Connecting

Youth 11-15 years old currently in foster or relative care and their caregivers

Connecting is a program for foster/relative caregivers and the teens (11-15 years old) in their care. It uses a trauma-informed approach and is designed to help strengthen family relationships and help families develop skills to reduce risk of drug use, risky sexual behavior, and violence among teens. The program includes two DVDs and a workbook with step-by-step activities that families complete at their own pace. Families receive weekly check-in contacts from a trained family consultant to answer questions about the program, facilitate use of the materials, and encourage families to complete the program. The book includes ten chapters covering background information, activities for caregivers to do alone and to do together with the teen, and ideas to help caregivers take care of themselves. Each chapter has references to video segments on the DVDs to promote discussions between caregivers and teens, demonstrate skills, or provide examples of how other foster families have dealt with similar issues.

Kevin P. Haggerty, PhD, MSW

• Title: Director
• Agency/Affiliation: Social Development Research Group, University of Washington
• Website: http://www.sdrg.org
• Email: haggerty@uw.edu
• Phone: (206) 543-3188

The goals of Connecting are:

• Improve bonding between caregiver and foster teen
• Improve family management practices
• Prevent teen substance use
• Prevent teen risky sexual behavior
• Prevent teen violence
• Support LBGTQ+ youth in care

The essential components of Connecting include:

• Involves caregivers (foster parents or relative caregivers) in all aspects of program:
  • Teens are directly involved in a subset of the activities.
  • Caregivers read the workbook, do all exercises (some alone and some with the teen), view all of the video material.
  • This is a self-directed program with short weekly support contacts.
  • Caregivers enlist the teen to work on exercises and activities.
  • The family consultants communicate only with the caregiver and do not connect directly to the foster teens in the family.
• Uses a multimodal self-directed delivery system:
  • Materials are sent directly to the caregiver through the mail.
  • The Connecting caregiver workbook is designed to provide information, suggestions, and activities for caregivers and the teens in their care in a step-by-step easy-to-follow format
  • The Staying Connected with Your Teen DVD contains supportive video content with information and examples of problems that come up during adolescence with demonstrations of both skillful and unskilled responses by parents and teens.
  • The Connecting Youth Stories DVD includes video segments created by foster youth who share their stories of their journey into foster care and their experiences adjusting to their new homes.
• Focuses on key themes
  • Building and strengthening relationships between foster youth and their caregivers
  • Identifying teen risk factors and reducing them
  • Identifying teen protective factors and strengthening them
  • Improving and supporting calm communication in the family
  • Teaching responsive caregiving
  • Managing emotions
  • Building and maintaining teen involvement and contributions to the family
  • Setting family guidelines for safe and healthy living
  • Providing appropriate supervision without invading privacy
• Provides skill training for:
  • Calm communication
  • Emotion management
  • Family meetings
  • Setting and agreeing on family guidelines and consequences
  • Supervising and monitoring teens appropriately
• Uses materials and technology to make it flexible:
  • Connecting is a self-directed program, so caregivers are the drivers (no extra burden of attending meetings or classes outside of the home on a set schedule).
  • Activities are scheduled into the family’s busy home life.
  • Families can spend more time on topics they feel they need most, repeat activities they enjoy, and view video segments together or separately and as many times as they choose.
  • Weekly supportive communications with the family consultant are scheduled at the caregiver’s convenience and made through the caregiver’s preferred format (e.g., phone call, email, or texting).

Child/Adolescent Services

Connecting directly provides services to children and addresses the following:

• Youth 11-15 years of age with feelings of being alone and unsupported, family conflict, substance use, rule breaking, risky sexual behavior, delinquency, or violence

Parent/Caregiver Services

Connecting directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Foster parents or relative caregivers of youth 11-15 years of age with attachment problems and/or disruptive behaviors (such as teen substance use, teen rule breaking, teen risky sexual behavior, teen delinquency, and teen violence); the foster parents/relative caregivers may lack family management skills (such as establishing guidelines, monitoring, giving fair and consistent consequences), lack the ability to identify risky behaviors in youth, lack the knowledge of how to support LGBTQ+ youth, experience communication roadblocks, and/or experience family conflict

Recommended Intensity

30-60 minutes of caregiver-directed lessons/activities per week with weekly check-in contact with a trained family consultant which is typically 5-10 minutes by phone, email, or text

Recommended Duration

10-12 weeks

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Foster / Kinship Care

Homework

This program does include a homework component.

