Family Engagement, Cross-System Linkage to Substance Use Treatment for Juvenile Probationers -- Phase 3

Summary

Developed from adapting and combining two evidence-based programs, Project CONNECT (a linkage-to-services program that targets barriers within the probation and substance abuse treatment systems) and TIES (a program that teaches family engagement skills to providers), Family CONNECT is a linkage-to-services program that targets both family and system-level factors to increase youth use of and retention in substance use services. Using Linkage Specialists embedded within probation departments, Family CONNECT will be implemented in two NYS probation departments. This proposed study will evaluate the impact of Family CONNECT on (1) youth referral from probation to substance abuse treatment, (2) youth and family engagement in substance abuse treatment, (3) youth enrollment/retention in substance abuse treatment, and (4) youth substance use and recidivism. Counts of youth referred, youth who start treatment, and youth retained in treatment will be obtained from the juvenile justice agency for 6-months pre-implementation of Family Connect (i.e. baseline) and during the implementation period of e-Connect; counts of youth recidivism will be obtained 6 months following the completion of Family Connect. This study will also identify family and probation organizational factors influencing Family CONNECT implementation in probation settings. 50 caregiver-youth dyads and up to 36 probation officers will be recruited as participants in the study. Caregiver-youth dyads will be evaluated at baseline, 2 and 6 months; probation officers at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months; linkage specialists at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months.

Conditions

• Substance Use
• Substance Abuse
• Substance Use Disorders
• Substance-Related Disorders
• Substance Dependence
• Substance Related Problem

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Family CONNECT

Linkage specialists, who are clinical social workers and embedded within the probation departments, will work with specifically caregiver-youth dyads in the Family CONNECT arm to link youth to substance use services.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• New York State Psychiatric Institute

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Katherine S Elkington, PhD · New York State Psychiatric Institute

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

10 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-11-17

Primary Completion

2018-12-31

Completion

2018-12-01