Project Description:
Need
National data and literature illuminate the complicated picture of female substance abuse and its effects on the parenting role. Intervention must address a multitude of factors beyond drug use.
Features
The Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) conducted a needs assessment and determined the need in Wyandotte County for additional supports to address substance abuse and mental health issues among families of young children. Thus, KDHE invited the TIES Program to participate as a "Promising Approach" in their application for Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visitation (MIECHV) funding from the Affordable Care Act. They were awarded 5 years of funding. During this time the TIES program is to conduct an implementation study to further solidify their model for replication, followed by an effectiveness study to test the model in Wyandotte County.
The TIES Program is a comprehensive, multi-agency program providing intensive, home-based services to pregnant and postpartum women and their families affected by substance abuse. Individualized, culturally appropriate services include crisis intervention, support for substance abuse treatment, supportive counseling, child development and parenting education, and connection to other community services.
Overall Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Deliver a coordinated, integrated system of evidence-based home visiting programs with high model fidelity and quality to families with pregnant women and children (0-5) in at-risk communities.
Objective 1: Increase the number of families with identified risks served in targeted communities by evidence-based home visiting programs (i.e., Early Head Start, Healthy Families America, and Parents as Teachers) and a promising home visiting approach (TIES).
Objective 2: Ensure program services are aligned with local and individual family needs so that families receive services that best fit their needs.
Objective 3: Improve coordination and referrals between home visiting programs and other community resources.
Objective 4: Build capacity for locally coordinated, centralized outreach, referral and intake processes
Objective 5: Ensure accountability, model fidelity, and quality through coordinated cross-program training, technical assistance and monitoring.
Goal 2: Effectively engage and retain underserved, hard-to-reach populations in home visiting services.
Objective 1: Build home visiting programs? capacity to effectively engage and retain families in services.
Objective 2: Build home visiting programs? capacity to involve fathers in services.
Objective 3: Build home visiting programs? capacity to appropriately address mental health and substance abuse concerns of referred and enrolled families.
Objective 4: Implement a promising home visiting approach to serve pregnant women/ mothers with substance use problems and their families.
Goal 3: Utilize a coordinated, integrated system to determine outcomes and quality of home visitation programs.
Objective 1: Select common indicators and measures across home visiting programs.
Objective 2: Develop and utilize a common data collection and reporting system across home visitation programs.
Objective 3: Assess program outcomes (i.e., MIECHV Program benchmarks and constructs) and implementation quality.
Objective 4: Utilize data for continuous quality improvement.
Objective 5: Evaluate a promising home visiting approach to serve pregnant women and mothers with substance use problems.
Wyandotte County and Montgomery County are the targeted communities selected for initial implementation, with Wyandotte County being the focus of the replication of the TIES model.
Expected Benefits
Expected outcomes are the enhancement and replication of the TIES model in Wyandotte County, KS. It is projected that services to all drug-affected families will be enhanced by community collaboration. These outcomes are anticipated for enrolled participants: decreased maternal drug use, improved mental and physical health, increased positive parenting, more stable family income, and improved housing options.
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances
