TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and feasibility of a sibling intervention for youth in foster care
AU - Kothari, Brianne H.
AU - McBeath, Bowen
AU - Lamson-Siu, Emilie
AU - Webb, Sara Jade
AU - Sorenson, Paul
AU - Bowen, Hannah
AU - Waid, Jeff
AU - Bank, Lew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - Due to their ubiquity and possible influence on youth mental health, academic, and other outcomes, sibling-focused intervention strategies may be important for the development and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in child welfare. However, there is no rigorous evidence as to either the best methods for, or feasibility of, incorporating the sibling link within existing clinical treatments for foster youth. This paper applies the literature on evidence-based practices (EBP) and implementation research in child welfare to sibling-focused intervention; and presents data concerning the development, delivery, cost, and feasibility of a novel sibling-focused intervention program, Supporting Siblings in Foster Care (SIBS-FC). Results suggest that despite the challenges and costs involved with delivering SIBS-FC, the program catered to the diverse needs of pre-adolescent and adolescent siblings living together and apart, was viewed positively by youth, and was implemented with a high degree of fidelity. These findings underscore the importance of attending to the early-stage development of psychosocial interventions in child welfare and highlight the role of interagency collaboration, program planning, staff training and supervision, and fidelity tracking for EBP development in child welfare. Implications for prevention research and sibling-focused intervention programming in child welfare are discussed.
AB - Due to their ubiquity and possible influence on youth mental health, academic, and other outcomes, sibling-focused intervention strategies may be important for the development and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in child welfare. However, there is no rigorous evidence as to either the best methods for, or feasibility of, incorporating the sibling link within existing clinical treatments for foster youth. This paper applies the literature on evidence-based practices (EBP) and implementation research in child welfare to sibling-focused intervention; and presents data concerning the development, delivery, cost, and feasibility of a novel sibling-focused intervention program, Supporting Siblings in Foster Care (SIBS-FC). Results suggest that despite the challenges and costs involved with delivering SIBS-FC, the program catered to the diverse needs of pre-adolescent and adolescent siblings living together and apart, was viewed positively by youth, and was implemented with a high degree of fidelity. These findings underscore the importance of attending to the early-stage development of psychosocial interventions in child welfare and highlight the role of interagency collaboration, program planning, staff training and supervision, and fidelity tracking for EBP development in child welfare. Implications for prevention research and sibling-focused intervention programming in child welfare are discussed.
KW - Child welfare
KW - Costs
KW - Early stage implementation
KW - Feasibility
KW - Sibling intervention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908613731&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908613731&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.08.006
DO - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.08.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 25194833
AN - SCOPUS:84908613731
SN - 0149-7189
VL - 47
SP - 91
EP - 99
JO - Evaluation and Program Planning
JF - Evaluation and Program Planning
ER -
