An evaluation of the Children's Program Kit: Supportive education for children of addicted parents

Research sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has estimated that one in four children in the United States is exposed to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence in the family, with still more living in homes where there is illicit drug abuse.

The Children's Program Kit (CPK), developed by the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), was designed to provide materials for substance abuse programs so they can initiate educational support programs for the children of their clients in substance abuse treatment.

NACoA made grants available to six community anti-drug coalitions to act as pilot sites for the Children's Program Kit. Following the distribution of the grants and the implementation of the program by these coalitions, NACoA evaluated the training and implementation of the overall project. Six Coalitions and as many as 45 separate treatment centers, substance use programs, schools and county agencies who implemented the Children's Program Kit were evaluated.

On average, Coalitions reported that it took from 2-3 months following training for them and their respective centers and organizations to get programs utilizing the CPK up and running. With the exception of centers associated with one Coalition, all of the original centers associated with the Coalitions who completed training are still running these programs with the CPK.

Recommendations arising out of this evaluation include the need for: collection and analysis of outcomes data, ongoing training & support, evaluation of implementation fidelity, staffing needs to accomplish the above