New NIH Project Promotes Child and Family Resilience in Rural Communities

Congratulations to Drs. Susan Yoon, Joyce Lee, Gia Barboza-Salerno, Elinam Dellor and Tom Gregoire who have received an NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant for more than $3 million. Their project titled, “Reducing parental substance use, improving child health outcomes, and enhancing family resilience among rural families through Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment, and Reducing Trauma),” will run from September 2025 through August 2030. Other collaborators include Drs. Alicia Bunger and Chris Browning of Ohio State’s College of Medicine and Department of Sociology, respectively, and Kathryn Maguire-Jack of the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work.

“This project is truly interdisciplinary and community-driven, uniting the strengths of Ohio State’s College of Social Work, College of Medicine, Department of Sociology, Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR), the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and, most importantly, the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. We are deeply grateful for these partnerships and inspired to work together toward promoting child well-being and strengthening family resilience in rural communities across Ohio.”

— Dr. Susan Yoon

The study will examine how a family-centered intervention model, Ohio START, may lead to improved child and family health outcomes for low-income rural families in the child welfare system. Such outcomes may occur by altering parental spatial and social environments through formal (e.g., substance use treatment services) and informal (e.g., positive social networks) supports. The proposed project will produce valuable knowledge that can be used to modify START and other family-level intervention efforts designed to mitigate risks and maximize protection in parents’ activity spaces and social networks to enhance family resilience, prevent child maltreatment, and promote child well-being in rural communities.