All of the program is delivered at home at the family’s own pace. Each chapter has self-care activities for youth and parents.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Family consultants need telephone and internet access. A single 50% time family consultant can provide support for 20 families at any given time.

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Family consultants typically have a master’s degree in social sciences and strong experience working with families or youth in the foster care system.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is no training available for this program.

Child Welfare Outcome: Child/Family Well-Being

“What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?”

• Haggerty, K. P., Skinner, M. L., MacKenzie, E. P., & Catalano, R. F. (2007). A randomized trial of Parents Who Care: Effects on key outcomes at 24-month follow-up. Prevention Science, 8(4), 249–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-007-0077-2

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 331 Families

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Children: Mean=13.7
  • Race/Ethnicity — Children: 168 European American and 163 African American
  • Gender — Children: 149 Male and 152 Female
  • Status —

    Participants were parents and youth who identified as White or Black recruited from the Seattle school district.

  Location/Institution: Seattle public schools

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to test the efficacy of Parents Who Care© (PWC) [now called Connecting] with African American (AA) and European American (EA) youth. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: parent-adolescent group-administered PWC (PA), self-administered PWC with telephone support (SA) [Connecting], or no-treatment control. Measures utilized include teen self-reports on drug use and the Communities That Care Youth Survey. Results indicate that there was no effect of PWC on rate of change in attitudes about drug use or frequency of delinquent or violent behavior. Both program formats reduced favorable attitudes toward drug use among youth, and AA youth in the self-administered intervention reported significantly less violent behavior than their control counterparts. No effects were found for drug use harm or delinquency. Finally, logistic regression predicting a combined outcome measure of initiation of alcohol, tobacco, drug use, and/or sexual activity found AA youth in both the group- and self-administered intervention conditions significantly less likely to initiate substance use and/or sexual activity than those in the control condition. Odds ratios indicated the chances of initiating sex or substance use were reduced by almost 70% for AA teens in the SA condition compared to controls, and 75% for the AA teens in the PA condition compared to controls. Limitations include reliance on project-developed and self-report measures; the small sample size; and that both intervention conditions in this study were paid up to $100 for their participation in the programs, which may limit the generalizability of the program.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 1 and 2 years.

• Haggerty, K. P., Skinner, M. L., Catalano, R. F., Abbott, R. D., & Crutchfield, R. D. (2015). Long-term effects of Staying Connected with Your Teen® on drug use frequency at age 20. Prevention Science, 16, 538–549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-014-0525-8

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 301 Families

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Children: 18–22 years (Mean=19.7 years)
  • Race/Ethnicity — Children: 140 Black and 161 White
  • Gender — Children: 152 Female and 149 Male
  • Status —

    Participants were parents and youth who identified as White or Black recruited from the Seattle school district.

  Location/Institution: Seattle public schools

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Haggerty et al. (2007). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of Staying Connected with Your Teen^® [now called Connecting]. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: parent-adolescent group-administered (PA), self-administered with telephone support (SA) [Connecting], or no-treatment control. Measures utilized include the Family Environment Scale and the Social Development Model Observational Coding System (SDM-OCS). Results indicate that at age 20, drug use frequency was significantly higher among White participants than Black participants. The PA intervention had direct effects on reducing drug use frequency for both Black and White participants. The SA intervention had an impact on family stressors during adolescence for White participants, but not for Black participants. Results suggest that both formats for delivery were modestly efficacious for White participants, but only direct delivery was modestly efficacious for Black participants. Limitations include the small sample size, some of the sample was lost to attrition, and a lack of generalizability to other ethnic populations.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Approximately 4–6 years.

• Haggerty, K. P., Barkan, S. E., Skinner, M. L., Packard, W. B., & Cole, J. J. (2016). Feasibility of Connecting, a substance-abuse prevention program for foster teens and their caregivers. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(4), 639–659. https://doi.org/10.1086/686986

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 60

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Parents: Mean=47 years; Children: 11–15 years (Mean=13.5 years)
  • Race/Ethnicity — Caregivers: 74% White, 12% Black, 9% Native American, and 5% Asian/Pacific Islander; Children: 48% White, 15% Black, 30% Native American, 7% Hispanic, and 3% Asian/Pacific Islander
  • Gender — Parents: 83% Female; Children: 63% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were caregivers and foster children in the child welfare system.

