Researchers at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health have received a $2.65 million federal grant to coordinate a regional partnership with universities and state agencies to help parents with addiction issues improve their lives and the lives of their children.

Parents with addiction issues often create environments that produce adverse child experiences such as violence and neglect. The research team aims to improve the screening and referral process, and implement and test evidenced-based practices in specific jurisdictions in Georgia. Researchers want to identify ways to help stabilize families affected by substance abuse and break the cycle of generational disadvantage.

“We hope that by providing better coordinated services to parents with addiction issues, we can improve their lives and the lives of their children,” said Dan Whitaker, professor in the Department of Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences, co-director of the National SafeCare Training and Research Center and co-principal investigator on the project.

The regional partnership also includes the Division of Family and Children Services, Family Treatment Courts, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities as well as researchers at Florida Atlantic University and Advanced Outcomes Consulting Group.

The partnership will promote inter-agency collaboration and will focus on creating a system of data sharing and monitoring among the three organizations as a means of improving services and outcomes for families affected by substance abuse.  Improved services include skill-based parenting programs and trauma services for parents or children.

The other co-principal investigator on the project is Wendy P. Guastaferro, associate professor in the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice and associate dean of research at the College of Design & Social Inquiry at Florida Atlanta University.

The project will be a funded by a five-year grant from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the Department of Health & Human Services.