Kentucky Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents
Kentucky Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents (KSTEP) is a comprehensive in-home service program. KSTEP is designed to support families with children ages 0–9 where parental substance use is affecting child safety and children are at risk for removal from the home. KSTEP is administered within the state child welfare department and aims to promote child safety and permanency and reduce barriers to treatment. A team of social service workers, in-home providers, and behavioral health treatment providers work together to provide services and as-needed concrete supports (e.g., transportation, childcare) to participating families.
Social service workers refer families to the KSTEP program and monitor and support the family throughout their involvement with the program. After referral, in-home providers promptly conduct screenings and assessments to identify the family’s needs, conduct a substance use screening, present treatment options, and arrange an intake appointment with a behavioral health treatment provider. In-home providers then use a Solution-Based Casework approach to help the family develop an action plan that is coordinated with the state child welfare department and the behavioral health treatment provider. In-home providers also deliver interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, child-adult relationship enhancement, or parent child interaction therapy. Throughout the program, in-home providers provide ongoing case coordination to help parents remain in treatment, assess child safety, and teach parenting strategies to improve family functioning and child well-being.
Finally, the family and the KSTEP team attend monthly Family Team Meetings to monitor progress toward their goals and help ensure the family is receiving needed supports. Families progress through four KSTEP phases with the intensity of services decreasing over time. Phase 1 focuses on orienting families to the program, helping with stabilization, and promoting family engagement. Phase 2 focuses on helping families acquire new skills and resources to overcome safety issues. Phase 3 centers on the consistent application of these skills and resources to maintain child safety and recovery efforts. Finally, Phase 4 aims to help families maintain the skills developed and plan for aftercare. Each phase includes parental engagement in treatment and in-home services, required face-to-face visits between the in-home providers and family, Family Team Meetings, and random drug/toxicology screening for participating parents.
KSTEP does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies of the program achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution.
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Sep 2024
Sources
The following sources informed the program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information: the program or service manual.
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
KSTEP is designed for families with children ages 0–9 where parental substance use is affecting child safety and children are at risk for removal from the home. Families who have an ongoing child welfare case at the time of referral to the program are not eligible to participate.
Dosage
The duration of KSTEP phases is determined by the family’s individual needs and progress, and families can revisit a phase if needed. The entire program typically lasts no longer than eight months. In general, Phase 1 lasts 1–2 months, Phase 2 lasts 2–3 months, Phase 3 lasts 1–3 months, and Phase 4 lasts 1–2 months. Family Team Meetings are held monthly. Parents participate in random drug/toxicology testing once a week during Phases 1 and 2, twice a month during Phase 3, and once a month during Phase 4.
Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings
In-home providers deliver KSTEP in-home or in community settings if needed. Behavioral health treatment providers typically deliver substance use treatment in community mental health centers.
Education, Certifications and Training
KSTEP program staff include social service workers, in-home services providers, and behavioral health treatment providers.
Social service workers must have a bachelor’s degree in social work, sociology, psychology, marriage and family therapy, or a related field. Social service workers complete trainings on intake, assessment, court involvement, case planning, and sexual abuse. They are also required to take a 1-hour KSTEP web-based training and a 3-hour Solution-Based Casework Overview training and are recommended to take basic motivational interviewing training.
In-home providers must have a master’s degree in social work, counseling or psychology and maintain required licensure. In-home providers participate in a 1-hour KSTEP web-based training, a 22.5-hour Solution-Based Casework training, and basic motivational interviewing training. KSTEP also recommends that in-home providers participate in advanced motivational interviewing training. In-home providers who conduct clinical assessments also must maintain a required licensure, participate in cognitive behavioral therapy training, and the program recommends clinical staff participate in parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) training. Case coordinators also must participate in child-adult relationship enhancement training.
Behavioral health therapists must have a master’s degree in social work, counseling, or psychology and maintain all required licensure. Behavioral health therapists participate in a 1-hour KSTEP web-based training, behavioral therapy training, and basic motivational interviewing training. The program recommends that behavioral health therapists additionally participate in advanced motivational interviewing training and PCIT training.
Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review
University of Kentucky & Kentucky Department for Community Based Services. (2020). Kentucky Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents (KSTEP) program manual. Retrieved June 27, 2024, from https://issuu.com/ukcosw/docs/kstep_manual
Available languages
The KSTEP manual is available in English.
For More Information
Phone: (502) 564-5333
Email: Jennifer.thornhill@ky.gov, Charity.roberts@ky.gov, Heather.hornbuckle@ky.gov, AmyL.storner@ky.gov
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 Kentucky Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents |
|---|---|
| Identified in Search | 1 |
| Eligible for Review | 1 |
| Rated High | 0 |
| Rated Moderate | 0 |
| Rated Low | 1 |
| Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm | 0 |
Studies Rated Low
Study 15134Kentucky Department of Community Based Services. (2020). Title IV-E waiver demonstration project Kentucky Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents (KSTEP) final evaluation report. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dcbs/dpp/pb/Documents/kstepevalreportadd.pdf
Kentucky Department of Community Based Services. (2018). Title IV-E welfare waver demonstration Kentucky interim evaluation report. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dcbs/dpp/pb/Documents/waiverdemoevalreport.pdf
This study received a low rating because baseline equivalence of the intervention and comparison groups was necessary and not demonstrated.