Program Delivery Option: Virtual (Online, Smartphone, Zoom, Telephone, Video, etc.)

Pathways to Success is an intensive, youth-driven case management model with the long-term goal of preventing homelessness among youth with foster care experience. The model is built around case managers, called Navigators, who are trained in a case management approach called Engaging Youth in a Coach-Like Way. In this approach, Navigators develop a coaching relationship to support youth. Youth direct the intervention by setting goals related to the outcome areas of housing, education, employment, health and well-being, and permanent connections. Meanwhile, Navigators deploy an individualized services array tailored to each youth’s needs, strengths, and goals. In addition to Engaging Youth in a Coach-like Way, Navigators use a variety of tools and resources to support youth in these domains, such as flex funds and referrals to relevant resources.

HOP-C is a critical time intervention that was developed in response to research outlining the psychosocial challenges faced by youth in the transition out of homelessness. HOP-C involves wraparound supports (e.g., intensive case management, specialized mental health support, and peer workers) that youth can engage with flexibly throughout their time in the project. HOP-C workers also coordinate with other professionals/agencies (e.g., existing case workers, housing workers, employment workers, etc.) to provide individualized support to each youth. Furthermore, peer workers organize and facilitate social outings and drop-ins for youth. The desired outcomes of this program relate to maintaining stable housing, pursuing/maintaining school/employment, improving mental health outcomes and promoting greater well-being and quality of life.

PreVenture^® is a prevention and early intervention program for youth aged 12 to 18 years. The program offers brief, workshops that teach personality-specific cognitive-behavioral skills to youth to promote mental health and reduce the risk of substance use.

PreVenture^® aims to promote self-efficacy and cognitive-behavioral skills among youth to help them cope with the numerous developmental challenges that many young people face, such as academic stress, peer pressure, interpersonal conflict, and identity development. This personalized approach aims to empower young people to build resilience and develop effective coping strategies to help them better manage their personality style. The program is delivered in two 90-minute personality-focused workshops (either online or in-person) either in a school or community setting and involves group and individual exercises, is manual-based, but guided by a trained facilitator.

The Be Strong Families’ (BSF) Parent Café Program is designed to provide a space for parents and caregivers to engage in facilitated, peer-driven discussions that foster self-reflection and strengthen protective factors for families. The program is built around the Strengthening Families Protective/Promotive Factors Framework and focuses on building connections between parents, promoting resilience, and developing strategies for addressing the challenges parents face. The Parent Café model is flexible and can be implemented in various settings, including schools, community organizations, and child welfare systems. Facilitators lead discussions, offer resources, and guide parents through topics that enhance parenting skills, create safer home environments, and support positive child outcomes.

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up – Early Childhood (ABC-EC), developed for children ages 2 through 4, targets several key issues that have been identified as problematic among children who have experienced adversity and/or demonstrate socioemotional or behavioral concerns. These young children often behave in ways that push caregivers away. The first intervention component is designed to help caregivers reinterpret children’s behavioral signals so that they provide nurturance even when it is not elicited. Nurturance does not come naturally to many caregivers, but children who have experienced adversity especially need nurturing care. Thus, the intervention aims to help caregivers provide nurturing care even if it does not come naturally. Second, many children who have experienced adversity are dysregulated behaviorally and biologically. The second intervention component is designed to help caregivers provide a responsive, predictable, warm environment that enhances young children’s behavioral and regulatory capabilities. The intervention aims to help caregivers follow their children’s lead with delight. The third intervention component is designed to help caregivers implement calming strategies and be present psychologically and physically when their child is dysregulated.

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up – Infant (ABC-I) is rated separately on this website.

F4C is an individual clinical intervention for fathers who have used violence with their partners and/or children and may have co-occurring substance misuse. F4C addresses 9 individually focused core topics, 4 co-parent communication topics, and 5 father-child focused topics in 60-minute individual therapy sessions over 18-24 weeks. In the context of a strong working alliance developed through focus on fatherhood, F4C employs a continual emphasis on reflective functioning and emotion regulation skills. Improvement in these targets in turn leads to reduced IPV and child maltreatment. F4C motivates the father to change by continually recognizing his desire to be a better parent and facilitating his ability to reflect on the experiences of his co-parent and children and learn skills to manage his emotions to improve outcomes for his family. It offers optional coparent and child participation in some sessions of the intervention when deemed appropriate and safe by the treating therapist.

NTDC, the comprehensive no-cost curriculum, is designed to tackle separation, loss, grief, and trauma in adoption and foster care. This cutting-edge resource offers adoptive, kinship, and foster parents flexible education that aims to empower them over the course of time and at the right time. Training is provided both as a synchronous classroom-based learning experience and through asynchronous “Right-Time” online modules that are available at any time for NTDC participants to build further knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy. While this training originated from key concepts to support children with intense service needs, it is designed to be used in any out-of-home placement, including with kin or adoptive caregivers.

Note: NTDC has also adapted to address the unique needs of indigenous communities; however, this separate manualized version is not part of this program review.

The Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP) provides a comprehensive approach for children facing the lasting effects of trauma and attachment disruption. Through a fully integrated model combining attachment-focused therapy with trauma-informed practices, DTAP is designed to address foundational needs for trust, emotional regulation, and resilience.

DTAP also prioritizes caregiver involvement, creating a context for healing that is designed to strengthen the family system and foster lasting change.

Fatherhood Is Sacred®, Motherhood Is Sacred® (FISMIS) is Native American Fatherhood and Families Association’s foundational program that is designed to help strengthen families by empowering and uplifting fathers and mothers. The program teaches core principles to help strengthen them as parents. Native people believe in the sanctity of many things: animals, mountains, burial grounds, etc., but the most sacred are their roles as fathers and mothers. FIS/MIS is a program for those wanting to improve family relationships, prepare to become responsible parents, reduce recidivism and substance abuse, and improve safety for their children. This course is uniquely designed with culturally relevant material to teach parents the vital impact of being responsibly involved in each child’s life.

Wysa is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven mental health support program designed to provide anonymous, 24/7 access to mental health care through conversational AI that guides users through exercises, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The program is structured to help individuals manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other common mental health challenges.

Wysa is designed to create a supportive and nonjudgmental environment, offering personalized tools such as thought reframing, relaxation exercises, and goal setting to promote emotional well-being. The desired outcome after the usage of the app is the reduction of symptomatology linked to these common mental health concerns, and the improvement of well-being and resilience.