Session: Fostering Well-Being: Prevention Strategies That Promote Equity and Well-Being Among Foster Youth (Society for Prevention Research 24th Annual Meeting)

Research indicates that susceptibility for substance misuse and other problem behaviors is elevated for high risk youth, particularly those in the child welfare system.  This suggests the need for preventive interventions that are adapted for child welfare youth and also timed according to key developmental periods. The present symposium presents qualitative and quantitative results from three prevention interventions being conducted in collaboration with child welfare systems and populations.  Paper 1 describes Keeping Families Together, an adaptation of the Communities that Care operating system being conducted in two Oregon communities for prevention of child abuse and neglect, and presents data related to the adaptations and implementation measures.  Paper 2 describes the development process and pilot data from STRIVE, an "open source" evidence-informed intervention designed for delivery during supervised visitation of child welfare involved youth. Paper 3 describes the Fostering Higher Education study, a NIDA-funded intervention development project that uses focus group data, usability testing, and feasibility testing to develop a model for helping teens transitioning from foster care to adulthood access and succeed in higher education.  NIDA’s recent strategic plan has noted that “child maltreatment is one of the most powerful environmental risk factors for SUDs and other behavioral disorders (Mann et. al, 2014). The development of interventions that identify and address the consequences of child abuse and neglect may offer effective prevention for a large population of vulnerable individuals”. Findings from these three studies contribute to addressing the prevention needs of vulnerable populations.