Aliviane, Inc. Safe Start Program

The Safe Start Promising Approaches Project will develop and support practice enhancements and innovations to prevent and reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence in their homes and communities. The project will help communities implement collaborative and evidence-based practices across the services continuum for children and their families. Exposure to violence includes being a victim of violence or a witness to violence, and encompasses abuse, neglect or child maltreatment, domestic violence, and community violence.
This program is authorized by Sections 261 and 262 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended (42 USC 5665-5666). The 10 pilot sites will test various evidence-based enhancements and practice innovations such as AF-CBT, TF-CBT, Strengthening Families Program, Coping Resources and other interventions in community-based settings such as DV shelters, libraries, Head Start, community mental health clinics and afterschool clubs. NCA/NCF

OJJDP has a specific mission to develop and disseminate knowledge about what works to prevent juvenile delinquency and violence and improve the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. § 5601 et seq authorizes the Administrator of OJJDP to conduct research or evaluations and undertake statistical analyses on a wide range of juvenile justice matters. OJJDP also provides funding to states and localities to carry out research, evaluation, and statistical analyses.

Aliviane is using a promising program called Dando Fuerza a la Familia(DFF)developed by Gustavo R. Martinez, Ph.D. This program was adapted from the evidence based modality Strengthening Families Program by Dr. Kumpfer in the mid 1980s. DFF curriculum was developed to decrease the risk factors in children of substance abusing parents (COSAPS) as well as families and caregivers. The goal of the DFF program is to reduce the impact of exposure to violence at home and in the community as a result of the ongoing conflict in Mexico between drug cartels. Children and Parents receive training to help them cope with their exposure to this specific type of violence and the effects it has had on the Mexican/Mexican-American border community in El Paso. Dando Fuerza a la Familia follows the same structure as the original SFP with specific changes that account for cultural differences in the target population. The principal adaptation was to treat Mexican and Mexican American Families living in the border regions between Mexico and the United States. The principal adaptations made were the use of Mexican colloquial Spanish to reflect communication styles of Mexican and Mexican-American families living in border regions of the United States. It is a 14-week program with 2 hour-long weekly sessions for the parent, child, and the families (parents and children). As in the SFP, DFF includes parent and child training. The intervention begins with a parent training program that includes information and skill development exercises on developmental expectancies, stress management, behavior modification, communication, problem solving, limit setting, and the impact of parents substance problems on their children. This training program has proven successful in improving the parent's ability to discipline their children and reduce the childrens problem behaviors. The children's social skills training program includes information and practice on social skills, good behavior, how to say no to stay out of trouble, communication, alcohol and drugs, problem solving, accepting direction from their parents, and coping skills (recognizing feelings, dealing with criticism, coping with anger). This training has proven effective in improving childrens social skills. The family skills training program integrates the training received by the parents and children in their separate groups, and offers opportunities to role play and practice new skills with the assistance of the trainers. This training has proven successful in improving family relationships and reducing children's problem behaviors.

CA/NCF

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for research and evaluation activities to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The Safe Start Promising Approaches project supports the development and study of the practice enhancements and innovations to prevent and reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence in their homes and communities. The eight continuation projects serve as the practice pilots for a multi-site national evaluation using experimental and quasi-experimental research design to test the effectiveness of new approaches to improve outcomes for children exposed to violence in real world community-based settings. The national evaluation is being conducted by RAND and supported through OJJDP research funding. The project helps communities implement collaborative and evidence-based practices across the service continuum.
Aliviane is implementing a program called Dando Fuerza a la Familia(DFF)developed by Gustavo R. Martinez, Ph.D. This program was adapted from the evidence based modality Strengthening Families Program by Dr. Kumpfer in the mid 1980s. DFF curriculum was developed to decrease the risk factors in children of substance abusing parents (COSAPS) as well as families and caregivers. The goal of the DFF program is to reduce the impact of exposure to violence at home and in the community as a result of the ongoing conflict in Mexico between drug cartels. Children and Parents receive training to help them cope with their exposure to this specific type of violence and the effects it has had on the Mexican/Mexican-American border community in El Paso. Dando Fuerza a la Familia follows the same structure as the original SFP with specific changes that account for cultural differences in the target population. The principal adaptation was to treat Mexican and Mexican American Families living in the border regions between Mexico and the United States. The principal adaptations made were the use of Mexican colloquial Spanish to reflect communication styles of Mexican and Mexican-American families living in border regions of the United States. It is a 14-week program with 2 hour-long weekly sessions for the parent, child, and the families (parents and children). As in the SFP, DFF includes parent and child training. The intervention begins with a parent training program that includes information and skill development exercises on developmental expectancies, stress management, behavior modification, communication, problem solving, limit setting, and the impact of parents substance problems on their children. This training program has proven successful in improving the parent's ability to discipline their children and reduce the children's problem behaviors. The children's social skills training program includes information and practice on social skills, good behavior, how to say no to stay out of trouble, communication, alcohol and drugs, problem solving, accepting direction from their parents, and coping skills (recognizing feelings, dealing with criticism, coping with anger). This training has proven effective in improving childrens social skills. The family skills training program integrates the training received by the parents and children in their separate groups, and offers opportunities to role play and practice new skills with the assistance of the trainers. This training has proven successful in improving family relationships and reducing children's problem behaviors.
NCA/NCF