse Counselor and shortly thereafter, in 2012, was promoted to Counselor Supervisor of Addiction Services. In 2014, Deputy Warden Violette transferred to Osborn Correctional Institution before being afforded the opportunity to supervise the Classification Unit at Hartford Correctional Institution. She has been the Deputy Warden of Health and Addiction Services for the past year and has begun to bring Medicated Assisted treatment to several different areas within Corrections. She has also been instrumental in introducing Recovery Coaching in the Correctional Facilities.

From the DOC's Addiction Services webpage: "The Department's addiction services provide a graduated system of substance abuse treatment programs. The agency's Objective Classification System indicates that 88% of the inmates who come into the system have a substance abuse history that suggests a significant need for some level of substance abuse treatment."