The Relationship between Ohio START Peer Recovery Services and Parental Sobriety

Background and Purpose

Parental substance use is associated with an increased risk for child maltreatment. The rise of parental substance use in Ohio led the state to implement START (sobriety, treatment, and recovery teams), an evidence-based model that incorporates lived experience through peer recovery services imbedded within child protection agencies. Researchers have studied the benefits of peer recovery services in community settings but have not extensively explored potential impacts among child protection populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the timeliness and quantity of Ohio START peer recovery services and the length of parental sobriety at case closure.

RQ1. Is there a statistical relationship between the length of time to the initial peer recovery service and the number of months of parental sobriety at case closure?

H_a1: Parents who receive more timely initial peer recovery service engagement will have longer lengths of sobriety at case closure.

RQ2. Is there a statistical relationship between the number of peer recovery services received from case opening to closure and the number of months of parental sobriety at case closure?

H_a2: Parents who receive greater amounts of peer recovery services will have longer lengths of sobriety at case closure.

Methods

Data for this quantitative, correlational study of a cross-sectional nature were collected from an existing Ohio START data set (N = 337). Data analysis featured multiple linear regression.

Results

The findings showed that no statistically significant relationship existed (p = .890) between the length of time to the initial peer recovery service and the number of months of parental sobriety at case closure. However, the months of parental sobriety at case closure increased by .037 for every additional contact with the peer recovery specialist (p = < .001, β= .037).

Conclusions and Implications

This significant finding could support expanding peer recovery services within child protection. The unique expertise of peer recovery specialists could help families achieve better outcomes than traditional child protection social workers alone.

Improving sobriety outcomes for parents can reduce risks to child safety, thus reducing the need for out of home care and the risk of recurring maltreatment. The findings of this study could help social work leaders identify effective interventions and advocate for the expansion of evidence informed practices to non-implementing jurisdictions. Expanding implementation of evidence informed practices that improve parental sobriety outcomes can positively impact outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children.

While this study did not find a significant relationship between the timeliness of the initial contact with peer recovery services and the length of parental sobriety, there may be opportunities to better understand when the initial contact is most impactful. Future research could also explore outcome differences between participants who receive peer recovery support paired with traditional child protection services compared to those who receive the full START fidelity model. A study like this could help explain if peer recovery support could be helpful to parents who are not eligible for START or reside in a non-implementing jurisdiction.