Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) are designed to assist college students who are in recovery from substance use disorders. The goal of these programs is to provide students with the necessary tools and resources that they need to advance in their recovery while completing college. There are many services that CRPs offer including peer recovery coaches, mutual-help groups, and substance free housing. However, because there is no standardized CRP model it has yet to be determined which of these components is most effective in assisting students. This study developed a recovery capital-oriented theory of change and logic model for CRP evaluations and explored how this model could be incorporated into existing and future CRPs.
This research stemmed from a larger study that analyzed student outcomes from several different CRPs. The study included six CRP sites within the United States where data was collected on available resources, experiences, and academic/behavioral outcomes. A national roundtable discussion was then held to collect information on future objectives of CRPs. From this data, the recovery capital-oriented theory of change and logic model for CRP evaluations was derived.
Results of this research showed that recovery capital is useful when assessing CRPs as it evaluates human capital (motivation and cognitive skills), financial capital (financial stability and access to resources), social capital (supportive family and friends), and community capital (availability of recovery resources). Students entering CRPs differ greatly in their levels of capital and barriers in these areas which needs to be considered when designing CRPs. Additionally, an increase in one area of capital has been showed to positively impact the other areas of capital. The research also identified that although CRPs are very diverse, one unifying component is peer support which seems to be crucial to the effectiveness of the programs. Researches also identified that there needs to be a systemic approach to data collection when evaluating CRPs to identify strengths and weakness of the programs.
Takeaway: The recovery capital-oriented theory of change and logic model may be effective way to systematically evaluate collegiate recovery programs.