Connecticut's recovery specialist program: Getting substance abusing parents into treatment

Research shows that parental substance use is a key contributing factor in out-of-home placements for children in child welfare. In Connecticut, data show that children of substance-involved parents have significantly longer placements in child welfare than those without substance abuse. Despite referrals to substance abuse treatment, less than a third of these substance abusing parents actually enter treatment. The Recovery Specialist Voluntary Program (RSVP) is an intensive recovery support program that was jointly developed and implemented by the State's agencies for child welfare, adult substance abuse treatment services and the Judicial Branch to increase engagement and retention of parents in treatment, increase their recovery capital, and achieve improved outcomes for their children, including more timely permanency decisions and family reunification. The program, an alternative to a drug court model, targets parents/caregivers who have had a child removed by an Order of Temporary Custody (OTC) and who are at risk of losing their parental rights due to their substance problem. Evaluation findings based on administrative data from each of the participating agencies describe the client population, service utilization and program outcomes. The findings show that 84% of parents enrolling in RSVP accessed substance abuse treatment, most within two weeks. Three-in-four RSVP clients had a successful discharge from treatment, compared to only 43% of treatment clients statewide. Seventy-four percent of children of RSVP parents had a permanent placement decision within 12 months compared to 49% of OTC cases statewide.