PARENT CONNECTORS©

Parent Connectors: An Evidence-based Peer-to-Peer

Support Program

Albert J. Duchnowski, Ph.D.Krista Kutash, Ph.D.

University of South Florida

Federation of Families Conference Washington DC November 2013 1Oct 14, 2013

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Goal of the Parent Connector Program

Assist parents of youth with behavioral challenges to become fully engaged

as partners with the school and social service systems.

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Parent Connectors call (no face-to-face contact) Caregivers on the phone each week for about 9 months and

• Offer emotional support • Provide information about resources.• Encourage engagement with school and mental health systems

• PCs attend weekly supervision meeting with a PC COACH

How does the PC Program Work?

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Who are the Parent Connectors?• A diverse group of people with a

wide range of age, income and cultural backgrounds.

• All unified by a shared experience of raising a child with emotional and behavioral challenges.

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Who are the PC Coaches ?• People with master’s level degrees and

clinical experience working with families and youth with emotional and behavioral challenges.

• Backgrounds include School Psychologist, Social Worker, MH Counselor, and Clinical Psychologist.

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Training of PCs and PC Coach

Parent Connectors are given a 16-hour training program on how to be a Parent Connector.

The PC Coach (who has been provided with four individualized hours of training previously) assists with the training of PCs.

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Training Content

Attitude Toward

Engagement

• Social Support• Expected Benefit• Perceived Control

Parent Connector Program

Informational SupportEmotio

nal Support

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Emotional Support

WhyNeed?

STIGMA BLAME STRESS

Strategy used by PC

Self-Disclosure

EncourageProblem Solving Skills and Promote Self -Care

DiscussCauses of ED

AFFIRMATIONAL SUPPORT Praise * Validate * Affirm

Strategies Supported by Giving

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Core Program Components using Theory of Planned Behavior to increase Positive Attitudes and

Beliefs. Social Norms

Personal Control

of Behavior

Benefit ofBehavior

Behavior

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PC Coach role playing with a PC during a training session

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Who are the Participants in the PC Program?

Mothers of children and youth who are

• Served in special education due to ED• At-risk for involvement in social service

system (prevention)• At-risk for re-admission to psychiatric

hospital • Served by multiple child-serving systems

(Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and Mental Health)

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Research Results

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Research DesignThree RCTS

Comparison Group

ExperimentalGroup

Nine month pre-post design Parent-Child dyads randomly

assigned to two conditions

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Study Objectives • Is the program

model feasible? • Would parents find

the intervention acceptable and engage with their PC?

• Could the program be delivered with fidelity

• Would the program produce positive outcomes for parents and their child?

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Program was Feasible and Acceptable

• Recruited and Trained PCs and PC Coach.

• 82% of the parents who were called by a PC engaged in their PCs.

• Ratings from participants indicated high satisfaction with PC services.

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Captured Five Dimensions of Implementation Effectiveness

1. Adherence (as measured by participants)

2. Dose3. Participant Responsiveness4. Quality of Program Delivery5. Program Differentiation

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Outcomes for Caregivers participating in the program

• Caregivers who had a PC and experienced lots of stressors– Improved their perceived benefit of

engagement with the education and MH systems, and

– Improved the positive influence of social norms.

This in turn….

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Outcomes for Caregivers who has a Parent Connector

• Experienced more involvement in MH health services. – Parents who had a PC received more

consultation services from MH providers.

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Students whose Caregiver had a PC

• Received more school-based mental health services from a MH provider

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Students whose Caregivers had a Parent Connector

• More days enrolled in school• Less times suspended

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In summary• Parent Connector Program

– is based on a theory of change, – Is time limited– with a manualized training curriculum, – is a highly supervised model– can be implemented with fidelity– Results in positive partnerships for

caregivers with child serving agencies with youth and caregivers engaged in services.

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Next Steps

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