  Location/Institution: Not specified

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to test the feasibility, usability, and proximal outcomes of Connecting, an adaptation of Staying Connected with Your Teen, with foster families. Participants were randomly assigned into the self-administered program with telephone support from a family consultant or a waitlist control condition. Measures utilized include the Family Environment Scale and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Results indicate that overall satisfaction with the program was high, with 100% of foster parents reporting that they would recommend the program to other caregivers and that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the program. Program completion was good, with 62% of families completing all 91 specified tasks. Analyses of proximal outcomes revealed increased communication about sex and substance use in the intervention relative to the control condition. Teens in the intervention versus the waitlist condition reported lower family conflict and more family rules related to monitoring and media use. Caregivers in the waitlist group reported significant increases in the teens’ positive involvements after receiving the intervention. Limitations include the use of project-developed measures without established psychometrics, small sample size, attrition, sample bias, and lack of follow-up.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Haggerty, K. P., Barkan, S. E., Skinner, M. L., & Hanson, K. (2021). Proximal outcomes of Connecting, an evidence-based, family-focused prevention program for caregivers of adolescents in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 126, Article 106009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106009

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 220

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Children: 11–15 years (Mean=12.3 years)
  • Race/Ethnicity — Children: 47% White/Anglo, 30% Latinx, 15% African American, 12% Native American, 6% Asian, and 3% Pacific Islander
  • Gender — Children: 54% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were caregivers and foster children in the child welfare system.

  Location/Institution: Washington, United States

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to test proximal outcomes of Connecting, a low-cost, self-directed, family-based substance-use prevention program for foster families. Participants were randomly assigned to Connecting or to a treatment-as-usual control group. Measures utilized include a study-developed questionnaire that measured the following domains: Problem Solving, Intervention‑specific Communication, Bonding Communication, Recognition, Family Conflict, Involvement in Making Guidelines, Monitoring, Inconsistent Discipline, Norms Favorable to Drugs and Violence, and Refusal Skills. Results indicate that foster youth in the program were significantly more likely than controls to report improved problem-solving skills, involvement in making family rules, and caregiver recognition for positive behavior at posttest. Improvement was observed in youth reports of intervention-specific communications and improved refusal skills. Limitations include not testing moderating factors and only evaluating short‑term impacts.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Haggerty, K. P., Barkan, S. E., Caouette, J. D., Skinner, M. L., & Hanson, K. G. (2023). Two-year risk behavior outcomes from Connecting, a prevention program for caregivers and youth in foster care. Prevention Science, 24(1), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01390-4

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 220

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Children: 13–17 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — Children: 47% White/Anglo, 30% Latinx, 15% African American, 12% Native American, 6% Asian, and 3% Pacific Islander
  • Gender — Children: 54% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were caregivers and foster children in the child welfare system.

  Location/Institution: Washington, United States

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Haggerty et al. (2021). The purpose of the study was to test risk behavior outcomes of Connecting, a low‑cost, self‑directed, family‑based prevention program for families with youth placed in their care by state child welfare agencies, with one‑ and two‑year follow‑up assessments planned to evaluate sustained impacts. Participants were randomly assigned to Connecting or to a treatment-as-usual control group. Measures utilized include a study-developed questionnaire that measured the following domains: Substance use, delinquent behaviors, and sexual behavior. Results indicate that intervention effects at 24-month follow-up were found to be moderated by age. Among 16- to 17-year-old youth at follow-up, there was an intervention benefit yielding reduced use of any substance and nonviolent delinquency. There was no intervention effect among adolescents aged 13 to 15 years for any risk behaviors. Limitations include insufficient stratification and power for older youth despite significant effects among adolescents aged 16–17 years, no intervention effect among adolescents aged 13–15 years for any risk behaviors, exclusion of higher‑risk participants, and limited ability to test moderation by age, placements, or pandemic-related disruptions, thus reducing generalizability.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 12 and 24 months.

There are currently no references available for Connecting.