Social Work intervention training for Maltreating Families of Infants, Toddlers

描述(由申请人提供)：虐待儿童对儿童有公认的、广泛的和长期的负面影响。大多数遭受虐待并通过儿童福利系统接受服务的儿童仍留在家中与照顾者在一起。虽然对育儿服务的需求很广泛，但很少有干预计划被证明在减少CWS人群中的虐待和忽视儿童方面有效，特别是对婴幼儿。CWS交付系统内的社会服务从业者必须具备向虐待父母提供简短干预的能力。这份R01提案名为“培训社会工作提供者：对虐待婴幼儿家庭的干预”，是对社会福利提供者培训计划的评估，该计划旨在对因虐待和忽视儿童而被儿童保护服务机构调查的家庭实施简短的基于依恋理论的干预。该计划(促进第一关系[PFR]；Kelly，Buehlman，&Caldwell，2000)将在两个层面上进行测试：通过社会福利实践和儿童和家庭成果层面。社会服务提供者将接受培训，向华盛顿州斯诺霍米什县社会和卫生服务部正在调查虐待行为的家庭提供PFR。随后，将接受CPS调查的家庭招募到研究中，并随机分配到试验组(接受PFR干预)或对照组(接受资源和转介)。本研究的具体目的是：(1)通过测量培训前和培训后的服务提供策略以及与虐待家庭的互动，测试社区社会福利服务提供者在使用基于依恋的干预措施方面的有效性；(2)通过比较被确定为虐待的父母的婴儿/幼儿的再转介率、转诊严重程度和寄养安置，来测试基于关系和基于依恋的干预的效果；(3)通过比较实验组和对照组的重要结果(依恋安全感、情绪调节、行为和发展功能)，对依恋干预对儿童幸福感的有效性进行测试。相关性虐待儿童是一个严重的公共卫生问题，每年影响全国近100万儿童。为高危家庭建立有效的循证干预措施对于减少虐待的破坏性长期影响至关重要。这项拟议的研究测试了有充分证据的以关系为基础的干预(促进第一次关系)在改善因虐待而被转介到CPS的家庭的结果方面的可行性和有效性。 公共卫生相关性：虐待儿童是一个严重的公共卫生问题，每年影响全国近100万儿童。为高危家庭建立有效的循证干预措施对于减少虐待的破坏性长期影响至关重要。这项拟议的研究测试了基于关系的干预在改善因虐待而被转介CPS的家庭结果方面的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Child maltreatment has well-established, wide-ranging, and long-term negative effects on children. Most children who have experienced maltreatment and are receiving services through the Child Welfare System (CWS) remain in their homes with their caregivers. While the need for parenting services is extensive, few intervention programs have proven to be efficacious in reducing child abuse and neglect within the CWS population, especially for infants and toddlers. It is essential that social service practitioners within the CWS delivery system are equipped to provide brief interventions to maltreating parents. This R01 proposal, "Training Social Work Providers: Intervention for Maltreating Families of Infants and Toddlers," is an evaluation of a training program for social welfare providers to implement a brief attachment theory-based intervention to families who have been investigated for child abuse and neglect by Child Protective Services. The program (Promoting First Relationships [PFR]; Kelly, Buehlman, & Caldwell, 2000) will be tested at two levels: through social welfare practice and at the level of outcomes for children and families. Social service providers will be trained to deliver PFR to families under investigation for maltreatment by the Department of Social and Health Services, Snohomish County, Washington State. Subsequently, families under investigation by CPS will be recruited into the study and randomly assigned to the experimental group (receiving the PFR intervention) or to the comparison group (receiving the resource and referral). The specific aims of this study are to (1) Test the effectiveness of training community social welfare service providers in the use of attachment-based interventions by measuring their pre-training and post-training service provision strategies and interactions with maltreating families; (2) To test the effects of a relationship and attachment-based intervention with infants/toddlers of parents identified as maltreating by comparing them to a control group on rates of re-referral to CPS, severity of referral, and foster care placement; and (3) To conduct a test of the effectiveness of an attachment-based intervention on child well-being by comparing experimental and comparison groups on important outcomes (attachment security, emotional regulation, behavior, and developmental functioning). RELEVANCE Child maltreatment is a serious public health issue, affecting close to a million children nationally every year. The establishment of effective evidence-based interventions for high-risk families is essential to curtail the devastating long-term effects of maltreatment. The proposed study tests the feasibility and effectiveness of a well-documented relationship-based intervention (Promoting First Relationships) in improving outcomes for families referred to CPS for maltreatment. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Child maltreatment is a serious public health issue, affecting close to a million children nationally every year. The establishment of effective evidence-based interventions for high-risk families is essential to curtail the devastating long-term effects of maltreatment. The proposed study tests the effectiveness of a relationship-based intervention in improving outcomes for families referred to CPS for maltreatment.