MIO-CPP to Improve the Well-being, Permanency, and Safety Outcomes for Young Children at Risk of or in Out-of-home Placement in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties, and Affected by Pre and Post-natal Maternal Substance Use

The goal of the project is to improve child well-being, permanency, and safety, and reduce the risk for involvement in the child welfare system for families with children pre-birth to five years who are affected by parental substance use disorders (SUD). The project will integrate with SUD treatment programs for pregnant/parenting women and their children and provide an evidence-based therapeutic model, Mothering from the Inside Out (MIO) and Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). MIO-CPP promotes the development of parental reflective functioning and strengthen parent/child attachment. The project will also examine the role of Certified Recovery Specialists (CRS) to provide case management services to parents during their enrollment in therapy.

MIO is an individual, manualized, psychotherapeutic intervention designed to promote parental reflective functioning in mothers who are in treatment for SUDs and/or other mental health problems, and caring for a child in-utero through five years old. CPP is typically offered through weekly sessions with the mother-child dyad that last 1 to 1.5 hours.

The MIO-CPP (intervention) model will begin with 6 sessions of MIO for each study participant, with the CPP assessment and engagement phase embedded during this time. This phase will be followed by the dyadic mother-child phase, the core intervention stage of CPP. If a parent needs additional stabilization, more individual time can be added. During the core phase of dyadic CPP the Child Parent Specialists will continue to build and strengthen parents' reflective functioning by embedding aspects from MIO.

Beginning in Phase 2, participant dyads will be assigned a Certified Recovery Specialists (CRSs) who will provide services to support them as they transition out of SUD treatment and back into their home communities. We will recruit and hire 2 PA CRSs to join the therapeutic team. CRS services will include but not be limited to: assisting clients with securing housing and employment and connecting to outpatient and other recovery support services (e.g. 12-step programs), and child, medical and behavioral health care as needed. The plan for the timing to introduce CRS services and their issues of focus will be defined through quality improvement methodology during Phase 1.

We will use a quasi-experimental trial design with historical controls as well as qualitative interviews to assess effectiveness and efficiency of MIO-CPP when paired with CRS, on parent and child outcomes including therapy engagement, parent/caregiver well-being, child well-being, and family well-being. The study will take place over two phases. Eligible caregivers in Phase 1 will receive MIO-CPP (control), while participants enrolled in Phase 2 will receive a MIO-CPP while also being paired with a CRS.

The recruitment for study participants will stop when 320 mother-child dyads have enrolled in the study. Participants will include mother-child dyads from families involved with residential SUD treatment programs serving women and children in Philadelphia and Bucks counties. In Bucks County we will receive referrals from Libertae Inc. in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (PA). In Philadelphia, we will receive referrals from Gaudenzia Hutchinson Place and the Gaudenzia Winner Program.

Data collection from participants will occur at four time points during the study: 1) when participants are enrolled; 2) 3 months following enrollment; 3) 6 months following enrollment; and 4) 9 months following enrollment or when the participant ends their participation in weekly therapy sessions if sooner than 9 months following enrollment. Study measures will include: 1) Parent/Caregiver Well-being: a) maternal reflective functioning, b) depression, anxiety, and trauma-related symptoms, c) parental substance use and move toward recovery; d) parenting stress; e) parent-child relationship; 2) Child Well-being: a) behavior problems, b) executive functions; c) socialization skills; 3) Family Well-being: a) child welfare involvement, b) reunifications.

As part of this study, investigator will acquire administrative data about the safety and permanency of children and adult recovery for all study participants. The Primary Investigator will request substance use treatment data from the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services. The requested data elements will include whether the study child has a child welfare record, the types of allegations of abuse or neglect, and when the allegations occurred (from birth to present day). Additionally, investigators will request all available substance use treatment records will be requested for adults who are a part of a study case for the year prior to enrollment in the study to one year following their enrollment in the study.