Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth





Parenting or Family Component


5-A-Day Power Plus Program
Program increased students' consumption more servings of fruits and vegetables during lunchtime.

Across Ages
Program with mentoring component worked to decrease problem behaviors and increase social skills and attitudes in school-age children.

Adolescent Transitions Program
Program for teens and parents improved quality of youth engagement in family communication.

All Stars
Program that used debates and meetings to reduce adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and inhalant use.

Augmenting a school-based intervention with a community intervention
Addition of community component reduced the typical increase of tobacco use in teens.

Bienstar Health Program
Program lowered fasting glucose levels and increased physical fitness scores and dietary fiber intake in students.

Block the Sun, Not the Fun
Program increased the likelihood of sunscreen being applied to children.

Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) Summer Learning Program
Program improved reading skills and parental involvement.

Child Health Supervision
Program improved diet and feeding, development, and problem behaviors.

Cognitive Behavioral Family Intervention (CBFI)
Program reduced maternal depression and child disruptive behavior

Comprehensive Child Development Program
Program did not produce positive impacts for participating families.

The Coping Power Program
Program reduced rates of substance use and delinquent behavior while also improving children’s social competence and behavior.

Creating Lasting Connections
Program showed positive impacts on service utilization by parents and youth as well as on measures of parent knowledge.

Dare to be You
Program increased parenting competence and satisfaction, as well as increasing positive parenting practices such as limit-setting and reducing harsh discipline. The program was also effective in reducing problem and oppositional behavior in children and increasing their level of development.

Dialogic Reading
Program increased children's performance on some measures of expressive vocabulary and verbal fluency.

Diet and Exercise Program for Families
Program reduced children's percentage overweight.

Draw the Line/Respect the Line
Program reduced likelihood of initiation of sex among boys.

Early Childhood Aggression Study
Program reduced extremely antisocial behavior among white boys.

Early Head Start
Program with center- and home-based services had positive impacts on parents and children in low-income families.

Early Intervention Program for Adolescent Mothers
Program reduced premature births and infant hospitalization duration through promotion of positive maternal behaviors

Early Risers
Program reduced disruptive behavior among children who have exhibited aggressive behavior through parent education and skills training

Even Start
Program that provided adult, parenting, and early childhood education positively impacted some parent and child outcomes.

Facts & Feelings
Program increased family communication about sexuality in the short term.

Families and Schools Together (American Indian adaptation)
Program reduced aggressive and withdrawn behavior in children.

The Family Bereavement Program (FBP)
Program increased positive affect, active inhibition, and positive coping.

The Family Health Project
Program improved dietary behavior of Mexican-American and Anglo-American families.

Family Planning Clinic Support Services
Program did not impact contraceptive use or pregnancy rates.

Fast Track Prevention Project
Comprehensive, ten-year intervention program had positive impacts on high-risk children’s development.


First Step to Success (FSS)
Program positively impacted young children’s behavior problems. 

Focus on Families
Program reduced drug use and domestic conflict and increased problem-solving for parents, but showed no direct impact on children.

Functional Family Therapy
Program helped treat existing behavioral problems and was associated with decreased recidivism and re-institutionalization.

Gimmie 5 (4th and 5th Grade Students)
Program increased students' consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Gimmie 5: A Fresh Nutrition Concept for Students
Program increased students' knowledge of fruit and vegetable nutrition

Girlfriends for KEEPS
Program for girls increased healthy choice behavior intentions, diet knowledge, and preference for physical activity.

Healthy Families New York (HFNY)
Home-visiting program effective in reducing the amount of child abuse and neglect.

Healthy Steps for Young Children
Program increased likelihood of usage of covers on electrical outlets.

High 5
Program increased students' consumption of fruits and vegetables

High Scope Perry Preschool
High-quality preschool/home-visiting program produced numerous positive, long-term impacts.

Hip-Hop to Health Jr.
Program was effective in preventing large increases in children's Body Mass Index.

Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)
Home-visitation program improved school readiness in children.

Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project (HSPP)
Multi-year school-based program did not impact teens' smoking behaviors.

Hygiene Intervention for Preschool Students
Program increased students' hand-washing behavior.

Incredible Years Series
Intervention program for those at-risk for behavior problems.  Program enhanced parenting skills and improved children's academic and social competence.

Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP)
Program with home visiting, child care, and parenting meetings produced positive impacts in low birthweight children.

Informed Parents and Children Together (ImPACT)
Program increased demonstration of adolescents' condom-use skills.

Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP)
Program reduced aggressive and destructive behavior and delayed initiation into substance use.

Keep a Clear Mind
Program increased parent-child communication about resisting peer pressure related to drug and alcohol use.

Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT)
School-based and parenting components had positive impacts on school-age children's and adolescents' social skills.

Metropolitan Area Child Study (MACS)
Program reduced aggression in urban-poor neighborhoods with higher levels of school and community resources.

Midwestern Prevention Project
Program employed individual, parental, and community components to decrease drug use in adolescents.

Minnesota Competence Enhancement Project (MCEP)
Program showed no impacts on child behavior.

Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
Social welfare service had positive impacts on welfare-receiving parents and children.

Montreal Prevention Experiment
Program increased boys' performance on measures of school adjustment and delinquency.

Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)
Program reduced rates of drug use, increased academic performance, and improved family functioning.

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC)
Program reduced rates of incarceration, arrests, and drug use among youth.

Multisystemic Therapy
Program improved family correlates of antisocial behavior and ameliorating adjustment problems.

My Baby U
Video- and book-based program impacted positive infant health and parenting outcomes.

New Beginnings
Program reduced the development of mental disorders and disorders in general.

New Chance
Program that provided comprehensive services had mixed impacts on disadvantaged families.

New Hope Project
Program positively impacted parents' employment and poverty status and children's educational and behavioral outcomes.

Nurse-Family Partnership
Home visiting-based program had several positive impacts on poor unmarried mothers and their children.

Parent-Child Assistance Program
Children of mothers in the program were not more likely to have received regular medical care or appropriate immunizations. 

Parent-Child Home Program
Program increased graduation rates and decreased drop-out rates later in life for children.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
Program was effective in reducing repeat cases of physical abuse and reduced parental depression and negative parenting behaviors.

Parent-Mediated Treatment Program
Program increased child compliance and positive parenting behavior.

Parental Training and Contingency Contracting for Overweight Children
Program impacts are undetermined.

Parenting Adolescents Wisely (PAW) Program
Program was found to reduce problematic child behaviors.

Parents as Teachers
Home visiting-based parent education program had small but positive impacts on parents and their young children.

Positive Parenting and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17)
Program decreased child-reported aggression, delinquency, victimization, and attention problems.

Preparing for the Drug Free Years
Program decreased growth in adolescent alcohol use and negative parent-child interactions.

Progresa Poverty Program
Program increased enrollment rates and education levels of poor children.

Project CARE
Program increased cognitive development among children at risk for delayed development.

Project Northland
Multi-year, multi-component program lowered adolescents' substance use and susceptibility to peer influence.

Project SAFE (Strengthening America's Families and Environment)
Program improved student school bonding, parenting skills, social competence, family relationships, and student self-regulation.

Project Taking Charge
Program was found to  increase adolescents' and parents' knowledge of sexual development and STDs.

Project TALC
Program reduced adolescents' emotional distress and conduct problems and raised levels of self-esteem.

Raising Healthy Children
Program increased students' academic performance and commitment to school and decreased antisocial behaviors.

Reach Out and Read (ROR)
Program that integrated early literacy into pediatric check-ups had positive impacts on family reading behaviors.

Reaching Educators, Children and Parents (RECAP)
Program improved children's internalizing and externalizing problems.

Real Men
Program increased likelihood of sex-related topic discussion between fathers and sons.

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways
Program increased the knowledge-base of participants.

SAFEChildren
Program was effective in increasing children’s reading ability and retaining parent involvement in the school over time.

Safer Choices
Multi-component sexuality education program led to higher rates of condom usage in high-schoolers.

 

Saving Sex for Later
Parent-focused sex education curriculum increased parent-child communication, parent self-efficacy, and the influence parents had on their children.
 

Self Sufficiency Project (SSP)
Income supplement program increased parental employment and income as well as children's' school achievement and activity involvement.


Sembrando Salud
Program improved parent-child communication in households with fewer children.


SHAPEDOWN
Program improved adolescents' relative weight, weight-related behavior, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and weight management knowledge.

Social Skills Training Program for Children With ADHD
Program increased assertion scores for children and parents.

South Oxnard Challenge Program (SOCP)
Program was effective in increasing the amount of contact with staff, the amount of time that was spent on a child's case, and the child's use of referral services.

STOP Technique and Insight Program for Depression
Program was effective in reducing depressive symptoms, negative thinking, and chronic stressors among mothers with children ages 2-6 years.


Strong African American Families (SAAF)
Program decreased risk behaviors in children and increased positive parenting.

Teenage Parent Demonstration
Multicomponent program had short-term positive impacts on certain teen parent outcomes; null effects on various teen parent and child outcomes.

Transactional Model of Early Home Intervention
Program improved child's home environment and cognitive development.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Program reduced the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

Triple P-Positive Parenting Program
Program reduced child behavior problems and dysfunctional parenting styles, and increased parental competence.

UCLA Family Development Project
Program was effective in increasing the mothers’ responsiveness to their child’s needs as well as increasing children's secure, autonomy, and task involvement.

Untitled Health Care Program for First-Time Adolescent Mothers and their Infants
Program participants had a decreased likelihood of a repeat pregnancy and increased likelihood of immunization for infants.

Varying Maternal Involvement in a Weight Loss Program
Program decreased percentage overweight.

Who Do You Tell
Program increased participants knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touch.

WIC Nutrition Education Demonstration Study
Program did not increase knowledge of nutrition; program participants had higher test scores than control group participants.

Woodrock Youth Development Project (WYDP)
Multi-component program positively impacted substance use, race relations, and other outcomes in at-risk children and teens.