Introduction
Parents seeking outpatient treatment for Substance use disorders (SUD) often face unique barriers that can hinder their access to services, contribute to missed appointments, and affect their ability to engage in services long term. Common obstacles include a lack of child care, transportation issues, and schedules that do not accommodate their needs. These challenges can make it difficult for parents to prioritize their treatment and recovery, ultimately affecting their overall family well-being.
Direct service providers working in substance use disorder outpatient treatment can significantly improve parent engagement, retention, and treatment outcomes by adopting a family-centered approach. This approach allows parents to focus on their treatment goals while also ensuring their family’s needs are met, thereby supporting the recovery of the entire family.
This resource is for outpatient treatment providers to understand 1) the principles and benefits of a family centered approach, and 2) practice strategies for implementing this approach in an outpatient setting.
Essential Ingredients
A family-centered treatment approach considers the individual within the context of the family. Outpatient treatment programs achieve this by integrating essential components of a family-centered approach into the outpatient model. The components are described in detail in the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW)’s Implementing a Family-Centered Approach series.
The approach may look different in an outpatient setting compared to other treatment settings since:
- Children and partners rarely attend treatment services with their family members,
- Providers may not offer child care, and
- Only one parent may be allowed to receive services at the agency.
Despite differences, a set of common essential ingredients to a family-centered approach is used across the continuum of SUD treatment providers. The essential ingredients are introduced in the graphic below.
Essential Partners
Families affected by parental SUD frequently engage with many systems. One of the key strategies for incorporating a family-centered approach is to integrate the work of these systems to build alignment that supports the children, parents, and family members. Strengthening partnerships with child welfare, early childhood, public health, and the education system remains vital to meet families’ needs.
Individual outpatient treatment programs rarely have the internal capacity to provide the array of services families need. Many of these services may be outside the outpatient SUD provider’s clinical scope. Collaborating with external organizations becomes necessary to support family success in a wraparound approach to meet basic, therapeutic, and socioemotional needs. Support services often needed to establish a family-centered approach include:
- Evidence-based parent-child programs
- Parenting education and skill development
- Domestic violence services
- Individual and family therapy to treat mental health and trauma
- Children’s services that meet developmental and healthcare needs
- Early childhood education services
- Youth development and academic support
- Recovery support services (e.g., peer mentors, recovery specialists)
- Basic needs and services such as vocational and employment training and support, education, housing, legal aid, and transportation