The federal clearinghouse that approves foster care prevention services has cleared eight new programs, including a Utah program aimed at instilling confidence and communications skills in parents and another parenting program designed for Black parents.
The clearinghouse also rejected ten candidates with an evidence base that it assessed “does not currently meet criteria” for inclusion, and announced its intent to review five new models.
The clearinghouse was established in relation to the Family First Prevention Services Act, which was passed in February of 2018. The law enables states to use the Title IV-E entitlement — previously reserved for foster care and adoption support — to fund services aimed at working with parents without the need for a family separation.
Those services must be evidence-based and apply to three areas: parenting, substance abuse treatment and mental health interventions. Each approved model of services is given one of three ratings based on the strength of its evidence base: Well-Supported, Supported or Promising.
The approvals of the past month bring the total number of foster care prevention services under Family First to 56: 15 rated as Well-Supported, 15 as Supported, and 26 as Promising. It has rejected 48 programs for not meeting the criteria.
Included in the approvals was Families First, developed by Utah Youth Village as an intervention to help parents communicate and discipline without resorting to anger or escalation. The model received a rating of Well-Supported, a coveted designation because half of all state expenditures on Family First prevention services must be on programs with that top rank.
Also approved as a Promising program was the Effective Black Parenting Program, a group-based program with components that focus on promoting cultural pride and coping with the negative effects of racism. The model was actually developed in the early 1980s ago by a white psychologist in Los Angeles named Dr. Kerby Alvy. In 1988, the Los Angeles Times covered an early, tense round of meetings between Alvy and Black colleagues about the model, from which he emerged with their support for it.
Somewhat surprising among the rejected programs is another model focused on Black families, the Chicago Parent Program. The program received a rating of Supported by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which pre-dates the federal clearinghouse and has a similar mission of reviewing relevant models of service.
The Prevention Services Clearinghouse said that the Chicago Parent Program was denied “because no studies of the program achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution.”
The clearinghouse announced five new programs that it would be reviewing: two versions each of Functional Family Therapy and Multisystemic Therapy, and a second assessment for SafeCare Augmented, a parenting program that did not meet criteria in its last review.
Following is a breakdown of the most recent approvals and rejections made by the clearinghouse, including a comparative rating of each one by the CEBC.
Being Brave
What it is: A cognitive-behavioral approach to treating anxiety disorder in children ages 4 to 7.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC rating: Not rated
C.A.T. Project
What it is: A cognitive-behavioral approach to treating anxiety disorder in children ages 14 to 17.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC Rating: Promising
Camp Cope-A-Lot
What it is: An online intervention to help children between 7 to 13 manage anxiety and stress.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC Rating: Not rated
Chicago Parent Program
What it is: A program designed with an advisory board of African American and Latino parents that uses group sessions and video vignettes to reduce child behavioral problems and inconsistent discipline by parents.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC rating: Supported
Cognitive Processing Therapy
What it is: An intervention designed to aid the process of addressing posttraumatic stress disorder in adults by identifying and working on primary traumatic events.
Clearinghouse Rating: Promising
CEBC Rating: Well-supported
Coping Cat
What it is: A cognitive-behavioral approach to treating anxiety disorder in children ages 7 to 13.
Clearinghouse Rating: Promising for both group and individual formats
CEBC Rating: Well-supported
Criando con Amor
What it is: A group-based parenting program for Spanish-speaking Latino parents of adolescents.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC Rating: Not rated
Early Pathways
What it is: A parent-child therapy approach for children under the age of 7 with significant behavioral problems.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC rating: Promising
Effective Black Parenting Program
What it is: A 15-session program focused on strengthening family cohesion, reducing parental stress and promoting cultural pride.
Clearinghouse Rating: Promising
CEBC rating: Promising
ezPARENT
What it is: An app-based version of the Chicago Parent Program (see above).
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC Rating: Not rated
Families Actively Improving Relationships
What it is: Support program for parents who are involved with the child welfare system due in part to their use of drugs.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC rating: Promising
Families First (Utah Youth Village Model)
What it is: Uses a “Risk, Need, and Responsivity” home visiting model to help parents develop better parenting techniques.
Clearinghouse Rating: Well-supported
CEBC rating: Promising
Fostering Healthy Futures
What it is: A mentoring and skills development program for adolescents who have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences, including abuse or neglect, witnessing violence in their community, or a parent’s struggles with substance abuse or mental health challenges.
Clearinghouse Rating: Supported for preteens; does not meet criteria for teens.
CEBC rating: Well-Supported
Mindful Mood Balance
What it is: A cognitive therapy for treating depression or preventing depressive relapse in adults.
Clearinghouse Rating: Promising
CEBC Rating: Not rated
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Parents
What it is: A cognitive therapy for treating depression or preventing depressive relapse in adults.
Clearinghouse Rating: Supported
CEBC Rating: Not rated
On the Way Home
What it is: A reunification program that helps families as a youth reenters the home from a stay in residential care.
Clearinghouse Rating: Promising
CEBC rating: Supported
Sacred Journey
What it is: An adaptation of Cognitive Processing Therapy (see above) for Indigenous adults.
Clearinghouse Rating: Does not meet criteria
CEBC Rating: Not rated
Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (Re-review)
What it is: A peer mentor approach to supporting parents on the path to sobriety
Clearinghouse Rating: Supported
CEBC Rating: Promising
