Pathways Home: Reducing Risk in the Child Welfare System

描述(由申请人提供)： 这是一个探索性的、多学科的中心，其总体目标是为儿童福利系统(CWS)中的儿童及其家庭开发有效和可行的育儿干预措施。行政核心将为所有研究和培训活动提供基础设施和支持，包括协调所有中心活动中咨询小组所有成员和协作顾问的互动和投入。此外，文化能力核心将在与文化服务有关的复杂文化问题上提供指导和培训。中心的活动将由三个相互关联的项目领域确定。由于现在很清楚，最有力的干预措施正是由发展和流行病学研究提供信息的，因此项目领域1的活动将侧重于将现有的药物使用和反社会行为发展模式转化和推广到儿童及其家庭。关于家庭在过渡回家期间面临的日常挑战，人们知之甚少。由于这类信息对于制定有针对性的育儿干预措施至关重要，项目区2将通过在两项正在进行的随机研究中观察儿童从寄养中心安置归来的家庭；在儿童福利中心与亲生父母和利益攸关方开展焦点小组；以及试行组成部分干预战略，从而获得关于这一转变的大量第一手信息。项目领域3的活动将集中在为从寄养家庭返回家中的儿童的家庭制定和执行干预措施的随机疗效试验。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for an exploratory, multi-disciplinary center, with the overarching goal of developing effective and feasible parenting interventions for children and their families in the Child Welfare System (CWS). An Administrative core will provide infrastructure and support for all research and training activities, including coordination of interactions and input from all members of the advisory group and collaborating consultants across the all center activities. In addition, a Cultural Competency core will provide guidance and training in the complex cultural issues relevant to the CWS. The center activities will be defined by three inter related project areas. Because it is now clear that the most powerful interventions are precisely informed by developmental and epidemiological research, activities in Project Area 1 will be focused on translating and extending existing developmental models of the development of substance use and antisocial behavior to children and their families in the CWS. Little is known about the day-to-day challenges faced by families during the transition home. Because such information is crucial for the development of targeted parenting interventions, Project Area 2 will focus on gaining substantial first hand information about this transition by observing families as children return home from foster care placements in two ongoing randomized studies; conducting focus groups with biological parents and stakeholders in the CWS; and piloting component intervention strategies. Activities in Project Area 3 will center on the development and execution of randomized efficacy trials of interventions for families of children returning home from foster care.