Family-Based Recovery: An Innovative Collaboration between Community Mental Health Agencies and Child Protective Services to Treat Families Impacted by Parental Substance Use

Abstract

To meet the needs of families who have very young children and are involved with child protective services due to substance use, the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families, Yale Child Study Center and Johns Hopkins University created an innovative treatment model. This public–private collaboration required a paradigm shift for both child protective services staff and treatment providers. This brief description of the Family-Based Recovery model highlights the family-focused practice elements that allow children to remain safely at home with parents who are in treatment. Outcomes suggest that Family-Based Recovery is a promising practice, and collaborations between child protective services and substance use treatment providers can yield positive results for families with young children. ‘Highlights the family-focused practice elements that allow children to remain safely at home with parents who are in treatment’. Key Practitioner Messages: Strong collaboration between child protective services and treatment providers can mitigate the risk of out-of-home placement for children impacted by parental substance use. In-home treatment that provides concurrent psychotherapy, substance use treatment and parent–child dyadic therapy is an important part of the service array for families involved with child protective services.