A Tale of Two RFTPs

1. A Tale of Two RFTPs Melissa Beers, Ph.D. Strategic Research Group (SRG) Gretchen Clark-Hammond Amethyst, Inc. Tuesday, April 19, 2011

2. Project Overview • A quasi-experimental comparison of two unique residential family treatment programs: • Amethyst: gender-specific abstinence-based community providing long-term addiction, trauma and mental health treatment integrated with permanent housing for women and their children. • Southpoint: service-enriched supportive housing community, serving families with disabilities and homeless families; each household includes at least one adult with a disability, including significant physical disabilities, mental health issues, or addiction.

3. Key Components of the Evaluation • Secondary data analysis of program data collected by Amethyst and Southpoint to analyze program activity and clinical outcomes • Billing data • Intake forms • Counselor reports • Addiction Severity Index results • Ohio Scales (Youth) • Semi-structured Interviews with clients regarding their participation in Family Services conducted by SRG

4. Highlights of Year 1

5. Who are we serving?

6. Who are we serving?

7. Services for children • Building this system “from the ground up” • Fewer children in residence at Amethyst • Children are more likely to be placed with a family member during treatment; only 22% of children were living in residence • At Southpoint, families move together from homeless shelter to residence; 96% of children were living in residence • Families engage with family services differently in each community

8. Patterns of service utilization • Length of stay—average over one year in each group • Amethyst average 1.2 years, Southpoint average 1.5 years as of Oct 1, 2010 • Adults at Amethyst • 90% participated in group counseling and education (73% of services) • 65% participated in case management (22%) • 43% participated in individual counseling (5%) • Adults at Southpoint • 12% participated in group counseling and education (1% of services) • 93% participated in case management (77%) • 67% participated in individual counseling (20%) • Children’s services • Amethyst—group counseling and education, SummerQuest • Southpoint—case management (98% of services, 68% of children)

9. Community Differences

10. Outcomes • Adults • Of the 25 women who entered the Amethyst Long-Term program, 76% remained in treatment and complied with Amethyst’s abstinence policies; one family left Southpoint prior to completing treatment. • Significant decreases in problem severity in the Alcohol and Drug composites of the ASI for Amethyst program participants

11. Outcomes • Children • Children were removed from 2 homes at Southpoint in year 1 due to child welfare/safety concerns; no removals from Amethyst. • Fewer than 20% of children at Amethyst were involved with child welfare—for almost all of these, involvement began prior to entry at Amethyst. • Reunification plans in place for 83%

12. Progress • Met with all program staff and leadership to discuss how to improve service delivery, client engagement, and documentation moving forward into Year 2. • Infrastructure building: reorganization of child records, alignment of electronic records for purposes of evaluation and in anticipation of ECR. • Addressed more comprehensive and integrated use of child outcome tools (e.g., Ohio Scales) by clinical staff. • SRG and Amethyst worked to develop a collaborative data sharing agreement with Franklin County Children’s Services (FCCS) in Year 2.

13. Strengths and Challenges • Strengths • Project and program leadership support for evaluation • Built-in comparison group • Staff involvement in project development and “fine-tuning” of evaluation • Challenges • Lack of existing infrastructure for children • Lack of electronic records (still in progress) • Building a new relationship with FCCS (child welfare agency) • Collaborating with/as an external evaluator

14. mbeers@strategicresearchgroup.com gclark@amethyst-inc.org