Baystate Health Researcher Awarded NIH Grant to Improve Support for Parents Recovering from Substance Use Disorders

The intersection of parental responsibility and substance use disorder (SUD) recovery presents a complex interplay of emotional, psychological, and social challenges. Recognizing the pivotal role that parenting plays in sustained recovery and child development, Baystate Health has embarked on a groundbreaking project aimed at bolstering the parent-child relationship among families recovering from SUD. This innovative effort, entitled Relational Health Enhanced Parenting Support (RHEP), has recently secured a one-year grant totaling $452,985 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), signaling a significant financial and institutional commitment to advancing family-centered substance use recovery paradigms.

RHEP’s core vision is to embed parenting support within family-focused peer recovery support services (PRSS), an evidence-informed model that leverages the lived experiences of peer supporters to augment traditional clinical interventions. The primary investigators, Dr. Lili Peacock-Chambers, a pediatrician and researcher at Baystate Health and associate professor at UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate, alongside co-principal investigator Jessie Borelli, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Irvine, are spearheading this initiative with the objective of harnessing relational health — the quality and strength of parent-child interactions — as a catalyst for both parental recovery and child well-being.

The rationale behind integrating relational health into recovery frameworks stems from extensive research linking secure attachments and positive parenting practices to reduced relapse rates and improved psychosocial outcomes. Parenting, while a potent motivator for recovery, also introduces heightened stress and vulnerabilities that can precipitate relapse episodes. By equipping peer recovery specialists with targeted training and tailored implementation strategies, the RHEP project aspires to mitigate these risks and transform parent-child dynamics into robust sources of resilience and healing.

Peer recovery support services have garnered increasing attention for their scalability and accessibility, especially among marginalized and underserved populations. This approach facilitates a non-clinical, empathetic environment wherein parents can engage authentically with trained peers who understand the multifaceted challenges of substance use recovery. The RHEP initiative aims to amplify the efficacy of such services by weaving in evidence-based parenting support protocols, thus addressing both recovery and family health in a comprehensive manner.

During this initial funding period, RHEP will collaborate intensively with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) and the FIRST Steps Together program, a statewide home-visiting initiative dedicated to aiding parents on their recovery journeys. Together, they will develop a modular package comprising training curricula, ongoing consultation, and nuanced implementation frameworks designed to be deployed across six FIRST Steps Together sites within Massachusetts. These components will be crafted to seamlessly integrate into existing peer recovery workflows, ensuring that parenting support becomes a coherent and sustainable facet of care.

The long-term vision of the project extends well beyond this pilot development phase. Subject to further funding and positive preliminary findings, the NIH may extend support for an additional four years, accompanied by an estimated $4 million investment. This prospective phase would focus rigorously on evaluating the model’s impact with quantitative and qualitative metrics, assessing parenting outcomes, treatment retention rates, and substance use reduction among participant families. Such comprehensive evaluation would not only validate RHEP’s clinical and social efficacy but also pave the way for a national rollout.

Importantly, the RHEP project seeks to produce an implementation toolkit grounded in empirical evidence and field-based expertise. This resource would function as a practical guide for peer-led recovery programs across the United States, offering replicable strategies, training modules, and assessment tools to elevate the integration of parenting support within SUD recovery frameworks. The availability of such a toolkit promises to address a critical gap in current recovery services by focusing explicitly on family systems and relational health.

Dr. Peacock-Chambers emphasizes the significance of this systemic approach, underscoring how recovery services intertwined with family health have the potential to foster thriving environments for both parents and children. “This grant represents an important step forward in bridging recovery and family health,” she stated. By centering relational health, the project underscores that recovery extends beyond abstinence alone, encompassing the restoration and strengthening of vital human connections.

The initiative’s focus on Massachusetts communities reflects a strategic commitment to addressing local needs, capitalizing on the existing infrastructure of support programs like FIRST Steps Together. These home-visiting programs provide an ideal platform to pilot integrative interventions, given their established relationships with families in recovery and expertise in child development. By embedding RHEP protocols into these settings, researchers aim to maximize real-world applicability and feedback-driven refinement.

Baystate Health itself brings a storied legacy and institutional capacity to this endeavor. As a not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system serving over 800,000 residents throughout western New England, Baystate is uniquely positioned to advance research that aligns clinical care with public health imperatives. With roots dating back to 1883, Baystate combines rich historical expertise with pioneering research efforts that emphasize quality, safety, and compassionate care — pillars that resonate deeply within the RHEP initiative.

The convergence of pediatric expertise, psychological research, public health collaboration, and peer support innovation situates the RHEP project at the forefront of transformative approaches to substance use recovery. As substance use disorders continue to challenge families nationwide, initiatives like RHEP represent a forward-thinking paradigm that not only treats addiction but also empowers families to rebuild stronger, more resilient relational foundations. The potential ripple effects of such models could redefine recovery and health trajectories for countless families, fostering hope and healing where it is most deeply needed.

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