Download Program Evaluation: Entre Familia

Program Evaluation:
Entre Familia
Entre Familia: Program Description
 Gender- and culture-specific residential treatment program (6 to 12 months
duration, located in Mattapan, MA) for substance abuse with co-occurring
mental health disorders
 Target population: pregnant and postpartum Latina women and their
children from metropolitan Boston
 Bilingual and bicultural clinical treatment and support services
 Family-centered model of care with services based on a bio-psycho-social
trauma-informed model for the treatment of addiction
 Funding sources include the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), the
federally funded Boston Consortium of Services for Latino Families in
Recovery (BCSLFR), and
Entre Familia: Output Activities
 Core clinical treatment services: screening, assessment, referrals to medical
and mental health services, residential care, comprehensive case
management, childcare services, and referrals for specialized services to
address developmental and behavioral difficulties and early intervention
 Clinical support services: enhanced case management, individual family
treatment planning, and case coordination of services for children
 BCSLFR-funded activities: family strengthening activities designed to
increase family functioning and build social support networks by engaging
the fathers of the children, the partners of the women, and extended family
members in treatment
Logic Model
Needs Assessment:
BCSLFR-funded activities
 Does engaging the fathers of the children, partners of the women, and
extended family members in the treatment process help to increase family
functioning and to build social support networks?
 Process evaluation: survey
 Does increased family functioning and stronger social support networks
help clients abstain from drug use after treatment program completion?
 Outcome evaluation: interview
Process Evaluation
 Does engaging the fathers of the children, partners of the women, and
extended family members in the treatment process help to increase family
functioning and to build social support networks?
 Sampling: All women who enter the program during a 6 month period
 Inclusion criteria: All women will be included, regardless of whether or not
they plan to participate in family strengthening activities
 Reasoning: The stigma associated with substance abuse and mental illness
in the Latino community can make it difficult for families to support women
who face these challenges
 Want to identify whether or not this activity is beneficial
 Compare before-and-after of the women’s perception of these relationships for
both women who participated
 Compare before-and-after differences between women who chose to
participate in family strengthening activities and the women who did not
Process Evaluation: Methods
 Data collection method: surveys
 Self-reported relationship with family member
 Trust
 Open and honest communication
 Family member more accepting of the women’s challenge with substance abuse and
mental illness
 Supportive of women’s effort to seek treatment
 Measures agreement with a statement on a scale of 1 to 5
 Quantitative analysis
 Before and after for women who did family strengthening activities
 Before and after for women who did not do activities
 Comparison of before surveys for women who did activities and women who did
not
Outcome Evaluation
 Does increased family functioning and stronger social support networks
help clients abstain from drug use after treatment program completion?
 Sampling: Women who have left the program during the past 6 months to 1
year
 Inclusion criteria: Women who participated in the family strengthening
activities while in the residential treatment program, have successfully
completed their stay in the residential program, and continue to work with
their case managers 6 months later
 Reasoning: The family-strengthening activities are BCSLFR-funded, and it is
important to makes sure that the activities are worth the resources (time,
staff, financial cost, etc.)
 Do the women feel that they benefitted from the family strengthening activities?
 Do the women feel that their families benefitted from the activities?
Outcome Evaluation: Methods
 Data collection method: interviews
 One-on-one interview when the women come in to see their case managers
 Focus on perceived benefits of the family strengthening activities
 Have they abstained from substance use?
 Improved relationship with father of child, with partner, with family members
 Does their ability to/to not abstain from substance relate to their “strengthened
relationships”?
 Open ended interview questions
 Qualitative analysis
 Overall, do the women who participated in the family strengthening activities
feel that it benefitted their relationships?
 Do the women feel that these strengthened relationships help them abstain from
substance use
 What aspects of the activities were beneficial, which ones were not helpful?
Discussion: Anticipated Results
 Process Evaluation
 Women who participated in family strengthening activities reported improved
relationships and increased feeling of support
 Women who did not participate in family strengthening activities did not report
any change in relationships
 No initial difference between women who did and did not participate in
activities
 Outcome Evaluation
 Women have increased support from family, partner, father of child
 Stronger relationships helps prevent women from relapsing
Discussion: Future Steps
 Family strengthening activities should be adapted into treatment programs:
 Helps women during their recovery process
 Reduces the likelihood of relapse after completion of treatment program
 Resource investment (time, staff, financial) is outweighed by benefits of a
positive outcome
 Ensure future funding for family strengthening activities: BPHC funds
activities directly (currently these activities rely on the federally-funded
BCSLFR)