NASADAD to NIDA: Connect research to practice

When the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) sought input on its five‐year plan, the people responsible for publicly funded prevention, treatment and recovery — state directors — called for returning to the days of communication between federal agencies like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and between NIDA researchers and the service delivery system. In an Aug. 7 letter to NIDA's strategic planning team, Robert I.L. Morrison, executive director of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), noted that each state alcohol and drug agency has a critical role to play in NIDA initiatives. This role includes.     

A Study of An Alternative School for Pregnant and/or Parenting Teens: Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence

In response to multiple problems faced by pregnant and parenting teens, many alternative school-based comprehensive programs have been established throughout the United States. By collecting data from a sample of enrollees of such a school-based comprehensive program and comparing them with data collected from a sample of non-enrollees, the present study systematically evaluates the program. The results of the study seem to suggest that the program participants were more likely to have higher educational aspiration, better reproductive health outcomes, higher contraceptive use, and more breast-feeding practice and intention than those of their non-participating counterparts. The implications of the study findings for comprehensive school-based program for pregnant and/or parenting teens are discussed.Ruhul Amin is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Health Disparities Solutions and Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21239. Dorothy C. Browne is the Director of the Institute for Urban Research, Jamir Ahmed is a research assistant at the Center for Health Disparities Solutions and Takanori Sato is research assistants at the Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21239.     

Get High and Get Stupid: The Effect of Alcohol and Marijuana Use on Teen Sexual Behavior

Numerous studies have documented a strong correlation between substance use and teen sexual behavior, and this empirical relationship has given rise to a widespread belief that substance use causes teens to engage in risky sex. This causal link is often used by advocates to justify policies targeted at reducing substance use. Here, we argue that previous research has not produced sufficient evidence to substantiate a causal relationship between substance use and teen sexual behavior. Accordingly, we attempt to estimate causal effects using two complementary research approaches. Our findings suggest that substance use is not causally related to teen sexual behavior, although we cannot definitively rule out that possibility.Research for this paper was supported by grant number 5 R01 DA12692 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the National Bureau of Economic Research. We are indebted to Inas Rashad and Nasreen Khan for research assistance. We wish to thank Donald Kenkel, Jody Sindelar, David Salkever, David Bishai, Eric Slade, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. Our research is based in part on the Add Health project, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry (PI) and Peter Bearman, and funded by grant PO1-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with cooperative funding participation by the National Cancer Institute; the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; the National Institute of Mental Health; the National Institute of Nursing Research; the Office of AIDS Research, NIH; The Office of Behavior and Social Science Research, NIH; the Office of the Director, NIH; the Office of Research on Womens Health, NIH; the Office of Population Affairs, DHHS; the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS; the Office of Minority Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS; the Office of Minority Health, Office of Public Health and Science, DHHS; the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS; and the National Science Foundation. Persons interested in obtaining data files from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health should contact Add Health Project, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997 (email: addhealth@unc.edu). This paper has not undergone the review accorded to official NBER publications; in particular, it has not been submitted for approval by the Board of Directors. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and not those of NIDA or NBER.JEL Classification: I10, I11     

Toward an effective treatment system for adolescents with substance use disorders: The role of the states

A 2002 national expert panel found that the treatment system for adolescents with substance use disorders was inadequate and underdeveloped. The panel recommended immediate improvement in five areas: youth-serving agency collaboration, treatment system financing, workforce development, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and family involvement in all aspects of treatment. In 2004, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), designed the State Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Coordination Grant program (SAC) and implemented it in 2005 to address the critical need in the field. This paper reviews the adolescent substance use disorders treatment system, discusses selected drivers for change and the design of the SAC grant program, and summarizes some of the program's results. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis document that substantive systems development occurred within each of the sixteen grantees and that federal–state partnerships are useful in creating systemic change.     

State profiles on STR and SOR spending released by NASADAD

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is keeping its evaluations under wraps, but the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) has released a state‐specific list of how the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grants are being spent.     

