News Archives
Report Details Successes and Challenges of 10-Year Study of Multnomah County Drug Court, Second Oldest in Nation
NPC Research has released the findings of a study funded by the National Institute of Justice: The Impact of a Mature Drug Court Over 10 Years of Operation: Recidivism and Costs. The study examined the impact of a single drug court on the total population of drug court-eligible offenders over a 10-year period in Portland, Oregon. This drug court, the Multnomah County Drug Court in Portland, Oregon, is the second oldest in the United States. The Program was originally designed to be a pre-plea offer to individuals arrested on drug charges. The program began accepting probationers and parolees (as well as pre-plea clients) in 1995 and became a completely post-plea program in 2000. This study covers the period from program start in 1991 through 2001. See Exectutive Summary. See Final Report.
Evaluation Points to Successes of Oregon's Relief Nursery Program
Relief Nurseries serve families in the Oregon cities of Albany, Bend, Cottage Grove, Eugene, Medford, Portland, Roseburg, and Salem. Relief Nurseries provide core services to high-risk families, and outreach services based on community needs. Core services include therapeutic early childhood services (and related services such as food and transportation), home visits, parent education classes, respite care, and alcohol and drug recovery support. Relief Nurseries demonstrate positive outcomes for families, including improving daily family functioning and the quality of parent-child interactions, and reducing overall risk. NPC recently completed an evaluation of the program. See Exectutive Summary. See Final Report.
NPC Releases Results of 4-Year Family Treatment Drug Court Study
NPC Research has found that Family Treatment Drug Courts are more successful than traditional child welfare case processing in helping substance-abusing parents enter and complete treatment and reunify with their children. In 2002, NPC Research received funding from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to conduct the first large-scale outcome study of FTDCs, specialized courts designed to work with substance-abusing parents involved with the child welfare system. For more information, see Full Report, Executive Summary, or a two-page Key Outcome Findings.
Oregon Healthy Start Evaluation Reports Released
NPC Research has released its 2005-2006 evaluation report of Oregon’s Healthy Start program, the state’s largest child abuse prevention program, screening over 7,500 families and providing evidence-based home visiting services to over 3,300 children at risk for maltreatment statewide in FY 2005-06. Outcomes for families receiving home visiting are tracked annually through an ongoing evaluation conducted by NPC. Additionally, during FY 2005-06, Oregon’s Healthy Start program continued its efforts to obtain a statewide program credential from Healthy Families America (HFA). This credential involves documenting the use of a comprehensive set of research-based program practices, including evidence-based home visiting procedures, rigorous training and supervision supports, and effective program management and administration processes. Learn more about the Healthy Start evaluation and access the latest reports and fact sheets >>
Article Addresses Relationship of Substance Abuse Treatment to Child Welfare Outcomes
An article published in the April 2007 issue of Children and Youth Services Review is co-authored by NPC researchers Beth L. Green, Ph.D., and Carrie J. Furrer, Ph.D. A third author is Anna Rockhill, M.P.P., of Portland State University. Although substance abuse is one of the primary reasons that parents become involved with the child welfare system, there is surprisingly little empirical research that examines the relationship of substance abuse treatment to child welfare outcomes. In a statewide longitudinal study of 1,911 women who had children placed in substitute care, the authors examined the influence of three key factors in the treatment process on child welfare outcomes. See abstract and opportunity to access article.
Paper Co-Authored by NPC Researcher Examines Mental Health Consultation in Early Childhood Settings
The findings of a study published recently in Topics in Early Childhood Special Education offers recommendations concerning the manner in which early childhood program managers and other professionals make decisions about the most important characteristics and services that mental health consultants should provide. NPC Vice President Beth L. Green, Ph.D., served as the lead author. The paper, a product of a study on Transforming Transitions to Kindgergarten, represents a partnership between NPC Research and the Research & Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health at Portland State University.
In response to (a) an increasing need to support children with emotional and behavioral challenges in childcare settings and (b) the high rates of expulsion among preschool children, mental health consultation in early childhood settings is becoming an increasingly popular intervention strategy. At the same time, there is little agreement or empirical evidence to help early childhood program managers and other professionals make decisions about the most important characteristics and services that mental health consultants should provide. The current study presents findings from a nationally representative survey of 74 Head Start programs and 655 Head Start directors, staff members, and mental health consultants to use in addressing this gap. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), the authors present results suggesting that the single most important characteristic of mental health consultants is their ability to build positive collaborative relationships with program staff members. The frequency of consultant activities was important, primarily because consultants who provided more frequent services were reported to have more positive relationships with staff members. These results were significant even after controlling for program-level characteristics, such as program size, budget for mental health services, and ratio of consultant hours to number of children.
Learn more about the related project, Transforming Transitions to Kindergarten.
