© Child Trends 2003
FAMILIES FIRST
OVERVIEW
The Families First program is a six-week, intensive home-based intervention for families that have difficulties managing severe behavioral problems in their children. The program implements a parenting-skills training approach aimed at decreasing problem behaviors in children. In an evaluation of the program, 164 families with children identified as having severe behavioral problems were randomly assigned to receive the Families First intervention or to a no-treatment control group. Results indicate that families receiving the Families First intervention reported significantly greater decreases in child behavior problems and in the utilization of concrete and physical care services immediately after the intervention and at a three-month follow-up compared to families in the control group. Furthermore, families receiving the intervention reported significantly greater increases in parent effectiveness and in positive parent-child relationships immediately after the intervention compared to families in the control group.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: families with children between the ages of 0 and 17 who are exhibiting serious behavioral problems.
The Families First program is a home-based intervention for families that have difficulties managing severe behavioral problems in their children. The program uses a strengths-based, skills training approach that focuses on encouraging a parent's agenda for change. The skills training sessions emphasize modeling and the supervised practicing of effective parenting and parent-child relations. The program focuses on teaching skills such as communication, rule-setting, and providing praise and consequences for child behaviors. The program also provides concrete services, such as helping with finances and improving community support in the schools and elsewhere.
The program has an intensive curriculum; it takes place over a period of six weeks, and treatment specialists meet with families for as many as 15 hours a week. The majority of sessions include the entire family. Treatment staff generally did not have clinical credentials. Additionally, during the treatment period and for an extended amount of time after completion of the treatment, program specialists are on call to respond to crises 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Lewis, R. E. (2005). The effectiveness of Families First services: An experimental study. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 499-509.
Evaluated population: 164 families with children between the ages of 3 and 17 who had been identified by their schools or juvenile courts as having severe behavior problems. About three-fourths of the children were boys, and 28% came from minority families. The majority of the families belonged to lower income groups.
Approach: Families were randomly assigned to either the Families First intervention group or a no-treatment control group. Upon referral, families were given a questionnaire that measured use of concrete services (help with community supports and finances) and physical care resources, parent effectiveness and parent-child relationships, and child behavior problems. The survey was administered to the families twice more over the course of the study: once immediately after the Families First intervention had been completed, and again three months later.
Families assigned to the control group were able to utilize services typically offered to families receiving referrals from schools or juvenile courts for their children's severe behavior problems.
Parents and children from families assigned to the Families First program met with trained Family Specialists for up to 15 hours a week over a period of six weeks. Family Specialists provided parental-skills training that focused on helping the parents practice effective parenting and improving parent-child relationships.
Results: Results indicated that, immediately following the intervention and three months later, parents in the intervention group reported a significantly greater decrease from the pre-test in the use of concrete services and physical care resources than families assigned to the control group. Additionally, immediately after the intervention, parents in families receiving the Families First treatment reported a significantly greater increase in parent effectiveness and positive parent child-relationship quality than families in the control group. However, there were no differences across groups in changes from the pre-test to the three month follow-up on these parent indicators. Finally, immediately following the intervention and three months later, families in the Families First group reported significantly greater decreases in child behavior problems.
Robert E. Lewis
Utah Division of Child and Family Services
120 North 200 West
Room 225
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Lewis, R. E. (2005). The effectiveness of Families First services: An experimental study. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 499-509.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 3 to 17
Evaluated participant grades: N/A
Program age ranges in the guide: Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Youth
Program components: Counseling/Therapy, Clinic/Provider-Based, Home Visiting, Parent or Family Component
Measured outcomes: Behavioral Problems
KEYWORDS: Early Childhood (0-5), Middle Childhood (6-11), Adolescence (12-17), Home-based, Clinic-based, Infants (0-12 months), Toddlers(12-36 months), Children (3-11), Adolescents (12-17), Counseling/Therapy, Home Visitation, Aggression, Externalizing Problems, Conduct Problems, Violence, Delinquency, High-Risk, Juvenile Offenders, White or Caucasian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino.
Program information last updated on 2/19/09.
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© Child Trends 2003 |