As rates of maternal substance use and neonatal abstinence syndrome have increased in the context of the opioid crisis, the Institute for Health and Recovery (IHR), in collaboration with Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) and the Jewish Family & Children Services, developed Project BRIGHT (Building Resilience through Intervention: Growing Healthier Together) to address parenting skills and cultivate the parent-child relationship for mothers who are engaged in treatment and recovery services and their children. The intervention also addresses trauma that has likely been experienced by mothers and children as a consequence of addiction. 

Project BRIGHT is an enhancement to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and uses an evidence-informed dyadic parenting intervention (such as Child–Parent Psychotherapy, the Nurturing Program for Families in Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery, and Attachment, Regulation, and Competency) initially developed for use in residential treatment programs for mothers with SUDs and their young children birth through age five (Project BRIGHT I), and subsequently delivered in outpatient opioid treatment settings (Project BRIGHT II). The intervention is delivered by trained counselors who are co-located at these facilities. Project BRIGHT III has recently emerged as an intervention to specifically treat trauma in children of these mothers and is being funded through a three-year grant with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 

The Project BRIGHT intervention typically begins during pregnancy and continues for about a year postpartum, although it can be used with any parent with children up to age seven. It has the potential to improve outcomes among mothers who are currently engaged in medications for opioid use disorder, allowing parents to bond with their babies at the same time they are getting treatment for substance use and mental health disorders. Evaluation of the program shows that it helps mothers with the highest stress levels the most. 

More details and contact information on the program can be found in the presentation here and the news articles here and here.