Names in the News

Linda Rosenberg, longtime president and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health, who announced she would be leaving almost a year ago (see ADAW, April 30, 2018), will be replaced by Chuck Ingoglia, who has been in charge of public policy at the Washington, D.C.–based group since 2005, on June 1. “On behalf of the National Council Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that after a comprehensive national selection process, the board is delighted to appoint Chuck Ingoglia to the role of president and CEO,” said Jeff Richardson, chair of the board of directors. Richardson said Ingoglia's more than 20 years experience in behavioral health policy made him “the clear choice to lead the National Council into the future.” Prior to joining the National Council, Ingoglia provided policy and program design guidance to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; he also directed state government relations and service system improvement projects for the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America), served as a policy analyst for the National Association of Social Workers and designed educational programs for mental health and addictions professionals at the Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare. “We are very grateful to Linda for 15 years of outstanding leadership and fortunate that Chuck has accepted the position. Chuck is a proven leader and the best choice from a deep pool of interested and highly qualified candidates from across the country,” said Richardson. “His vision and strategy are exactly what the National Council needs as we enter our next chapter.”     

NASADAD releases updated timeline of STR and SOR funding

Last month, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) released an updated timeline of the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grant programs. The key dates, including when the grants were authorized, when Congress appropriated funds and when funding opportunity announcements were released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and funding award period for states are listed, as well as more information. The updated version reflects two recent developments.     

The Student Watershed Research Project (SWRP): collecting watershed data for use by resource management agencies

From 1992 to 1994, Saturday Academy and the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology instituted the pilot phase of a long-term monitoring program called the Student Watershed Research Project (SWRP). The SWRP program was developed to create and maintain collaboration among eighth through twelfth grade teachers and students, scientists, businesses, governmental agencies, and community members which would couple environmental education with the collection of high quality, reproducible watershed health data.The original authors of this paper set out to evaluate the impacts of the SWRP program in terms of changes in educational attitudes of participants and collection of accurate data. Findings demonstrate that assuring accuracy of student collected data was challenging, that teachers and students benefited greatly from a hands-on research approach to science education, and that such an approach would be difficult without the support of a program like SWRP.The SWRP program is entering its seventh year in the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington metropolitan areas with approximately half of the pilot phase participants still involved. A Quality Assurance Project Plan has been developed to assure data accuracy. Evaluation student science education attitudes documents improved results on a yearly basis.     

Table of Contents

Tight Economy Favors Cutting Prison Spending: Will Treatment Benefit? Oklahoma's Certified Counselors Face Loss of Payment for Core Services NASADAD Selects Morrison as Executive Director Acadia Hospital Expands Program to Two Tracks, One for Long‐Term Recovery Comparison of Selected Substance Use Disorder Provisions in Health Reform Legislation Briefly Noted State News Coming up     

SAMHSA urges treatment programs to test for HIV

Last month, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) called on public health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers to help make sure patients who are negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) stay that way, and that those who are HIV‐positive are tested, receive antiretroviral treatment and stay “adherent” to the treatment. The directive came in the form of a “Dear Colleague Letter” from SAMHSA Director Elinore F. McCance‐Katz, M.D., Ph.D., assistant secretary for mental health and substance use for the Department of Health and Human Services.     

Table of Contents

No Money for Safe and Drug‐Free Schools Again, New ATR Vouchers House Subcommittee Considers Beefing up Treatment Language in Second Chance Act New ATR Voucher Program Substance Abuse Services and the Budget ‘Disproportionate Impact’ on African Americans FY 2006 Budget, Good and Bad Private Treatment Program for Methadone Detox Focuses on Buprenorphine SAMHSA Survey Looks at Role of Schools in Providing Services Applications Now Being Accepted for Director of Research and Program Applications Briefly Noted Resources Coming Up     

An Evening and Weekend Treatment Program for Alcoholism in the Workplace

This paper presents the findings of a demonstration Evening and Weekend treatment program for alcoholism conducted as part of the Employee Assistance Program for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Forty-five persons initially entered the program. Process and outcome data based on supervisory ratings and treatment outcomes indicate such programs can be successful for alcoholism and also cost effective.     

