|
Field
Abstract
|
Before
Project Connect is a comprehensive home visitation intervention that targets child welfare-involved, substance-affected families with children and adolescents ages 0 to 17 through home-based services and treatment. The program addresses the complex needs of families affected by substance use by providing intensive, long-term services aimed at strengthening families, addressing parental substance use, and helping parents recover while keeping children safe.
The study used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the causal impact of Project Connect services on families experiencing substance use in the Rhode Island child welfare system and to compare the child welfare service trajectories (e.g., placement and length of time in care) of families affected by substance use who received Project Connect services with those who received services as usual. We also collected qualitative data, which included the interviews and focus groups, as part of an implementation study. Families affected by substance use with an open child protective services case in Rhode Island were randomly referred for substance use services – either to Project Connect or to other usual services. The final full study sample includes 230 families, 192 families whose children were in out-of-home care at the start of the study (96 treatment and 96 control) and 34 families who children were in home at the start of the study (17 treatment and 17 control). The majority of our analyses will focus on the 192 “reunification” families. We will examine 24-months post randomization outcomes. If feasible, we will also examine 30-month post randomization outcomes.
|
After
Project Connect is a comprehensive home visitation intervention that targets child welfare-involved, substance-affected families with children and adolescents ages 0 to 17 through home-based services and treatment. The program addresses the complex needs of families affected by substance use by providing intensive, long-term services aimed at strengthening families, addressing parental substance use, and helping parents recover while keeping children safe.
The study used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the causal impact of Project Connect services on families experiencing substance use in the Rhode Island child welfare system and to compare the child welfare service trajectories (e.g., placement and length of time in care) of families affected by substance use who received Project Connect services with those who received services as usual. We also collected qualitative data, which included the interviews and focus groups, as part of an implementation study. Families affected by substance use with an open child protective services case in Rhode Island were randomly referred for substance use services – either to Project Connect (treatment) or to other usual services (control). The final study sample includes 230 families, 196 families whose had at least one child in out-of-home care at the start of the study (referred to as "reunification") and 34 families who children were in home at the start of the study (referred to as "preservation"). The child-level sample comprises 671 children (311 in reunification and 360 in preservation) and captures all children within participating households in both the treatment and comparison groups. The majority of our analyses will focus on the 196 reunification families. We will examine 24-months post randomization outcomes. If feasible, we will also examine 30-month post randomization outcomes.
|
|
Field
Last Published
|
Before
October 16, 2025 12:14 PM
|
After
February 13, 2026 09:09 AM
|
|
Field
Planned Number of Observations
|
Before
The full study sample is 226 families.
The majority of our planned research questions focus only on reunification families – that is, the 192 families whose children were in out-of-home care at the start of the study (96 treatment and 96 control)
The study sample also includes 34 families who had an open child welfare case but whose children remained at home at the start of the study (i.e., preservation families). These families are included in one analysis as part of the list of secondary outcomes.
|
After
The full study sample includes 671 children (311 reunification children, 360 preservation children) from 230 families.
The majority of our planned research questions focus only on reunification families – that is, the 196 families whose children were in out-of-home care at the start of the study (98 treatment and 98 control)
The study sample also includes 34 families who had an open child welfare case but whose children remained at home at the start of the study (i.e., preservation families). These families are included in one analysis as part of the list of secondary outcomes.
|
|
Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
|
Before
-96 "reunification" families in the control group
-96 "reunification" families in the treatment group
-17 “preservation” families in the control group
-17 “preservation" families in the treatment group
|
After
The final sample includes 196 reunification families (98 treatment and 98 control), and 34 preservation families (17 treatment and 17 control) for a total sample of 230 families and 671 children.
|