Reference Catalog

Addressing Substance-Use Problems in Tribal Home Visiting

Douglas K. Novins, Cathy Ferron, Lisa Abramson, and Allison Barlow

• Family Spirit
• Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)
• Other Models
• Parents as Teachers (PAT)

Given the high rates for substance use among women and men of childbearing age, perinatal and early childhood home-visiting programs serving tribal communities must consider how they will address substance-use problems among the families they support. In this study, we explored the approaches to identifying and addressing family-based substance-use problems that were implemented by nine home-visiting programs serving American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities that are funded through the federal Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home VisitingProgram (Tribal MIECHV). These programs demonstrated a high awareness of substance-use problems and took concrete action to address them above and beyond that included in the home-visiting model they used. All nine programs reported that they provided substance-use preventive services and screened for substance-use problems. While all programs referred to substance-use treatment programs when needed, in six programs the home visitor provided substance-use services. Through Tribal MIECHV, the intense need for substance-use education, assessment, service delivery, and referral in many AI/AN communities is pushing the home-visiting field forward to address this increasingly critical issue for low-income families across the United States and the world. (author abstract)

Finished

• Participant Characteristics
• Participant, Family, and Program Outcomes
• Program Enhancements, Innovations, and Promising Approaches