Broken Boughs
An interesting 68 page report from Maxim on the role of effective family interventions. They have actually done an evaluation of the dufferent family intervention programmes.
Their conclusion is:
We conclude that the preferred approach to family intervention is to develop and implement programmes that are family-focused, intervene early and are targeted to children and families that are at risk or experiencing actual problems.
They evaluate seven programmes:
- Family Start
- Parents as First Teachers
- Early Start
- Whanau Toko I Te Ora
- The Parenting Programme;
- Incredible Years
- Triple P.
And their recommendations:
- Three programmes should be further implemented and funded: Early Start, the Incredible Years and Triple P.
- A comprehensive review of exemplary, evidence-based home visitation and parent management training programmes should
be undertaken to identify other programmes that might be suitable for implementation and funding in New Zealand. - Funding should be carefully allocated. Existing funding from unproven and/or ineffective programmes like Family Start and Parents as First Teachers should be reallocated to evidence-based programmes.
Continued funding should be conditional on programmes continuing to demonstrate that they are effective and delivered with fidelity.