Purpose: This article compares outcomes of a family-based prevention program from its original in-person mode to an online mode in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Celebrating Families!™ is designed to improve parenting skills, family functioning, and family relationships to break the cycle of substance use problems. Method: This mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study compared outcomes of in-person and online treatment conditions and content analysis of open-ended responses to a satisfaction survey. Results: Both groups showed improvement in outcomes, with moderate effect sizes and high satisfaction. Average scores of the online groups were generally lower than the in-person scores. Qualitative data yielded participants’ accounts of improvements in parenting behaviors, family relationships, coping skills, and knowledge insights. Conclusions: Despite the contexts of COVID-19, findings provided evidence that such relational group interventions can be feasibly administered online and can effect changes required to break the cycle of substance use problems and adverse family experiences.

Treatment programs geared toward Hispanic culture are extremely rare, and programs involving the entire Hispanic family are virtually nonexistent. Two prospective studies test the hypothesis that a family-centered intervention is as effective with Hispanic families as it is with non-Hispanic families. First, the program (Celebrating Families!) was presented in English to non-Hispanic and Hispanic families. Second, the program was translated into Spanish and adapted to Spanish culture (¡Celebrando Familias!). Hispanic families were compared with non-Hispanic families in both studies. These studies indicate that a family-centered treatment model can be an effective treatment intervention for Hispanic clients.

Celebrating Families!™ (CF!) is a manualized family-centered program focused on the goal of breaking the cycle of generational substance use disorders (SUDs). It is one of the few evidence-based family-focused practices listed on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. Compared to another evidence-based program, Strengthening Families, CF! showed significant impact on family organization, positive parenting, parent involvement, and alcohol and drug use reduction. CF! is shown to be successful in unifying families from family dependency courts and as a prevention program for SUDs when offered by community social service agencies. A preliminary efficacy study illustrates changes within participating families consistent with the goal. The study’s purpose was to test the hypothesis that a family skills program such as CF! changed behavior by reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors. Data from 20 cycles of the program revealed that parents ( N = 263), referred from family drug court, expressed significant behavior changes toward their children in ways that increased protective factors after the 16-week program, and youth ( N = 106) showed better understanding of SUDs. Results suggest that this family skills program can be an intervention program for families at-risk for perpetuating the cycle of addiction, as well as prevention of family violence, abuse, and neglect. Agencies that serve families at risk can use the program to prevent costly foster care placements and SUDs by providing such programs.

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