Multi-method approach effectively identifies and engages children impacted by parental substance misuse into...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Child Psychology
• Substance Abuse Research

Background:

• Children in households with parental substance misuse (PSM) face significant risks across multiple domains.
• An estimated 12% of U.S. children lived with an adult with past-year substance use problems (2009-2014).
• Identifying and engaging these children in prevention services is a critical public health need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Kids Like Us (KLU) program's manualized approach in identifying and engaging elementary students affected by PSM.
• To analyze the performance of KLU's multi-method identification strategies in a school-based setting.
• To assess the feasibility and replication of KLU's approach for addressing children impacted by PSM.

Main Methods:

• A 10-year field-based evaluation (2010-2020) of the KLU program, implemented in collaboration with public school counselors.
• Analysis of data from 537 identified elementary students impacted by PSM.
• Examination of referral sources including parent, self, school counselor, and community referrals.

Main Results:

• The KLU program successfully identified and engaged students, with 83% completing 75-100% of offered sessions.
• Parent referrals, particularly through student take-home letters, were the most effective strategy, accounting for 44% of referrals.
• No significant differences in identification were found based on gender or ethnicity.

Conclusions:

• KLU's multi-method, multi-source approach is effective in identifying and engaging children impacted by PSM in school-based settings.
• Parental involvement in referrals is a highly successful strategy, highlighting the need for its inclusion in similar programs.
• The KLU program's ease of replication offers a promising model for addressing the public health crisis of children affected by parental substance misuse.