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Project Connect: Celebrating Thirty
Years of Keeping Children Safe and
Families Together
Children's Friend celebrated the 30th anniversary of Project Connect clients who received Project Connect services. The next phase
in 2023. Project Connect started as a pilot made possible by a small
grant from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal was to
explore whether wraparound intervention services for substance-
affected families could help keep children safely in their homes or
provide for successful reunification.
Today, Project Connect successfully addresses the challenges
of substance use disorders on families through a tested and
replicated model of service. The intensive, home-based program
provides support for an average of one year. Project Connect staff
are specially trained in substance misuse and child welfare risk
assessment.
“We connect families with resources and providers, ensuring families
are not facing barriers to treatment. We really are an advocate all
the way around,” said Tiffany Rezendes, Family Preservation Worker.
In April 2020, the Project Connect program began working with
the Urban Institute on a randomized treatment control evaluation.
Between 2020 and 2023, clients who met program criteria were
randomly selected to receive Project Connect services. Children's
Friend and Urban Institute also conducted meetings with various
partners such as the Department of Children, Youth, and Families
(DCYF) social caseworkers, supervisors, family court judges, and
attorneys from the Rhode Island Public Defender and Rhode Island
CHILDREN'S FRIEND ANNUAL REPORT 2023
Legal Services. And researchers conducted focus groups with
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of the evaluation will explore outcome data to elevate Project
Connect from a “promising practice” model to an evidence-based
model within the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC).
Achieving evidence-based status will further qualify the Project
Connect approach for children and families involved in the child
welfare system due to substance use disorder.
Consider Nelson's story: Nelson was referred to Children’s Friend by
his case worker at the DCYF, just as he was beginning his recovery
journey. He was eager to find resources to support him and his son
as they worked to build a new life. “I was open-minded and willing
to put the work in. I was connected with a real-life person—not just
a case worker—an amazing person, and I hope our friendship lasts
for a lifetime,” Nelson shared. He attributes his capacity for healthy
parenting to using the skills he learned through his involvement in
Project Connect, particularly crediting his relationship with his case
worker, Geneva. Today, Nelson is in recovery and has full custody of
his son. As a single parent, he navigates the stress and challenges of
juggling school and work schedules.
Project Connect is nurturing children and empowering families by
increasing child and family safety and improving child well-being.
These remarkable outcomes have led to the replication of Project
Connect in all eight Washington, D.C., wards and two Pennsylvania
counties.