title: Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams: Implementation Fidelity and Related Outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although integrated programs between child welfare and substance abuse treatment are recommended for families with co-occurring child maltreatment and substance use disorders, implementing integrated service delivery strategies with fidelity is a challenging process.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study of the first five years of the Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team (START) program examines implementation fidelity using a model proposed by Carroll et al. (2007). The study describes the process of strengthening moderators of implementation fidelity, trends in adherence to START service delivery standards, and trends in parent and child outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to prospectively study three START sites serving 341 families with 550 parents and 717 children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To achieve implementation fidelity to service delivery standards required a pre-service year and two full years of operation, persistent leadership, and facilitative actions that challenged the existing paradigm. Over four years of service delivery, the time from the child protective services report to completion of five drug treatment sessions was reduced by an average of 75 days. This trend was associated with an increase in parent retention, parental sobriety, and parent retention of child custody. Conclusions/Importance: Understanding the implementation processes necessary to establish complex integrated programs may support realistic allocation of resources. Although implementation fidelity is a moderator of program outcome, complex inter-agency interventions may benefit from innovative measures of fidelity that promote improvement without extensive cost and data collection burden. The implementation framework applied in this study was useful in examining implementation processes, fidelity, and related outcomes.
authors.forename: Ruth A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Huebner
authors.affiliation: c Division of Behavioral Health, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services , Frankfort , Kentucky , USA.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Posze
authors.affiliation: a Department for Community-Based Services, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services , Frankfort , Kentucky , USA.
authors.forename: Tina M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Willauer
authors.affiliation: d Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville , Louisville , Kentucky , USA.
authors.forename: Martin T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002649:Child Abuse; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: access to treatment; child abuse and neglect; father substance abuse; inter-agency collaboration; mother substance abuse; treatment implementation