A University of Louisville study will evaluate how health care, public health and social services organizations are working together to improve the health and well-being of individuals served through Freedom House programs in Louisville and Manchester, Ky.

Freedom House, operated by Volunteers of America Mid-States (VOAMID), is a residential treatment program for alcohol and/or drug dependent pregnant women and women with young children.

The research will examine Freedom House and its recent expansion into eastern Kentucky, determining how well and in what ways the urban and rural partners align in terms of purpose, data sharing, financing and governance.

Aligning Systems for Health Program, led by the Georgia Health Policy Center and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has awarded UofL more than $290,000 to fund the two-year study. UofL is one of seven institutions to receive the competitive funding. 

UofL researchers Liza M. Creel, Ph.D., MPH, assistant professor, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and co-director, Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky, and Deborah Winders Davis, Ph.D., director, Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit, Division of Clinical and Translational Research in the Department of Pediatrics, will lead the study. 

“We’ll focus on health equity and investigate similarities and differences between settings as it relates to program implementation and success of clients in the Freedom House program. We look forward to sharing data-driven insights around how organizations across sectors can work together to improve outcomes for the people and the communities they serve,” Creel said. 

“We are so pleased to collaborate with UofL on this study that will ultimately help pregnant and parenting moms in our Freedom House programs have even better recovery outcomes in both our urban and rural communities,” said Jennifer Hancock, president and chief executive officer of Volunteers of America Mid-States. 

VOAMID operates three evidence-based residential, licensed clinical treatment programs in Louisville. The Freedom House programs treat mothers’ substance use disorder, promote the birth of healthy babies, reunite families and reinforce positive behavior changes. Annually, the Louisville programs serve approximately 170 women, and more than 200 babies and children. 

Earlier this year, the organization expanded into eastern Kentucky with a new site in Clay County, a rural area hit hard by opioid use, with high rates of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and out-of-home foster care placements much higher than Kentucky’s overall rate (91 vs. 43 per 1,000 children). This location can serve more than 60 women, 30 newborns, and 50 minor children each year.