# Project 2:  Behavioral Health - Public Health Approaches to Prevent and Reduce Behavioral Health Inequalities: The Flint Recovery Corp to Promote Behavioral Health Equity and Strengthen Flint Families

> **NIH NIH U54** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $290,616

## Abstract

This multi-level intervention research project aims to accelerate successful translation of evidence-based family 
interventions into widespread community practice to reduce behavioral health disparities in underserved and 
minority communities by improving family resilience and access to services. A five-year researcher/practitioner 
collaborative will create a centralized community site that establishes The Flint Recovery Corp, a trained 
workforce of Peer Recovery Advocates who 1) provide peer recovery support services to direct peers into 
substance abuse treatment, 2) provide peer support for community members engaged in substance abuse 
treatment, 3) provide peer recovery support services for community members stepping down in the level of care 
(e.g., intensive outpatient to outpatient) or transitioning out of treatment, and 4) recruit families with drug or 
alcohol histories, problems, or risk factors into an evidence-based community-wide implementation trial of the 
Strengthening Families Program (SFP). Participatory action research and empowerment evaluation methods 
will guide this multi-pronged, multi-level research. One goal of this dissemination research is to reduce health 
disparities in disenfranchised ethnic and underserved families by improving the existing community/researcher 
partnership and feedback loops to develop a better understanding of ways to improve the research, training, 
program, and dissemination of an evidence-based, family intervention the Strengthening Families Program. SFP 
is 14-session family-focused intervention composed of three major components: parent training, children's skills 
training, and family interaction. SFP 10 to 14 Years has been found to reduce by 2 to 3 times children‘s lifetime 
diagnosis of depression, social anxiety, phobias, and personality disorder in six randomized control efficacy 
studies by different research teams with longitudinal studies up to 10 years at 22 years of age. With SFP going 
to scale in behavioral and mental health centers nationwide and worldwide, questions remain, however, 
concerning variables contributing to effectiveness under conditions of such broad dissemination and how these 
finding can be used to avail the program to poor families through third party reimbursement (such as Medicaid). 
This application represents a unique opportunity to study community participation in research on a citywide basis 
and to work with Michigan’s newly formed Health Disparities Collaborative. The specific aims of this innovative 
study are to: (1) Enhance an existing community/researcher partnership to reduce behavioral health disparities; 
(2) Field test implementation variables impacting intervention effectiveness in citywide dissemination; and (3) 
Assess the feasibility of SFP as an eligible program for third party reimbursement. This research project takes 
place as part of the Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) for Health Disparities Research on Chronic 
Disea...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9877973
- **Project number:** 5U54MD011227-05
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** C. Debra M. Furr-Holden
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $290,616
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9877973

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9877973, Project 2:  Behavioral Health - Public Health Approaches to Prevent and Reduce Behavioral Health Inequalities: The Flint Recovery Corp to Promote Behavioral Health Equity and Strengthen Flint Families (5U54MD011227-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9877973. Licensed CC0.

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