Support Towards Addiction Recovery for Individuals with Criminal Legal System Involvement: The STAR Project

About This Grant

Recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) is challenging for individuals with criminal legal system (CLS) involvement, who often face resource insecurities, stigma, and damaged relationships. Involvement of loved ones is critical for recovery, providing valuable support to help individuals build and sustain recovery capital, the internal and external resources that help individuals to initiate and sustain recovery. However, loved ones may lack support, education, and resources that would help them to effectively support the recovering individual. This application responds to RFA-DA-26-024 with the overall aim of improving recovery capital for recovering persons with CLS involvement and increasing support for their loved ones through adapting and testing an innovative, dyadic intervention. By providing support to both the recovering person and their loved one, this intervention (Support Towards Addiction Recovery [STAR]) will facilitate positive connections and enhance social support – critical factors in building recovery capital and sustaining recovery efforts. Specific aims of this phased project include: R61 – Adaptation and Feasibility Testing: Aim 1: To strategically adapt coaching services for loved ones to serve dyads of recovering individuals with CLS involvement and their identified supportive loved ones for delivery in recovery community centers (RCCs). Guided by the ADAPT-ITT framework, the STAR Intervention will include one-on-one sessions with two types of coaches – a recovery coach (RC) for the recovering person and Loved One Coach for the loved one – and structured joint dyad sessions. R33 – Intervention Effectiveness and Implementation: Aim 2: To evaluate effectiveness of the adapted STAR Intervention for recovering persons and their loved ones. The R33 phase will use a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation design. Dyads will be randomly assigned to receive one of the following 6-week conditions: (1) RC-Only (n=100 dyads), with weekly RC services for the recovering persons and the loved ones receive referrals to RCC services only; or (2) STAR Intervention (n=100 dyads), in which both dyad members receive weekly coaching sessions (4 individual, 2 joint) from an RC or Loved One Coach. It is expected that the STAR Intervention will lead to (1) increased recovery capital, reduced days of substance use, and reduced CLS contact for the recovering person; (2) improved psychological well-being, coping skills, and resource knowledge for the loved one; and (3) enhanced social support and connection for both dyad members. Aim 3: To examine implementation outcomes of acceptability and appropriateness as correlates of intervention outcomes, as well as obstacles and facilitators to intervention implementation, using a mixed methods approach. The implementation outcomes will be measured through participant-level surveys and qualitative interviews with participants and coaches. The STAR Project addresses a crucial research gap by focusing on both recovering individuals and the capacity of their loved ones to provide support – a critical need for CLS-involved individuals – and has the potential to make a significant impact towards enhancing scalable, sustainable services in RCCs.