Comprehensive treatment for co-occurring child maltreatment and parental substance abuse: Outcomes from a 24-month pilot study of the MST-Building Stronger Families program☆
Section snippets
Method
This study examined families served by the New Britain Area Office of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), the consolidated agency that has statutory responsibility for children's protective services in the state.
Participant characteristics and comparability of groups at baseline
As shown in Table 1, MST-BSF and CCT families were largely equivalent on all demographic and case background characteristics. Overall (N = 43), most mothers in the sample self-identified as being of White, Non-Hispanic racial/ethnic origin (79.1%), with 16.3% identifying as Hispanic and the remainder (4.7%) as Black, Non-Hispanic. The racial makeup of the sample was comparable to those of parents served by the New Britain DCF area office as a whole (i.e., in 2007, the caseload was 81.0% White,
Discussion
Preliminary support was provided for the effectiveness of MST-BSF in addressing the co-occurring problem of child maltreatment and parental substance abuse, one of the most significant challenges facing child welfare organizations. Mothers who received MST-BSF significantly reduced their drug and alcohol use over the course of treatment. Mothers also reported a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, moving on average from clinical to nonclinical levels on this key risk factor for child
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2021, Journal of Substance Abuse TreatmentCitation Excerpt :Experiences of domestic violence, and physical or sexual abuse, are also common among this group (Taplin & Mattick, 2013) and are likely to continue to negatively affect women throughout their life course (Bellis et al., 2017; Berlin et al., 2011). Furthermore, substance dependence in mothers is a leading cause of child maltreatment (Comiskey et al., 2017; Onigu-Otite & Belcher, 2012; Schaeffer et al., 2013), and the impact of substance use during pregnancy may have a significant bearing on the health and social development of children (Brown et al., 2019; Ludlow et al., 2004; O'Leary et al., 2010). Beyond individual-level factors, system and service delivery factors such as child protection practices, have also been identified as potential sources of harm for mothers and their children.
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This study was supported by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The authors wish to thank Elisabeth Cannata, Tere Foley, Richard Holden, Melisa LaPila, Chris Lau, Donna Maitland-Ward, Pete Panzarella, Robert Plant, Lind Remmele, Karen Snyder, Susan Walkama, and Jeannette White, as well as Wheeler Clinic, for their support.
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Cynthia Cupit Swenson is a consultant in the development of MST-CAN programs through MST Services, LLC, which has the exclusive licensing agreement through the Medical University of South Carolina for the dissemination of MST technology.
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Scott W. Henggeler is a board member and stockholder in MST Services, LLC.