Support Towards Addiction Recovery for Individuals With Criminal Legal System Involvement: The STAR Project

May 22, 2026 updated by: Martha Tillson

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether a new, paired coaching intervention improves outcomes for individuals with criminal legal system involvement recovering from substance use disorder, as well as the loved ones of those individuals. The initial phase (Year 1) includes a small preliminary pilot examining the feasibility of the intervention.

During the full clinical trial (Years 2-5), this study aims to answer whether this approach...

  • ...improves the recovering person's recovery capital?
  • ...improves well-being, as well as resource knowledge and awareness, for the loved one?
  • ...improves social support and connection among both individuals?

Participants will:

  • Meet regularly one-on-one with their individual coaches (a Recovery Coach for the recovering person; a Loved One Coach for the loved one) during the 6 week intervention period
  • Meet regularly as a group of four (both coaches and both participants) during this same period
  • Complete follow-up interviews with research staff at 6- and 12-weeks after beginning the study

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

8

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Recovering Persons:
  • At least 18 years old
  • Must have been involved with the criminal legal system (arrested, incarcerated, or on community supervision like parole or probation) within the past 12 months
  • Substance use disorder within the past 12 months
  • Interested in working with a recovery coach to support your recovery (defined as engaging in any changes to improve your health and wellness)
  • Can identify at least one person who is supportive of their recovery.
  • Loved Ones:
  • At least 18 years old
  • Interested in receiving additional supports and/or information about their loved one's substance use and criminal legal system involvement
  • Anticipate being available for weekly participation in intervention activities
  • Willing to support their loved one's recovery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Loved ones:
  • Already have a professional relationship with the recovering person (e.g., as a counselor, sponsor, or peer recovery support specialist)
  • Meet substance use disorder criteria for any past 30-day drug or alcohol use
  • Have a history of domestic violence or protective orders.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: STAR Intervention
Behavioral: STAR Intervention
The STAR intervention is a dyadic coaching model designed to support individuals with substance use disorder and criminal legal system involvement alongside their identified loved ones.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of STAR Intervention in Dyads
Time Frame: Immediately following intervention sessions during 6-week feasibility pilot.
a. Feasibility will be assessed using the STAR Project Focus Group Survey questions administered to dyad participants following intervention sessions. A higher score indicates greater perceived feasibility.
Immediately following intervention sessions during 6-week feasibility pilot.
Acceptability of STAR Intervention in Dyads
Time Frame: Immediately following intervention sessions during 6-week feasibility pilot.
a. Acceptability will be assessed using the Focus Group Survey questions administered to dyad participants following intervention sessions. A higher score indicates greater perceived acceptability.
Immediately following intervention sessions during 6-week feasibility pilot.
Recovery capital
Time Frame: Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
a. For recovering persons: The internal and external resources that impact an individual's capacity to initiate and sustain recovery, including physical, cultural, human, and social resources. Assessed using the Multidimensional Inventory of Recovery Capital (MIRC) a 28-item questionnaire. Higher scores indicate greater recovery capital.
Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
Psychological well-being
Time Frame: Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
a. For loved ones: Positive affect, life satisfaction, and an overall sense of purpose and meaning. Assessed using the Neuro-QOL Positive Affect and Well-Being Scale, a 23-item questionnaire, Higher scores indicate greater psychological well-being.
Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
SUD and CLS knowledge and resource awareness
Time Frame: Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
a. For loved ones: Knowledge regarding Substance Use Disorder (SUD) including recovery, treatment, harm reduction, and Criminal Legal System (CLS) involvement as well as awareness of local recovery and resources. Assessed using study developed knowledge assessment questions and count of local resources known. Higher scores indicate greater knowledge and resource awareness.
Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
Support functions
Time Frame: Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
a. For loved ones and recovering persons: Number and types of support functions provided by social network members. Assessed using egocentric social network inventory questionnaire evaluating functional support provided by network members. Higher scores indicate greater perceived social support.
Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
Social connection
Time Frame: Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment
a. For loved ones and recovering persons: Level of trust, emotional closeness, and frequency of contact with social network members. Assessed using egocentric social network inventory questionnaire. Higher scores indicate stronger social connection and network engagement.
Assessed at enrollment and 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Martha Tillson

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 13, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 13, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 19, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 111148
  • R61DA064790 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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