Overall Evaluation of the DYFS MOMS Addiction Program (Morgan, PI)

In response to increasing concerns about the role of women's wellbeing and the direct impact of their functioning on the safety, security and comfort of their children, the Child Welfare Reform Plan (CWRP) provided for the expansion of enhanced substance abuse treatment services for women and their children under the supervision of the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). As a result, the New Jersey Division of Addiction Services (DAS) was able to increase the capacity of substance abuse treatment programs for at-risk women, statewide. The DYFS-MOMS treatment program was designed to increase capacity for substance abusing women whose children were under the supervision of DYFS, and to provide specialized services believed necessary for this treatment population. An additional role of this program was to address the needs of women who were deemed to have been at risk for involvement in the DYFS system, as a form of prevention. The Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) was engaged by DAS to evaluate the effectiveness of this newly developed and piloted DYFS-MOMS treatment. The evaluation study was to recruit 250 women admitted to the DYFS-MOMS treatment in 26 programs across the state of New Jersey and assess their substance use, functioning, and child outcomes at treatment entry, their targeted end of treatment, and six months post-treatment.