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SafeCare Goes Hollywood
Several NSTRC faculty and staff as well as outside partners have had their moment in the bright lights recently!
The SafeCare program was highlighted by two Atlanta based media outlets. Dr. Shannon Self-Brown was interviewed by Mariela Romero of the Univision concerning the SafeCare model. Univision serves the Latino market and an estimated 45,000 viewers watched the interview, which can be seen here: Univision Interview
In May, the Atlanta CBS affiliate, WGLC-Atlanta interviewed Dr. Daniel Whitaker, and Mrs. Avais Arkwright-Jones, SafeCare Trainer, about SafeCare and its work in Georgia. Also interviewed was a young mother, Ms. Constance Bankston, who had completed the SafeCare model, and Mrs. Susan Boatwright of the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services. The story focused on child maltreatment broadly, the SafeCare model, and its impact on families. The story aired on May 12 on Peachtree TV with a viewership of approximately 60,000. The full set of interviews can be viewed here: CBS Interview
A New Era for SafeCare
Updated and Revised Curriculum and Workshops
Jenelle Shanley, Ph.D.
Over the last several years, NSTRC has worked diligently to update and enhance our curriculum and workshops. This process began with the evaluation of what is working and not working so well with the previous version of the program, and what current literature is important to integrate into SafeCare. Overall, we revised the parent materials into more parent friendly handouts with enhanced explanations, examples, and illustrations. The HV materials have also been overhauled to reduce common areas of confusion and difficulties in delivery to parents. The HV, Coach, and Trainer workshops have been modified to optimize trainees’ experiences and knowledge gained across training. Also we have revised the certification process and support from Coaches and to Trainers.
Each module has undergone specific changes to enhance the content delivered to parents. The PAT steps for PCI are now more succinct and are clearer as to when to use the skills in various activities, now referred to as the Child Planned Activities Training skills (cPAT skills). PII was enhanced by integrating parent training on infant states (e.g., awake-alert, excited), as well as discussions about infant crying and shaken baby syndrome. The Safety module involved the least change, focusing on reworking the hazard definitions to be more succinct and user friendly for HVs. Finally, Health involved the largest revisions, inspired by our international modifications. The scenarios were simplified to five steps consistent across all three types of scenarios (now referred to as Emergency—ER, Doctor’s Appointment—DA, and Care at Home—CH). Also, the multiple items involved in conducting scenarios were collapsed into one document for ease of delivery to parents.
With all new sites we disseminate the new materials and are working with previously trained sites to transition to the new curriculum through a brief training. The response from existing and new sites has been overwhelmingly positive! Desiree Tarr, Coach for the providers at Parent Aid in Tucson, AZ commented “my staff really like the way that the cPAT Assessment form has been broken down into three different sections, before, during, and end. It has been easier to explain to our parents and the skills don’t seem as overwhelming when they are broken down into the three different sections.” If your organization is interested in learning more about how to obtain this training and the new materials, please contact me via email (jshanley@gsu.edu).
SafeCare is excited to begin a new partnership with the state of Colorado focused on extending the reach of the SafeCare program. This newly funded work will include a multi-year collaboration between the state of Colorado, the Kempe Center, and the National SafeCare Training and Research Center. The goal of the project is to implement SafeCare statewide as part of prevention services for young children. To kick-off the work, Dr. Self-Brown travelled to Colorado in June and visited 4 cities in 4 days with state partners and national colleagues, including Leah Garbe, Katherine Casillas, and Des Runyan from The Kempe Center, and Mark Chaffin from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The new implementation work is scheduled to begin this fall, with the training of 18 new SafeCare home visitors. We look forward to this exciting work in the wild west!
 
P.S. In addition to meeting wonderful people who dedicate their lives to the work of child maltreatment prevention across Colorado, one of the most exciting parts of Dr. Self-Brown’s trip was flying on the Colorado governor’s plane from Rifle, CO to Denver, CO! Check out the photos!
Big Apple Implementation
We are excited to add New York to the ever increasing list of states implementing SafeCare. However, this implementation has been a unique and knowledgeable experience for NSTRC. First, this is one of the initial sites where our NSTRC Trainers are overseeing all providers as they work through their HV Certification. At about 6 months post-training, we will train 3 providers at the Coach level to provide internal HV support. In addition to this support change, this implementation is unique in that it involves several organizations focused on the success of this implementation. The New York City’s Administration for Children's Services (ACS) reached out to us last year as they began to encourage greater focus on evidence-based practices to be delivered with families. In December 2012, our trainer, Courtney Jones, and I presented in front of an audience of more than 50 individuals from various divisions of ACS providing a general understanding of the SafeCare program and training. Then earlier this year we began working with CAMBA, an agency in New York City providing services to families. In March, we trained 12 providers in the SafeCare program at CAMBA. In addition, we are working with New York Founding, who is providing general implementation assistance to CAMBA, assisting to align their services and delivery with requirements set forth by ACS and SafeCare. To date, this has been a great learning experience for SafeCare, allowing us to take a broader perspective of implementation with feedback from these three entities and a great collaboration focused on the success of CAMBA’s implementation of SafeCare with families. So far, this collaborative effort seems to be paying off; several providers are routinely deliver SafeCare to families with strong fidelity. Common challenges to implementation, such as referrals and provider support, have been minimized by these multiple collaborations, and as a result, this implementation is moving ahead successfully!
Promising Practices Network
In May 2013, SafeCare® was added to the Promising Practices Network (PPN) website as a “Promising” program. PPN is user-friendly website operated by the RAND Corporation that provides evidence-based information on child, youth, and family policy. PPN reviews the  research on programs for children and families and rates them as “Promising” or “Proven” based on the strength of the evidence. Click here to learn more about PPN’s rating system. A study published in the journal Pediatrics (Chaffin et al., 2012) was reviewed by the PPN team and supplied the evidence for SafeCare’s effectiveness in reducing cases of repeat child maltreatment. SafeCare+, an augmented version of the SafeCare program, will be reviewed by PPN separately. SafeCare’s program summary page on the PPN website can be found here.
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