Parent Training Programs that Address Child Abuse and Neglect

Family Foundations is a series of classes delivered before and after birth that focuses on supporting couples having a baby. The classes focus on individual parent adjustment (stress, depression, anxiety) and self-regulation; coparenting cooperation and support; and early parenting sensitivity. Variations of Family Foundations exist for other populations (e.g., low-income teen parents, low-income and lower-education adult parents, military families, and parents with a child recently diagnosed with autism), but have not been reviewed by the CEBC.

Reminiscing and Emotion Training (RET) is a brief, relational intervention designed to improve the caregiver-child relationship, improve caregiver emotion socialization, and to facilitate healthy development among children (aged 3-6 years) who have experienced, or who are at risk for, child maltreatment. Relational interventions aim to address the adverse consequences of maltreatment and prevent future maltreatment through the enhancement of the caregiver-child relationship. RET is designed to shift parents of young children towards sensitive parenting which emphasizes verbal interactions, including supportive guidance during discussion of children’s emotions.

RET includes 6 home visiting sessions for parents and children, teaches parents skills and strategies for improving parent-child communication and reminiscing, and includes caregiver-child activities to support emotion socialization. Features include videorecording of caregiver–child reminiscing to practice skills and enhance caregiver insight, focusing on positive feedback to highlight positive moments and build caregiver competence and motivation in emotion socialization, and introducing simple emotion-focused parent–child activities.

SafeCare® is an in-home parent training program that targets risk factors for child neglect and physical abuse in which parents are taught skills in three module areas: (1) how to interact in a positive manner with their children, to plan activities, and respond appropriately to challenging child behaviors, (2) to recognize hazards in the home in order to improve the home environment, and (3) to recognize and respond to symptoms of illness and injury, in addition to keeping good health records. All three modules should be used in the implementation of SafeCare®; any modifications to or elimination of modules need to be discussed with the program developers.

The overall Triple P program is a multi-tiered system of 5 levels of education and support for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents. Although Triple P can be used in parts (e.g., using only one level of the five or a group version versus standard), this entry on the CEBC reviews System Triple P as a whole (i.e., using all 5 levels) in its standard version and only reviewed research evidence that evaluated the whole system. The CEBC also evaluated Triple P Level 4 as a separate program and it is rated a "1 - Well-Supported Research Evidence" on the Scientific Rating Scale in the areas of Parent Training Programs That Address Behavior Problems in Children and Adolescents and Disruptive Behavior Treatment (Child & Adolescent).

As a prevention program, System Triple P helps parents learn strategies that promote social competence and self-regulation in children. Parents become better equipped to handle the stress of everyday child rearing and children become better able to respond positively to their individual developmental challenges. As an early intervention, System Triple P can assist families in greater distress by working with parents of children who are experiencing moderate to severe behavior problems. Throughout the program, parents are encouraged to develop a parenting plan that makes use of a variety of System Triple P strategies and tools. System Triple P practitioners are trained, therefore, to work with parents' strengths and to provide a supportive, non-judgmental environment where a parent can continually improve their parenting skills.

Celebrating Families! is a family-inclusive, trauma-informed, skill-building program. It was designed to improve parenting skills, family functioning, and family relationships for families dealing with a multitude of challenges: multigenerational trauma; substance use disorders; compromised safety (child maltreatment and family violence); with resulting physical and mental health challenges and cognitive deficits. Its goal is to help children and families to be healthy, responsible and addiction free. Objectives include increasing resiliency and protective factors and reducing risk factors and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Celebrating Families!can be administered via both in-person and online (virtual) formats. The program is available in Spanish, ¡Celebrando Familias!

Although they have not been reviewed by the CEBC, two other adaptations are available: a version for Native American families, Wellbriety Celebrating Families and an additional component addressing critical parenting skills for young children, Celebrating Families! 0-3.

CPC-CBT: Empowering Families Who Are at Risk for Physical Abuse is a short-term (16-20 sessions), strength-based therapy program for children ages 3-17 and their parents (or caregivers) in families where parents engage in a continuum of coercive parenting strategies. These families can include those who have been substantiated for physical abuse, those who have had multiple unsubstantiated referrals, and those who fear they may lose control with their child. Children may present with PTSD symptoms, depression, externalizing behaviors and a host of difficulties that are targeted within CPC-CBT. The program is grounded in cognitive behavioral theory and incorporates elements (e.g., trauma narrative and processing, positive reinforcement, timeout, behavioral contracting) from CBT models for families who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and/or domestic violence, as well as elements from motivational, family systems, trauma, and developmental theories. CPC-CBT helps the child heal from the trauma of the physical abuse, empowers and motivates parents to modulate their emotions and use effective non-coercive parenting strategies, and strengthens parent-child relationships while helping families stop the cycle of violence.

MPAP is a comprehensive curriculum designed to strengthen parenting skills and provide support to highly stressed parents of children from birth to 8 years of age. Grounded in the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework that aims to reduce the potential for child abuse, MPAP helps parents gain the tools to manage their own life challenges while developing skills to nurture the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of their children. MPAP brings parents together to share and normalize their parenting experiences, learn about typical early childhood development and parenting strategies, and develop a support network.

Parents meet in two-hour interactive discussion sessions for 12 weeks in small groups, facilitated by professional parent educators. Topics range from self-care to child development and dealing with challenging behaviors.

Haga de la Paternidad un Placer is a culturally adapted, Spanish-language version of Make Parenting a Pleasure for Spanish speaking families.

The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their School Age Children 5 to 11 Years is a 15-session program that is group-based, and family-centered. During group sessions, parents and their children attend separate groups that meet concurrently. Each session is scheduled for 2.5 hours with a 20-minute break in which parents and children get together and have fun.

The lessons in the program are based on the known parenting behaviors that contribute to child maltreatment:

• Inappropriate parental expectations
• Parental lack of empathy in meeting the needs of their children
• Strong belief in the use of corporal punishment
• Reversing parent-child family roles
• Oppressing children's power and independence

Assessment (pre, process, and post) of parent's parenting and child rearing beliefs, knowledge, and skills allows the program facilitators to measure the attainment of lesson competencies.

Parents Anonymous® is designed to be both a prevention and treatment program that strengthens families that are at risk of becoming (or already are) involved in the child welfare system, have behavioral health challenges, substance use disorders or face other family issues. It is open to any parent or caregiver in a parenting role who is seeking emotional support, personal growth and change, and to improve parent, child and youth well-being regardless of the age or special challenges of their children or youth including severe emotional concerns. Services include weekly support groups, peer parent partner services (such as advocacy, kinship navigator services, in-home parenting, and supportive services including linkages to community resources), and helpline services. The Parents Anonymous® program aims to mitigate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for parents/caregivers and prevent the occurrence of ACEs for their children and teens. The program also aims to build on the strengths of all family members and enhance family well-being by increasing protective factors through trauma-informed practices and decreasing risks, substance abuse, and domestic violence.