Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
CLEARINGHOUSE FOR MILITARY FAMILY READINESS AT PENN STATE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1011206
Grant No.
2016-48709-25896
Project No.
PENW-2016-11023
Proposal No.
2016-11023
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
CMFR
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2016
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2021
Grant Year
2019
Project Director
Perkins, D. F.
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
408 Old Main
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802-1505
Performing Department
Agricultural Economics, Sociol
Non Technical Summary
For the last six years, the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness has been located at Penn State University (Clearinghouse at PSU). During that time, the Clearinghouse at PSU has established itself has a solid partner with expertise in implementation science, technical assistance models, and recognizing the needs of military families. The Clearinghouse at PSU focuses on emphasizing the use of evidence-based programs and practices, improving awareness of and access to these approaches, decreasing real and perceived barriers to their use, increasing the use of evaluation as part of program implementation, and reducing the lag time between the creation of scientific knowledge in prevention/intervention and evaluation sciences and their translation to the field.The current RFA has three main areas of work: (1) continued development of a repository of programs that have been vetted for evidence of their effectiveness; (2) implementation and technical support on program deployment and utilization including programs and curricula previously developed by the Clearinghouse at PSU, such as the 5210 Healthy Military Children messaging campaign; and (3) further development of materials for the THRIVE Universal Parenting Program. The Clearinghouse at PSU can commence activities immediately and with no down time needed for developing an infrastructure as it has staff already in critical roles (e.g., scientists experienced with vetting, implementation specialists experienced with providing support and technical assistance, scientists experienced with creating Grow! and Take Root programs within the THRIVE initiative, and multimedia specialist experienced on web and video development).
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80260993070100%
Knowledge Area
802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3070 - Psychology;
Goals / Objectives
The Clearinghouse at Penn State proposes to continue to review new programs (n=100). As in years past, the new program reviews will be a combination of programs requested by individuals connected to the military and programs selected by Clearinghouse researchers. Should the number of programs requested by individuals connected to the military exceed 100, the Clearinghouse will review all programs submitted and will exceed the 100 new program review limit. In addition, as part of the triennial re-review, the Clearinghouse at Penn State will re-review the programs that were examined in 2014 (n=167) and the programs that were originally evaluated in 2011 and re-reviewed in 2014 (n=136). As discussed above, the Clearinghouse at Penn State will continue to work to make the Continuum more transparent. Finally, in addition to having an overall final placement, the Clearinghouse at Penn State will graphically present separate placements for each outcome. This will help practitioners' view, at a glance, which specific outcomes have been significantly and positively impacted by the program. This information is currently in the text of the Evidence section of the Fact Sheet, but it will be made more obvious and user friendly with lists and graphics.The Clearinghouse at Penn State proposes to continue to provide implementation support and guidance around EBPs to professionals who work with military families to enhance military family readiness. The Clearinghouse at Penn State would continue to refine the Technical Assistance Resources webpage with a series of interactive learning modules, tools, and resources. In addition, the Clearinghouse at Penn State would expand the number of learning modules to help professionals achieve positive outcomes for their target audience by explaining the necessary and important steps in the program selection, implementation, and evaluation processes. Furthermore, the number of tools and resources to assist professionals with these important steps will be increased (see Appendix D). For example, based on the assistance the Clearinghouse at Penn State has been providing through technical assistance, a Program Evaluation Plan that delineates the steps and resources needed to develop a practical evaluation of a program will be created.This proposal seeks funding to support the development of two additional THRIVE programs - Sprout! for parents of children 3 to 5 years and Branch Out! for parents of children 10 to 18 years. These programs will initially be developed in a face-to-face format and, like Grow!, will be delivered by a trained facilitator using a video-based curriculum. As such, the Clearinghouse at Penn State will simultaneously develop and offer virtual training, coaching and implementation support, certification, and ongoing technical assistance to all program facilitators using a cost-effective and sustainable model. The following materials will be developed for each program:Program development: CCA, logic model, theory of change.Program content: Subject matter consultant, curriculum, and resources; curriculum videos; online learning platforms; print resources for parents, including participant workbook.Facilitator training and coaching materials: Training and coaching model, coordination guide and facilitation manual, and online training modules.Program implementation and evaluation materials: Community readiness assessment, implementation timeline, recruitment toolkit (e.g., flyers, posters, and social media tools), fidelity observation forms, evaluation plan, data collection tools, and protocols.
