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| ABSTRACT: The University of Maryland, Baltimore - Center for Families, Family Connections Program evaluated the process and outcomes of implementing the Strengthening Multi-Ethnic Families and Communities: A Violence Prevention Parent Training Program (SMEFC) with families at risk of child neglect. Families resided in the West Baltimore Empowerment Zone that is comprised of distressed neighborhoods filled with high levels of crime, violence, and substance abuse. In addition to the opportunity to participate in the SMEFC program, families received home-based intervention consisting of emergency assistance, individualized home-based counseling services, and service facilitation/coordination. The intervention was designed to help families increase child safety and well-being and prevent child neglect within their families. It was hypothesized that this combination of services individualized to each family’s specific strengths and needs, would reduce risk factors and increase protective factors, ultimately leading to the achievement of two outcomes: child safety and child well-being. A pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups quasi-experimental design was used to compare data on risk and protective factors and outcomes collected at baseline and case closure. Families in the intervention group that received home-based intervention and the family strengthening group were compared to two comparison groups that received home-based services only. Repeated measures analyses were conducted to test hypotheses that examined whether situational risk factors decreased over time, whether protective factors increased over time, and whether child safety and well-being outcomes increased over time. Analyses also compared risk and protective factors and outcomes between families who received home-based services and the SMEFC group with those who received home-based services only. Results indicated reduction in depressive symptoms and everyday stress for the group as a whole. Related to child safety, observational measures completed by social work interns indicated positive changes to physical and psychological care of children. Significant positive changes were observed in increases in seriousness scores (meaning more positive functioning) with respect to overcrowded household and arrangements for substitute care. Improvements in psychological care were noted with respect to caregiver consistency of discipline and caregiver teaching/stimulating of children. Related to child well-being, repeated measures suggested statistically significant decreases in home behavior as observed by interns. Overall, there were minor differences noted between families who received the SMEFC and home-based services compared to families who received home-based services alone but small sample sizes suggests the need to further explore these differences with larger samples. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Diane DePanfilis, PhD FUNDING SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention AMOUNT OF FUNDING: $173,347 PROJECT DATES: 1999 - 2002, 2002-Present (secondary data analysis) PRODUCTS:
Final Report
DePanfilis, D. (2002). Family Connections’ family strengthening initiative final report. Study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (Cooperative agreement 1 UD1 SPO8766). Baltimore, MD: University of Maryland School of Social Work. Refereed Journals:
DePanfilis, D., Okundaye, J., Glazer-Semmel, E., Kelly, L., & Swanson-Ernst, J. (2002). Principles of the strengths perspective: Views from families and providers. Family Preservation Journal , 6(2), 1-14. Selected Presentations:
Glazer-Semmel, E. Strengths-Based Practice: A Community Speaks. The Tenth National
Colloquium of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Chicago, OH June 2002. Glazer- Semmel, E. M., Strengths-based practice: A community speaks. Ninth National Colloquium of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Washington, DC, June 20-23, 2001. Glazer-Semmel, E. Strengths based practice: A community speaks. 9th Annual Governor’s Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Baltimore, April 25-26, 2002. Glazer-Semmel, E, & Sullivan, K. Strengthening multi-ethnic families and communities: A promising group model to enhance prevention. 9th Annual Governor’s Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Baltimore, April 25-26, 2002.
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