A quantitative evaluation of an innovative family treatment court program for families with co-occurring child maltreatment and substance use.

Substance use is linked to out-of-home care in over 40% of child welfare cases. This dissertation evaluated the experience of families with co-occurring child maltreatment and substance use in Family Recovery Court (FRC), an innovative family treatment court involving the judicial system, child welfare system, and behavioral health. Study One used a quasi-experimental propensity score match design, using administrative data and the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale for 68 families. The FRC group experienced better safety (substantiated repeat maltreatment), permanency (reunification), and well-being outcomes. The percentage of the FRC group who achieved reunification (81.2%) was significantly higher than that of the TAU group (18.2%). In Study Two, a time series design was conducted with 83 families involved with FRC using administrative data and numerous standardized measures. Graduates of the program showed improvements in parent and children’s mental health, substance use, and family interactions. FRC is a model that produces better child welfare system outcomes as well as individual family outcomes for historically at-risk child welfare cases.