Evaluation of the 2013 Community Violence Prevention Program's Parent Program

• NCJ Number: 250365
• Author(s): Jessica Reichert
• Date Published: October 2014
• Length: 74 pages
• Grant Number(s): 09-DJ-BX-0023; 10-DJ-BX-0015
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
• Sale Source: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Publication Format: Document; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents the findings and methodology of the evaluation of Illinois' 2013 Community Violence Prevention Program's Parent Program, which trained parents in how to develop family-based and community-based protective factors against child maltreatment.

Abstract

The program focused on training a group of "Parent Leaders," who would be prepared to conduct similar programs for parents in their communities. Overall, this program caused a statistically significant increase in parent participants' mean scores on such protective factors from the beginning of the program to the end. The program also showed a statistically significant increase in mean scores on family functioning and resiliency. Most of the participants agreed with positive statements on the training (94 percent, n=622), trainers (96 percent, n=677), and what they learned (96 percent, n=677). Some training participants suggested spending more time on "parent cafes," in which small groups of participants discussed course content and its implications for family life. Almost half of the Parent Leaders surveyed learned about the program from a community agency. Almost all of the Parent Leaders used what they learned in the training both during the program and later in their daily lives. One hundred of the Parent Leaders suggested making no changes to the program, and 43 favored expanding it to a year-round program. A majority of the administrative team members surveyed gave a high rating to the training (86 percent, n=41). According to administrative data, Parent Leaders dedicated 5,268 hours to 113 different community service projects. Many administrative team members thought the service projects improved the community, and most thought the service projects increased protective factors for preventing child maltreatment. The evaluation concludes that the Parent Program achieved its goal of building protective factors in families by training just over 1,000 parents to complete service projects. 16 tables, 16 figures, 26 references, and appended protective factors survey