|
Parent
Aide Model Affects Families Positively
National
Exchange Club Center Symposium Palm Springs - July 20, 2010
Results
of a Federally Funded evaluation of Parent Aide programs were
released today. Parent Aides provide in home support to families
at risk or involved with child abuse and neglect. The National
Exchange Club has been providing Parent Aide services across
the United States since 1979 as their national project. In
2003 George Bryan then Executive Director of the Exchange
Club SCAN Center in Winston-Salem and currently CEO of The
Children's Home and N.C. District Exchange Club Foundation
Administrator, was awarded a federal grant on behalf of the
National Exchange Club Foundation for the Prevention of Child
Abuse to study the effects of Parent Aide intervention on
child abuse. Neil Guterman, currently Dean of the Social Work
Department of the University of Chicago was engaged as the
Principal Investigator for the evaluation.
Six Centers
in North Carolina were chosen to participate in the Study.
A randomly assigned group of families was investigated. One
group received Parent Aide services using a tightly defined
and uniformly managed services and the other group received
only Case Management services. The evaluation compared the
results of the two groups examining changes in four areas-
safety of child, better parenting skills, better problem-solving
skills, and increased social support -using nine validated
instruments administered by two consistent masters level social
workers who were "blind" to the random assignment
of the families to one of the groups. The attrition of tested
parents was negligible and over 73% were present for three
periodic tests: pre, at six months, and at twelve months.
The two groups had no significant differences in demographics
and the dosage of services between Case Managed and Parent
Aide was significant.
Families
receiving Parent Aide services had reduced parental stress,
maternal depression and maternal anxiety. In addition this
was corroborated by clear reductions in psychological aggression
and physical assault of their children. The families evaluated
showed greater mastery of parental skills. These initial results
substantiate the findings of large retrospective study of
over 800 families served over a period of twenty years which
showed positive changes in families. Project Director, George
Bryan, reported that "these very positive and well researched
results will encourage more Parent Aide services to families
throughout the country and prove scientifically the amazing
changes that the 75 Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Centers
around the country have experienced for the last thirty years."
The analysis
of data will continue to examine the results of the twelve
month testing and the effects of covariates within the evaluation.
Further results will be released as they are studied.
Others
involved with the evaluation included Catherine Taylor, PhD.
University Tulane, Cynthia Napoleon-Hanger M.Ed., CEO and
site manager of Exchange SCAN, JiYoung Tabone PhD. and Aaron
Banman MSW.
Parent aide services linked with:
*Reduced maternal stress, maternal depression, maternal anxiety
*Increased parental mastery
*Reduced psychological aggression and physical assault toward
child
Parent
aide services linked with:
*Mild to negligible positive (non-statistically significant)
trend on other risk factors (e.g., maternal hostility, male
partner drug use)
*Mild positive (non-statistically significant) trend on other
protective factors (e.g., father involvement)
*Mild to negligible positive (non-statistically significant)
trend on self-reported physical abuse and neglect indicators
Particular Strengths:
*First Randomized Trial of Parent Aide Services
*Evidence of high internal and external validity
|