Contact: John Reid, Phone (541) 485-2711 or on-line at www.oslc.org.
EUGENE, Oregon – (October 27, 2008) – Oregon Social Learning Center was recently awarded a five-year $6.46 million Center of Excellence grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to establish a national Center for Drug Abuse Prevention in the Child Welfare System.
The public health implications of the proposed research are far-reaching. An estimated 4.5% of the U.S. child population and up to 7% of all children and adolescents will have some involvement in the Child Welfare System during their lifetime. Yet, a knowledge gap exists between recent research advances and the availability of evidence-based programs within public service systems to prevent drug abuse and related negative outcomes.
Led by Principal Investigator Dr. John B. Reid, the Center includes 11 multi-disciplinary scientists and an external advisory board comprised of local and national experts in child services, policy, and substance use research. The Center’s senior scientists include Patricia Chamberlain, Dave DeGarmo, Phil Fisher, John Landsverk, Leslie Leve, and Katherine Pears. Support is also planned for the professional development of four early career scientists (Jackie Bruce, Hyoun Kim, Lisa Saldana, and Dana Smith).
The Center brings together scientists and national experts to integrate knowledge from 32 federally-funded completed and ongoing studies which will help fill the gaps in drug abuse prevention research, practice, and policy. Within this framework, the team will seek to provide more informed conceptualization of evidence-based interventions for children and families in the Child Welfare System, increase implementation of these interventions, and, ultimately, reduce the incidence of drug abuse and related problems.
Specifically, the Center will study three primary focus areas: the relationship between stress, neurobiology, and genetics and drug abuse, the role of fathers in the child welfare system, and an economic evaluation of a set of child welfare costs related specifically to the placement of children in out-of-home care.
By building upon current studies, the Center seeks to merge behavioral and biological research using cutting edge neurobiological and genetic technologies, which may include functional MRIs, EEGs as well as collection of DNA and cortisol (a stress hormone). These projects will aim to increase understanding of the stress, attentional, and behavioral capacities in families affected by drug abuse.
Fathers are highly influential in the outcomes of children’s lives, yet they tend to be under-researched and under-served. The Center seeks to develop father-specific services and parent management training approaches to help decrease the risk for drug use of their children.