The opioid and addiction crises have greatly impacted family stability, leading to large increases in child welfare cases and the rate of grandparents or other relatives raising children. In this collection, we feature reports that describe the impact of addiction on families and provide strategies for improving services provided to children and their caregivers.
This collection includes:
- A report from a meeting of multi-disciplinary researchers, clinicians, and policymakers that looks at the “ripple effect” of addiction on families and provides recommendations for policymakers on how they can address these effects
- A report that looks at the challenges grandparents raising grandchildren face and provides strategies for how policymakers and community leaders can better support them
- A 2-page fact sheet from the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare that explains why coordination of services for children and families addressing addiction is so important
- An overview of the Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team (START) model that pairs a social worker with a family mentor with lived experience of addiction or child welfare system involvement to work collaboratively with families facing addiction and child protective service engagement
- A report that provides strategies to increase access to evidence-based treatments and interventions for substance use disorder in the criminal justice and child welfare system
- A case study that profiles how a federally qualified health center in New York provides integrated medical and behavioral health services for individuals with opioid addiction
Also included are 4 reports from the National Judicial Opioid Task Force:
- A 2-page report summarizing recommendations for reshaping the child welfare system to focus on prevention
- An hour long recording of a conversation between judges, officials from the Children’s Bureau, and the National Center for State Courts that provides more details about the Task Force’s recommendations for reshaping the child welfare system
- A guide to understanding trauma and how to address it for justice-system involved youth
- A briefing paper that describes parent partner programs where a parent facing child welfare proceedings is paired with a peer advisor who helps them understand and navigate the process
If you have additional materials we should consider including in this collection, please see our call for submissions page.
The Ripple Effect: The Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on Children and Families: Recommendations for an Action Agenda Based on a Multidisciplinary Meeting
Source: United Hospital Fund & Milbank Memorial Fund
The United Hospital Fund convened a meeting of researchers, program leaders, and policymakers in the fall of 2018 to discuss the impact of the opioid crisis on children and families.
Collateral Damage of the Opioid Crisis: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren – What They Need and How to Help
Source: Altarum
This 7 page briefing paper from Altarum, and authored by C. Stanik, looks at the impact the opioid crisis has had on grandparents raising grandchildren. Researchers at Altarum conducted interviews with 20 grandmothers in Michigan who were raising their grandchildren and collected 1,015 responses to a nationwide survey of grandparents.
Creating Partnerships between Behavioral Health Providers and Child Welfare
Source: National Council for Behavioral Health
This 2 page information guide explains the importance of collaboration between behavioral health providers including substance use disorder treatment providers and child welfare. The guide from the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare provides facts and statistics about the impact of the addiction crisis on child welfare and
Spotlight: Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams
Source: Addiction Policy Forum
A brief overview of the Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) model for serving families with active child protective services (CPS) cases and parental substance misuse. The START model pairs a CPS caseworker with a family mentor who has lived experience with recovery and CPS system and the 2 engage the family in a sustained strengths based approach. START teams have limited case loads of 12 to 15 families. Research has shown that families who receive START services as opposed to usual care in the CPS system were more likely to achieve abstinence, children were less likely to be placed in state custody, and the state saves money in foster care costs. This report is part of the Addiction Policy Forum’s spotlight series.
Applying the Evidence: Legal and Policy Approaches to Address Opioid Use Disorder in the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Settings
Source: O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown Law
A comprehensive report on increasing access to evidence-based treatments for substance use disorder in the criminal justice and child welfare systems from researchers at the Addiction & Public Policy Initiative of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law Center. The report specifically addresses increasing access to medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jails and prisons, in treatment court settings, and in the child welfare system. The report reviews programs in multiple states and summarizes legal, legislative and fiscal strategies to implement and manage evidence-based, public-health focused interventions in these settings.
How Community Health Centers are Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
Source: Milbank Memorial Fund
This case study profiles how a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in New York provides integrated medical and behavioral health care services for individuals with opioid addiction.
The Court’s Role in Reshaping the Child Welfare System to Focus on Prevention
Source: National Judicial Opioid Task Force
This 2019 publication from the National Judicial Opioid Task Force focuses on how judges and the judicial system can help reshape the child welfare system in the midst of the opioid epidemic by strengthening families and focusing on prevention. The report includes a discussion of the Family First Prevention Services Act and how the law affects judicial decision-making.
The Court’s Role in Reshaping the Child Welfare System to Focus on Prevention
Source: National Judicial Opioid Task Force
Judges and judicial personnel discuss the role of the courts in improving the child welfare system by strengthening families and using trauma informed treatments in the judicial system. This is an hour long recording of a conversation between judges, officials from the Children’s Bureau, and the National Center
Trauma, Substance Use, and Justice System-Involved Youth
Source: National Judicial Opioid Task Force
This briefing paper from the National Judicial Opioid Task Force includes an overview of the concept of trauma and how it affects youth and families involved with the justice system. The paper provides facts about trauma, presents advice for judges on how to avoid retraumatization in the courtroom, and describes 10
Parent Partner Programs: Promising Practice to Keep Families Struggling with Substance Use Disorder Together
Source: National Judicial Opioid Task Force
This briefing paper from the National Judicial Opioid Task Force provides an overview of parent partner programs, where parents facing child welfare or dependency proceedings are paired with a peer adviser who helps them understand and navigate the process. Parent partner programs in Washington, Iowa,