Child day care and the employment of AFDC recipients with preschool children

In the context of recent federal initiatives to increase the affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care for the working poor, this article examines the degree to which expanding the supply of publicly subsidized child care in local communities may promote, through employment, the independence from welfare and economic self-sufficiency of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients with preschool-aged children. In a telephone survey of a random sample of 232 AFDC recipients who participated in a larger federally sponsored demonstration project in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, many respondents reported the lack of available child care as a barrier either to employment or to the attainment of a preferred job. Although it is concluded that increases in the availability of subsidized child care should be a component of any strategy to increase the level of employment participation, continuity, and success for this population, the results underscore the need for a multi-faceted intervention strategy to reduce the welfare dependency and to increase the economic self-sufficiency of these parents. Implications for further research are suggested.The data for this investigation were collected under Authorization No. 89-3-WR-NC-008 to the North Carolina Department of Human Resources from the Division of Program Evaluation, Office of Family Assistance, Family Support Administration, Department of Health and Human Services. Additional support was provided under Grant No. 5-44232 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University Research Council, Office of Research Services. The views and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the North Carolina Department of Human Resources.He received his Ph.D. in Family Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1981. He is a specialist in work and family linkages, policy analysis and evaluation, and survey research methodology. He served as principal investigator on the child care evaluation study that is the basis for this article.He received his Ph.D. in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1982. He is a specialist in evaluation and research methodology, information dissemination and use patterns in public sector agencies, and welfare policy and initiatives. He served as project director for the study described in this article.     

Home care reimbursement for technology-dependent children: Its impact on parental distress

The distress of 52 parents with a technology-dependent child at home is measured using a standardized psychological inventory. Fifty-eight percent of these parents report enough symptoms to classify them as needing psychiatric intervention. Cost savings to third-party payers are accelerating the trend toward home care (rather than institutionalized care). Yet, these findings point to an underestimated cost to families in terms of parents' psychological well-being. One factor associated with less distress for mothers is having services reimbursed through the Medicaid Model Waiver Program, which provides a comprehensive plan for home care services. In contrast, services reimbursed by private third-party payers are more variable, placing greater financial strain and uncertainty on parents, which is associated with greater psychological distress. These results suggest the need for further study of the long-term impact on parents caring for technology-dependent children at home.Reprint requests to Barbara J. Leonard, R.N., Ph.D., Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, Box 197 UMHC, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, (612) 625-3660.This study was supported in part by BRSG Number 2-S07-RR05448-25 awarded to the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health by the Biomedical Research Grant Program, Division of Research and Resources, National Institute of Health. Additional support was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, State of Minnesota, Academic Computing Services and Systems, University of Minnesota and special project funds from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.Barbara J. Leonard is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, MN 55455. Her research interests include children with developmental disabilities, their parents, and siblings. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.Janny Dwyer Brust is a Research Fellow in the Maternal and Child Health Major at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include issues related to the care of chronically ill children and sexually abused children. She received her M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota.Joan Patterson is an Assistant Professor in the Maternal and Child Health Major and Associate Director of the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include family adaptation to chronic illness and family stress and coping. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.     

Briefly Noted

Drug‐Free Communities (DFC), a significant prevention grant program totaling more than $101 million and administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will be moving to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the change is mainly one that affects interagency machinations in Washington and not the end recipients of the funding — drug‐free coalitions. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will retain the program and policy oversight. The funding will go to the ONDCP, and then be distributed to the CDC instead of to SAMHSA, as it has been in the past. The DFC grant program funds anti‐drug coalitions ‐‐ there are more than 700 across the country. Most are members of Community Anti‐Drug Coalitions of American (CADCA), which has 5,000 members. The CDC will be the new agency that subcontracts with the ONDCP to do the day‐to‐day administration of the DFC program. The change was announced Feb. 4 at CADCA's National Leadership Forum by ONDCP Director James Carroll. For a 2019 fact sheet on DFC, see https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp‐content/uploads/2019/12/FY‐2019‐DFC‐Fact‐Sheet‐20191220‐converted.pdf .     

