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?
PARENT CONNECTORS©
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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