Young Child & Parent Program 3 - The Health Federation of Philadelphia (HFP) and its regional partners request continued support for the Young Child and Parent Program 3 (YCPP3), the next phase of a 14-year Regional Partnership Grant initiative. YCPP3 aims to improve well-being, permanency, and safety outcomes for young children in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties, Pennsylvania, who are at risk of, or involved in, the child welfare system due to maternal substance use disorders (SUDs). Parental SUD is a leading and growing driver of child welfare involvement nationally, and Philadelphia remains a high-risk area given its elevated poverty, drug overdose, and maternal mortality rates. Existing SUD treatment and parenting supports rarely address the underlying emotional drivers of parenting behavior – namely, reflective functioning – leaving a critical gap in care. Fragmented systems and short residential stays further heighten risk during care transitions. YCPP3 will deliver Mothering from the Inside Out (MIO), a 12-session, evidence-based therapy proven to improve maternal reflective functioning, caregiver well-being, and recovery, to mothers referred from four partner SUD treatment sites (residential and outpatient). A Resource Coordinator will extend clinical capacity by connecting participants to social needs support. To build regional capacity, HFP will conduct fidelity-driven MIO trainings and advance its Clinical Director through Train-the-Trainer certification. At two partner sites, HFP will also implement Mirror, a systems-level model that builds staff and organizational capacity for reflective, mentalization-based practice. A Cross-Systems Steering Committee (CSC), representing all regional partners, will anchor collaboration and align priorities across child welfare, SUD treatment, family court, and related systems. YCPP3 will serve 320 mothers and their families over five years. CHOP Policy Lab, HFP's longtime evaluation partner, will lead a rigorous mixed-methods evaluation across three aims: (1) participant-level changes in reflective functioning, well-being, parenting capacity, and family stability; (2) reach, engagement, and implementation quality of MIO and Mirror; and (3) system-level integration and warm hand-offs across the care continuum. Evaluation activities will include validated instruments, administrative child welfare data, and qualitative interviews with participants, clinicians, and site staff. HFP is a 40-year-old regional public health organization, experienced in managing complex, federally funded, multi-partner initiatives. YCPP3's core team includes clinical leadership, an MIO/Mirror developer-consultant, and an established academic evaluation partner. YCPP3 builds on HFP's experience delivering SUD-focused therapeutic interventions, which revealed the need for a shorter, scalable model paired with resource coordination and SUD site implementation support. YCPP3 will improve maternal reflective functioning and recovery, strengthen parent-child relationships, reduce child welfare involvement, and build lasting regional capacity to deliver and sustain MIO and Mirror – generating a replicable model for supporting mothers with SUD and their young children.
