Families Actively Improving Relationships

Mental Health Substance Use Prevention or Treatment In-home Parent Skill-Based Does Not Currently Meet Criteria

Families Actively Improving Relationships (FAIR) is an intensive, trauma-informed in-home treatment designed to serve families referred to child welfare services for parental substance use issues. FAIR uses components of parent management training and reinforcement-based therapy interventions to help parents with parenting skills, substance use, mental health, and other needs parents identify.

 

Counselors deliver the community-based intensive behavioral treatment component of the program to parents, which consists of five core elements: (1) teaching supportive parenting skills, (2) providing substance use and mental health treatment, (3) helping parents build their resources and connecting parents to additional supports (e.g., long-term mental health services, housing, employment, assistance with court and child welfare attendance), (4) using contingency management to reward substance use and other treatment successes (e.g., “FAIR bucks” incentives to spend in FAIR store, behavior charts), and (5) actively engaging parents in treatment through flexible scheduling, nontraditional treatment locations, and 24/7 availability. Based on identified needs, parents may be referred to other community providers for more specialized mental health services.


Families Actively Improving Relationships does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies met eligibility criteria for review.


Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Jun 2022


Sources

The program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information were informed by the following sources: the program or service manual and the program or service developer’s website.


This information does not necessarily represent the views of the program or service developers. For more information on how this program or service was reviewed, visit the download the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Version 1.0

Target Population

FAIR is designed to serve families referred to child welfare services for parental substance use issues.

Dosage

FAIR is typically delivered over the course of 6–9 months. For the first 3 weeks of the program, counselors meet with parents 5–7 days per week for .5–2 hours each visit. After the first 3 weeks, counselors meet with parents 2–3 times per week for .25–2 hours each visit. During the final month of the program, counselors meet with parents once per week for 1–2 hours. Session length and frequency depends on symptom severity and stability. Parents must have 90 days free from use of the substance(s) that generated their program referral and complete all other mental health and parenting goals to graduate with a certificate.

Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings

FAIR is delivered in participants’ homes and in community settings.

Education, Certifications and Training

FAIR is delivered using a treatment team of counselors, a resource builder, and a clinical supervisor. Specific training requirements may vary by implementing agency but are guided by a central training list for new counselors that includes topics such as logistics, program components, reading materials, shadowing, self-care, and safety protocols.

Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review

The Clinical Manual is implemented in conjunction with Resource Builder Manual.

Saldana, L., Maas-DeSpain, A., & Laws, M. (2021). Families Actively Improving Relationships: Clinical manual (Version 2.1). OSLC Developments, Inc.; Oregon Social Learning Center.

Schaefer-Limbach, J., Hughitt, J., & Saldana, L. (2021). FAIR resource builder manual: A guide to seeking and accessing help from the community (Version 2.1). OSLC Developments, Inc.; Oregon Social Learning Center.

Available languages

FAIR materials are available in English and Spanish.

Other supporting materials

Saldana, L., Heiblum, N., Weber, E., & Chamberlain, P. (2021). FAIR supervision approach: An adaptation of the R3 supervision strategy (Version 2.1). OSLC Developments, Inc.; Oregon Social Learning Center.

Block, P., Cruden, G., & Saldana, L. (2022). FAIR transcription manual: Learning from former FAIR client and clinician interviews. OSLC Developments, Inc.; Oregon Social Learning Center.

For More Information

Website: https://www.oslc.org/projects/fair/

Phone: (541) 485-2711

Contact form: https://www.oslc.org/contact/


Note: The details on Dosage; Location; Education, Certifications, and Training; Other Supporting Materials; and For More Information sections above are provided to website users for informational purposes only. This information is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.

Results of Search and Review Number of Studies Identified and Reviewed for Families Actively Improving Relationships
Identified in Search 5
Eligible for Review 0
Rated High 0
Rated Moderate 0
Rated Low 0
Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm 0

Sometimes study results are reported in more than one document, or a single document reports results from multiple studies. Studies are identified below by their Prevention Services Clearinghouse study identification numbers. To receive a rating of supported or well-supported, the favorable evidence for a program or service must have been obtained from research conducted in a usual care or practice setting.




Studies Not Eligible for Review

Study 14209

Saldana, L., Smith, D., & Weber, E. (2013). Adolescent onset of maternal substance abuse: Descriptive findings from a feasibility trial. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 22, 407-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2013.788885

This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible study design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).

Study 14210

Saldana, L. (2015). An integrated intervention to address the comorbid needs of families referred to child welfare for substance use disorders and child neglect: FAIR Pilot Outcomes. Child Welfare, 94(5e), 167-186. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26827470

This study is ineligible for review because it is not a study of the program or service under review (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.6).

Study 14211

Saldana, L., Chapman, J. E., Campbell, M., Alley, Z., Schaper, H., & Padgett, C. (2021). Meeting the needs of families involved in the child welfare system for parental substance abuse: Outcomes from an effectiveness trial of the Families Actively Improving Relationships Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 689483. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689483

Saldana, L. (2019). Addressing the needs of families referred for neglect: The FAIR efficacy trial. https://www.oslc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/FAIRFinalReport.pdf

This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible study design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).

Study 14212

Cruden, G., Crawford, S., & Saldana, L. (2021). Prevention adaptation of an evidence-based treatment for parents involved with child welfare who use substances. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 689432. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689432

This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible study design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).

Study 14213

Cruden, G., Campbell, M., & Saldana, L. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on service delivery for an evidence-based behavioral treatment for families involved in the child welfare system. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 129, Article 108388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021. 

This study is ineligible for review because it does not report program or service impacts on an eligible target outcome (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.5).