Collaborative evaluation within a framework of stakeholder-oriented evaluation approaches

Collaborative Evaluation systematically invites and engages stakeholders in program evaluation planning and implementation. Unlike "distanced" evaluation approaches, which reject stakeholder participation as evaluation team members, Collaborative Evaluation assumes that active, on-going engagement between evaluators and program staff, result in stronger evaluation designs, enhanced data collection and analysis, and results that stakeholder understand and use. Among similar "participant-oriented" evaluation approaches (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, & Worthen, 2011), Collaborative Evaluation distinguishes itself in that it uses a sliding scale for levels of collaboration. This means that different program evaluations will experience different levels of collaborative activity. The sliding scale is applied as the evaluator considers each program's evaluation needs, readiness, and resources. While Collaborative Evaluation is a term widely used in evaluation, its meaning varies considerably. Often used interchangeably with participatory and/or empowerment evaluation, the terms can be used to mean different things, which can be confusing. The articles use a comparative Collaborative Evaluation Framework to highlight how from a theoretical perspective, Collaborative Evaluation distinguishes itself from the other participatory evaluation approaches.     

Using the Image Exchange to Enhance Interdisciplinary Team Building in Child Welfare

A team building activity, the image exchange, was helpful to interdisciplinary teams in clarifying perceptions and opinions of participants about the roles of each discipline (child welfare, domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse workers) at a five-day interdisciplinary training workshop. Discussion of team members’ perceptions and views provided opportunities to develop insights about misperceptions. Training in team development and role clarification provided a foundation for the development of effective interdisciplinary collaboration, which may improve interdisciplinary practice.Dr. Packard is an Associate Professor and Dr. Jones is a Professor in the School of Social Work at SDSU. At the time of writing, Ms. Nahrstedt was a Research Assistant in the School of Social Work at SDSU. This project was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families.     

Sexual Health Education in OB-Gyn Residencies—The Program Directors’ Survey

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate U.S. obstetrics-gynecology (OB-Gyn) program Director appraisal of resident physician female sexual health training. Methods: An OB-Gyn resident sexual health curriculum survey was developed and sent to 237?U.S. OB-Gyn program directors. University/military programs were compared to community-based programs. Results: 115 OB-Gyn residency program directors responded (48.5% participation); 37.9% university/military and 43.2% community OB-Gyn Program Directors appraise the resident curriculum as “not well” preparing residents to manage sexual health therapies upon graduation. Topics not sufficiently covered include human sex trafficking, sexual health for women with disabilities, and cultural competency. Conclusions: This study identifies opportunities in OB-Gyn residency female sexual health education.     

Middle school reform through data and dialogue. Collaborative evaluation with 17 leadership teams

This report describes a 2-year, longitudinal study of one school district's effort to link site-based, collaborative evaluation with formal, centralized program evaluation. Participants formed a research team in partnership with a local university. Team members assisted leadership teams in identifying issues for informal, site-based assessments and then used the information to monitor progress toward established goals. Participants collaborated in designing and conducting informal assessments of student achievement, school climate and safety, discipline, and parent involvement. Leadership teams used these data in developing their school improvement plans. Researchers and administrators used these data to revise the districtwide survey. At the end of the 2-year cycle, analysis of school improvement plans showed that collaborative evaluation is creating a connection between dialogue and data. These 17 middle schools are approaching school improvement in a more integrated fashion by actively involving key stakeholders (students, parents, and teachers) in the evaluation process.