Strong Start Research Essay

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Strong Start research and demonstration project provided high fidelity wraparound services to mothers in early recovery from substance use as an intervention to increase protective factors in the mother that are identified as preventative of child maltreatment. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the program in accomplishing this. As well it intended to ensure routine development screening of the infants. Additionally, the study brokered collaboration between community services for coordinated and planned service provision while also integrating natural supports. National Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood (QIC-EC) funded this as one of four studies which sought to illuminated the effectiveness of prevention–promotion …show more content…

The literature suggests that pregnancy is a motivating factor for obtaining substance treatment. Consequently, as a time of crisis, while as high as 50 % of women drop out of treatment, these women have a compelling reason to begin and sustain changes to afford them the opportunity to successfully parent their child by achieving and maintaining recovery. This formative evaluation utilized an experimental design with randomization of families to either a standard of care group or wraparound service provision in the Strong Start program. Pregnant women age 18-44 enrolling in a specialized substance treatment program were informed of the study. Randomization utilized minimization software to ensure the groups were balanced for key indicators such as court ordered to treatment, open child welfare case, or previous termination of parental rights.
In addressing the research questions’ dual pronged nature both qualitative and quantitative measures were used. These included, Life domains/addiction severity index, Brief symptoms inventory, Post-Traumatic Stress Diagnostic scale, Connor -Davidson Resilience Scale, Vineland Social emotional scales and the Wraparound Fidelity Index, as well as focus group interviews and analysis of Wrap around

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