Intervening with Drug Court Clients for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Promotion of Family Well-Being

Children are greatly affected by parental substance use. Adult Drug courts are tools of the criminal justice system; clients arrested for non-violent drug crimes can be diverted to this judicially supervised treatment program in lieu of jail. Adult drug courts have shown efficacy in reducing substance and criminal recidivism, but pay virtually no attention to family issues, including the well-being of children. Family drug courts, in contrast, are administered by child protective service systems, and as part of the child welfare system, focus on child and family well-being, safety, and permanency. Yet, data suggests that more than 50% of adult drug court participants are have children, who are undoubtedly affected by parental substance use. Adult drug courts could serve as a venue for intervening with children at risk.

The specific research questions we addressed with this study were as follows:

1. How do adult and family drug court clients differ with regard to family configuration and parental involvement?
2. How do adult and family drug court clients differ with regard to drug use history, parenting behavior, mental health variables?
3. How do the children of adult and family drug court clients differ with regard to problem behaviors, and trauma history?

Method: Data collection reported here was part of a federally funded project we implemented a series of evidence-based interventions in adult and family drug courts to promote family health and well-being. Interventions addressed positive parenting, trauma, and pro-social behaviors.

Adult and Family drug court clients completed assessments as baseline and annual follow ups. All data reported here come from baseline responses. Eighty-seven adult drug court clients and 27 family drug court clients completed baseline assessments. Standardized measures were collected on demographics, parenting, child abuse risk, mental health, child mental health, and trauma,

Results:While more than half of the adult drug court populations are parents, far fewer have custody of their children, despite seeing them weekly or more. When compared to family treatment court parents, adult drug court parents had significantly poorer mental health outcomes. Additionally, children of adult drug court participants had similar baseline mental health outcomes when compared to children with family treatment court involvement. The combination of poorer parent mental health and similar levels of parenting and child metal health indicate that children of adult drug court parents may be at risk for negative outcomes, at levels similar to those of children with substantiated child maltreatment.