Testing Implementation Strategies to Scale-up a Multicomponent Continuum of Service Intervention for Families Involved in Systems With Parental Opioid and Methamphetamine Use

Summary

This study will explore how to expand the Just Care for Families (JCFF) program beyond its current sites in Oregon, while addressing two main challenges: the developer team cannot provide ongoing support to every new program, and rural counties face limits on caseloads and reimbursement because of long travel distances. To overcome these barriers, the trial will test two strategies-using a JCFF mobile app to improve outcomes and efficiency, and relying on trained Experts (instead of the developer team) to guide new counties. With five active counties and four new ones, researchers will study whether parents receiving JCFF with digital support show reduced opioid and stimulant use, better child welfare outcomes like reunification, and more efficient treatment. This study will also compare how well new counties implement JCFF compared to existing ones, and use modeling to see if digital tools help programs sustain themselves by balancing caseloads and reimbursement. This study is supported by and included in the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (https://heal.nih.gov/).

Conditions

• Substance Related Disorders

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Just Care for Families (JCFF)

Just Care for Families is a behavioral intervention to address the needs of families involved in or at-risk for involvement with the child welfare system. Just Care involves treatment components, supported by ongoing purposeful engagement: (1) Substance use treatment including contingency management and positive reinforcement, day planning, healthy environments and peer choices, and refusal skills; (2) Mental health treatment including cognitive behavioral therapy, developing healthy coping skills, emotion regulation skills, exposure therapy, and referral for medication management; (3) Parent management training including parenting skills, nurturing and attachment, reinforcement, emotion regulation, supervision, structure, non-harsh discipline, and nutrition; (4) Community building including indigenous and external social supports; (5) Systems navigation; and (6) provision of assistance with basic needs including assistance with housing and employment.

BEHAVIORAL

Just Care for Families (JCFF) App

Participants will use a Just Care for Families digital support application (App). App features will include interactive tools modeled after those used for in-person interventions and practice exercises. Parent data will be stored within the App, including entered self-report and usage data.

BEHAVIORAL

Just Care for Families (JCFF) App Feedback

Coaches will receive feedback on parent's use of the App. Parent-reported current needs, clinical status (e.g., substance use and mental health symptoms), progress, and goals will be programmed into dashboards accessible to assigned Coaches (i.e., Feedback).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• Chestnut Health Systems

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lisa Saldana, PhD · Chestnut Health Systems

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-02-12

Primary Completion

2030-02-01

Completion

2030-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations