Transcript Evaluation of Behavior-Focused Training for Chemically

Evaluation of Behavior-Focused Training for Chemically Dependent
Parents
Mary E. Lutz, DSW, MPH, Roberta Shafter, PhD, Joyce Park, BA, Katherine Barbacci, MPA
Findings
Abstract
This report summarizes an evaluation of a 3-year family training
program for parents in treatment for substance abuse. The agency,
Greenwich House, offers drug-free, outpatient, medically supervised
and methadone treatment programs and adopted Karol Kumpfer’s
(NIDA) Strengthening Families Program to address needs of
substance abusing parents and their children. Some modification of
SFP was needed to meet Greenwich House requirements.
Methods
SFP was implemented at two sites: West 20th Street Chemical
Dependency (CDP) and Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program
(MMTP) Cooper Square treatment center. A 2-day training for groupleaders and facilitators for SFP was conducted at Greenwich House
by Dr. Kumpfer in the summer of 2002. The facilitators who attended
Dr. Kumpfer’s 2-day training provided subsequent training to new
facilitators who were either staff members or second year Social
Work Interns. SFP implemented at Greenwich House was bisected
into two seven-session parts in order to accommodate the exigencies
of the current substance abuse treatment program. Also, the
children’s component was excised after the initial piloting due to
barriers such as time, transportation and childcare.
Demographic
Information
Conclusions
Parenting
Race/Ethnicity
Other 5%
American 5%
Indian
3% Asia
Additionally, group facilitators and supervisors were interviewed
one-on-one with the evaluator about strengths and challenges of the
program, as well as additional comments about its perceived
effectiveness, quality improvement, and leader preparedness. The
study includes 5 courses of SFP conducted in July 2004, October
2004, March 2005, January 2006 and February 2006 and information
was collected from July 8, 2004 to March 1, 2006.
Foster
42% Single
Relatives 16%
Parent
35% Hispanic/Latin
o
White 26%
Tw o
29%
Parents
26% African
Demographics by Completion Status
Level of Education
Race/Ethnicity
College Graduate 13%
Parent groups met for an hour each week and were given incentives
for attendance worth about $5 each. Parents were pre-tested during
the Program Enrollment session and post-tested on the last day of the
program. The same instruments were used for the pretest and
posttest. Parents were instructed to complete data on one “target”
child, defined as the one with the most problems. The measures
included basic demographic information about the parents and their
target child, Involvement with Agency, Parenting Scales,
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Parent Drug &
Alcohol Use, Overall Family Strengths/Resilience, and Parent
Observations on Child Activities-Revised (POCA-R). Most of these
measures are Cross-site Family Core Measures selected by the
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Core Measures
Expert Panel as the best measures having high reliability and
sensitivity to change.
5%
Joint/ Shared 8%
Custody
Some
18%
College
Education
40% High School
Graduate
Average Age
Parenting Status
No Posttest
31% Hispanic/Latino
23% African American
31% White
37
46% Single Parents
38.5% Relatives
th
29% Dropped out of High School
Average Education
12 grade
Weekly Hours Worked 5.4
Annual Income
$10,500
Completed Posttest
36% Hispanic/Latino
28% African American
24% White
41
40% Single Parents
40% Two Parents
th
12 grade
4.6
$14,400
Completion of a posttest was used as a proxy for engagement but not as an
indication of regular attendance.
Program
Outcomes
Demographics by Overall Family Strengths/Resilience
Score
Below the Mean
38 years
50% Single Parents
25% Relatives
Weekly Hours Worked
2.9
Annual Income
$6,900
Lived in Shelter
10%
Lived with Target Child
5 years
Target Child on Medication 5%
Average Age
Parenting Status
Mean or Higher
39 years
36% Single Parents
32% Two Parents
7.2
$16,200
16%
4 years
16%
GPRA Drug and Alcohol Use (past 30 days)
100%
80%
Pre-SFP
60%
Post-SFP
40%
20%
0%
Alcohol Tobacco Marijuana
Other
illegal
drugs
• Parents reported their use of alcohol and marijuana
decreased by 16% and 18% respectively after the
program.
• Program had a slight association with improved
confidence in parenting and no association with parentchild affective style.
• A comparison of the pre and post results indicated that
the program had a weak effect on participant’s family
strengths.
• Although the mean score decreased slightly after the
program, SFP did not produce a significant change in
parent’s observation on their children’s overt aggression
behaviors or in cognitive concentration.
• Facilitators reported the development of trusting
relationship with the parents.
• Facilitators reported that some of the SFP training was
not applicable to the clientele and that the curriculum
seemed to geared towards a different culture. As a result,
the facilitators modified the SFP material to suit the
parents’ needs and interests, which led to their
enjoyment of weekly sessions and the development of a
nonjudgmental forum for them to share their
experiences.
• The evaluation result of SFP implemented at Greenwich
House is similar to those found in SFP study results in
other states.