Perinatal Substance Use and Improving Family Health

The Colorado Lab is working with the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention to better understand and address the growing issue of perinatal substance use. The vision for this project is to routinely track incident rates of perinatal substance use in Colorado and inform state investments, programs, and policies aimed at strengthening families affected by substance use during a pregnancy.

family of five looking up

Family Support through Primary Prevention

The Family Support through Primary Prevention (FSPP) project is intended to reduce child maltreatment and improve family well-being for Colorado families ages prenatal to 5, with a focus on the first year of life. The Colorado Lab serves as the skilled evaluator to build evidence for the primary prevention strategies prioritized by FSPP partners.

Listening to Families to Learn What Helps Them Thrive

A new Colorado Lab report features diverse and insightful learnings from community listening sessions that were held with parents/caregivers to better understand how social connections and support can help families thrive. Research shows that strong social connections support parents and caregivers in experiencing fewer stressors, buffer the negative experiences of stress when it does occur, and promote resilience.

mother feeding child bottle

Establishing a Baseline: Substance Use and Infant and Maternal Mortality

A new study, Phase One Supplemental: Maternal & Infant Mortality in the First Year of Life, builds on last spring’s initial study focused on the risk of infant removal by child welfare shortly after a birth event due to a referral of substance exposure. The supplemental study establishes a baseline understanding of infant and maternal mortality outcomes for families in Colorado involved in child welfare and impacted by perinatal substance use.

Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families

The Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families (Partnership) is a cross-sector collaborative of human services and public health partners who believe that intentionally working together at the state and county levels to align funding, priorities, regulations, outcome measures, and implementation makes it possible to create a strong family well-being system.

Prenatal Substance Use and Improving Family Health

Families affected by substance use during a pregnancy are at risk for infant and maternal mortality, significant health consequences, and threats to well-being of the family as a whole. This data linkage study improves our ability to monitor current trends by establishing a comprehensive set of definitions for prenatal substance use for affected mothers and infants in Colorado.