Training community‐based professionals to implement an empirically supported parenting program

Abstract

Professionals representing 14 community‐based organizations were trained at three different sites serving urban and rural families to implement an empirically supported parenting program for families of young children with challenging behaviors. Of the 44 practitioners trained, 23 successfully completed the program, which involved passing a knowledge test and facilitating the entire 10‐session program with a family. A total of 28, primarily low‐income families completed the program. The family outcomes obtained by the facilitators, based on multiple pre‐program and post‐program measures, were comparable with those reported previously in the literature for facilitators trained in university settings. The challenges inherent in efforts to increase the community’s capacity to implement empirically supported programs are addressed.

Keywords:

• Parenting
• Professional training
• Young children

Acknowledgement

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Child Abuse Prevention Fund, Milwaukee, WI, USA.