Taking an Evidence Based Parenting Program from the Cradle into the Community: A Case Study

Marion Forgatch, PhD
Oregon Social Learning Center

ABSTRACT:
Interventions for children and youth were developed and subjected to rigorous testing in the 20th century, resulting in a rich supply of parenting programs that produce positive outcomes. Unfortunately, these programs are seldom available in community service agencies today, leaving families unable to reap their benefits. An important challenge for the 21st century is to install these evidence based programs in community service agencies with fidelity, making them accessible to families seeking help. Yet, transferring these programs from the ivory towers where they were developed to the unruly field of practice is a delicate process facing many challenges. This presentation is a case study that describes the development of an evidence based parenting program, GenerationPMTO, and its entry into the field of implementation. GenerationPMTO is one of the progenitor parenting programs that prevents and reduces child and adolescent behavior problems (e.g., externalizing and internalizing behavior, delinquency, police arrests, and deviant peer association), with collateral family benefits that include improved marital relationships, increased income, and reduced maternal depression and police arrests (Patterson, Forgatch, & DeGarmo, 2010). Findings are presented from a Full Transfer approach to implementation, in which the program developer delivers governing authority to the adopting community. Implementation data are provided. Outcomes include adoption in terms of numbers of practitioners and settings, practitioner training in terms of % of trainees completing with certification, practitioner fidelity across multiple generations of trainees, and increasing reach. Data from prevention and clinical interventions from GenerationPMTO efficacy and effectiveness trials are provided for the intervention; implementation outcomes were obtained from four nationwide implementations (i.e., Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Denmark).