The Oklahoma Parent-Child Assistance Program

Description

The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) helps mothers who have used alcohol, opioids, or other drugs during pregnancy and their children through the work of highly trained, closely supervised case managers. Case managers work closely with mothers over the course of three years, meeting the mothers in their own homes when possible, to help them to set goals and take advantage of available resources. The primary aims of PCAP include: (1) assisting mothers in obtaining substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and staying in recovery, (2) linking mothers to community resources that will help them build and maintain healthy, independent family lives for themselves and their children, and (3) preventing future drug and alcohol use during pregnancy. This study brings PCAP to Oklahoma (the state with the highest incarceration rate for women, where most enter the criminal justice system for drug charges) for the first time. This five-year project includes 200 women who will enroll in the study and be randomly assigned to the treatment (100 women) or control group (100 women). The intervention (i.e., PCAP services) will take place over a three-year period at two sites: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Tulsa, Oklahoma. This evaluation will measure participants' substance use, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes, and a host of other well-being outcomes-including but not limited to subsequent substance-exposed births, use of public assistance, education, use of family planning methods, and employment-to evaluate the effects of PCAP services. Among these, the investigators have identified four key outcomes: (1) the mother is on a reliable method of birth control, (2) abstinence for six months, (3) child custody (i.e., placement of children in foster care and/or with kinship providers), and (4) criminal justice involvement.

Conditions

Substance Use Disorders, Pregnancy Related, Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), Alcohol Use Complicating Pregnancy, First Trimester, Alcohol Use Complicating Pregnancy, Second Trimester, Alcohol Use Complicating Pregnancy, Third Trimester, Alcohol Use Complicating Pregnancy, Unspecified Trimester, Alcohol Use Complicating Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Puerperium, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Drug Use Disorders, Drug Use Complicating Pregnancy, First Trimester, Drug Use Complicating Pregnancy, Second Trimester, Drug Use Complicating Pregnancy, Third Trimester, Drug Use Complicating Pregnancy, Unspecified Trimester, Drug Use Complicating Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Puerperium, Maternal Drugs Affecting Fetus

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) helps mothers who have used alcohol, opioids, or other drugs during pregnancy and their children through the work of highly trained, closely supervised case managers. Case managers work closely with mothers over the course of three years, meeting the mothers in their own homes when possible, to help them to set goals and take advantage of available resources. The primary aims of PCAP include: (1) assisting mothers in obtaining substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and staying in recovery, (2) linking mothers to community resources that will help them build and maintain healthy, independent family lives for themselves and their children, and (3) preventing future drug and alcohol use during pregnancy. This study brings PCAP to Oklahoma (the state with the highest incarceration rate for women, where most enter the criminal justice system for drug charges) for the first time. This five-year project includes 200 women who will enroll in the study and be randomly assigned to the treatment (100 women) or control group (100 women). The intervention (i.e., PCAP services) will take place over a three-year period at two sites: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Tulsa, Oklahoma. This evaluation will measure participants' substance use, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes, and a host of other well-being outcomes-including but not limited to subsequent substance-exposed births, use of public assistance, education, use of family planning methods, and employment-to evaluate the effects of PCAP services. Among these, the investigators have identified four key outcomes: (1) the mother is on a reliable method of birth control, (2) abstinence for six months, (3) child custody (i.e., placement of children in foster care and/or with kinship providers), and (4) criminal justice involvement.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Parent-Child Assistance Program in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Parent-Child Assistance Program

Condition
Substance Use Disorders
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, 73106

Tulsa

Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, 74120

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * 18 years or older
  • * Women who have used alcohol, opioids, or other drugs during pregnancy
  • * Women who are (1) pregnant or have a child under 24 months old who was exposed to substances and are not well connected to community services or (2) have a child with fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and are currently with at-risk alcohol use and in childbearing years
  • * Resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma or Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • * Not meeting eligible criteria above
  • * Incarcerated at the time of enrollment
  • * Enrollment in similar services (i.e., ReMerge, Systems of Care (SOC) and/or Family Treatment Courts (FTC) and heading to Termination of Parental Rights (TPR))
  • * If the participant is receiving services from the Substance use Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Prenatal Clinic and is part of the research, their enrollment in PCAP will be delayed until STAR Prenatal Clinic graduation

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

University of Oklahoma,

Erin Maher, Ph.D., PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, University of Oklahoma

Study Record Dates

2026-11-15