NCJ Number
225159
Date Published
2008
Length
112 pages
Annotation
This document is a progress report on the findings of a large, multidisciplinary group of individuals who have had extensive experience working on substance abuse and child welfare problems.
Abstract
This report describes an ongoing multiyear effort to improve child welfare and reduce substance abuse in our communities. It focuses on the child welfare and substance abuse service systems and on residents in communities who can become full partners in these efforts. The goal is to mobilize resources, not just services, and to bridge assets of all kinds, so that residents and neighborhoods can be made safer and healthier. Chapter 1 defines and provides a history of the problem, while chapter 2 presents selected information on the extent of the problems and how they intertwine by highlighting the major themes. Chapter 3 summarizes some of the major ideas and approaches discovered in the research, and chapter 4 discusses the policies and programs that already support the approaches that exist. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss how these ideas and approaches can be more widely implemented in communities, especially with community mentors and bridge people, who can help integrate the resources and efforts of the formal service systems with those of the informal community networks. Chapter 7 discusses the need to evaluate, how to evaluate the interventions, how such evaluations differ from more traditional methods of controlled research, how they differ from process evaluations, and future research. Chapter 8 focuses on technical assistance resources, Chapter 9 provides basic information about funding possibilities; and Chapter 10 presents options developed by community mentors, service providers, and funders from across the Nation for immediate actions to advance the projects. Tables, diagrams, and references