Project Methods
We at the Clearinghouse at Penn State have found that maintaining strong collaborative relationships with headquarter-level program managers helps to improve the quality of products. Constant and consistent communication will occur between the Clearinghouse staff and Military Community and Family Policy headquarter program managers. As has been done over the past six years, the Clearinghouse at Penn State will engage in weekly phone calls with headquarter program managers, establish feedback loops, and conduct additional contact (e.g., email correspondence) as needed. In addition, the Clearinghouse will continue to secure feedback from professionals, serving military families, through quarterly scheduled, virtual feedback sessions that focus on input about new products being developed. This will help to ensure that the products being developed meet expected needs and will provide opportunities to make adjustments when necessary. Moreover, the Clearinghouse will continue to work with headquarter-level program managers to discuss new directions and tasks based on continuous feedback (e.g., new research findings and requests from implementation support).The project team is comprised of Dr. Daniel Perkins, Dr. Keith Aronson, and Dr. Jennifer DiNallo from the Clearinghouse. Dr. Perkins will be the principal investigator; Drs. Aronson and DiNallo will be the co-principal investigators. Dr. Perkins will provide scientific oversight and guidance for the CMFR effort. He led the development of the Clearinghouse at Penn State in 2010, which included the development of the dynamic website, the creation of the iterative implementation support system, and the development of two sub-programs within THRIVE. He will continue to lead the ongoing development of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness and the implementation support system. As he has done for the last six years, Dr. Aronson will continue to support Dr. Perkins with the vetting process for program placement and the addition of a vetting process for online resources. Dr. DiNallo will continue to lead the THRIVE effort as she has done for the last two years. She will manage all aspects and daily activities of the project, including oversight of the development of the training platform. Given that we have developed and grown CMFR over the last six years, the Clearinghouse at Penn State already has in place staff in critical roles (e.g., scientists experienced with vetting, implementation specialists experienced with providing support and technical assistance, scientists experienced with creating Grow! and Take Root! programs within the THRIVE initiative, and multimedia specialists experienced on web and video development). As such, the Clearinghouse at Penn State can commence activities immediately and will work diligently to be successful throughout the process with no down time needed for hiring personnel and creating an operations infrastructure.

Progress 09/01/16 to 07/21/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The Clearinghouse supports military families by building the capacity of professionals who serve those families. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Clearinghouse conducted face-to-face trainings (total participants: 977), implementation support activities (126 implementation support calls), for the Problem Sexual Behavior Children/Youth Referral Tool. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have conduct 4 national webinars on the continuum, Thrive programs. We have presented 20 briefs for to DoD and related Service-level staff related to projects. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Clearinghouse has developed an objective, robust, and comprehensive repository of information on the evidence base of prevention and treatment programs (Perkins et al., 2015; Karre et al., 2017). Programs are placed on the Clearinghouse's Continuum of Evidence (Continuum) and the vetting process includes the development of a detailed fact sheet that outlines program specifics. Moreover, the Clearinghouse is unique in that it has established a rapid system for re-vetting programs every 5 years. Over the last 10 years, since 2011, more than 1,475 programs have been reviewed and placed on the Continuum by masters- and doctorate-level researchers. Continuum of Evidence and Technical Assistance. This past year, 75 new programs were vetted and 200 existing programs were re-vetted on the Continuum. Also, as stated in the 2020 proposal, Clearinghouse staff are in the final stages of submitting a systematic process for vetting online resources. This work was delayed due to the need to address the emergent issue of Military Spouse Licensure Transportability at the request of the Office of Military Community and Family Policy. The protocol for vetting online resources will be completed by the end of 2021. This new protocol will reduce the burden on consumers in making judgments regarding the quality of web-based information. Since 2011, more than 1,475 programs have been reviewed and placed on the Continuum by masters- and doctorate-level researchers.The Clearinghouse houses the only program repository that includes implementation support and technical assistance to assist practitioners by providing technical-assistance support through interactive communication (i.e., phone, live chat, and email) in the adoption of evidence-based programs and practices to enhance family readiness. Technical assistance requests have grown significantly and steadily. The average number of requests per month has increased from 9 in 2012, to 28 in 2016, to 42 in 2020, to 47 in 2021 thus far. To date, Implementation Specialists have fielded over 2,859 requests from professionals who work with military families. Thrive The Thrive Initiative is divided into developmentally age-appropriate areas and consists of four universal parenting programs that are available in an online format at no cost to military and civilian families: Take Root (0 to 3 years), Sprout (3 to 5 years), Grow (5 to 10 years), and Branch Out (10 to 18 years). Note, three of the four parent programs are developed; the Branch Out parenting program is currently in development. These online, universal parenting programs are available to parents via the Thrive website: https://thrive.psu.edu. For the current year, the Clearinghouse Team has completed 50% of the hybrid implementation manuals for Take Root, Sprout, and Grow. The content for Branch Out is being transformed for online modules. Finally, the content has been developed for the Exceptional Families: Blossoming with Developmental Differences supplemental online training module. Content is being formatted for the online Learning Management System. In January 2021, the Clearinghouse completed the development of DigitalEmpowerment: AResourcefor Professionals who work with Youth to help professionals provide support to children, youth, and families, so they can develop socially appropriate and responsible online behaviors. Quality Assurance of the Decision Tree Algorithm (DTA) and the Incident Determination Committee (IDC). Due to the pandemic, installations did not conduct IDCs for 6 months. Therefore, the Clearinghouse is currently in the assessment phase (II) of this project. The Clearinghouse recruited and provided training to 42 installations across all Services on the quality-assurance effort. In March 2021, the Clearinghouse began in-field training and data collection. As of end of June 2021, the Clearinghouse Team had listened to 63 IDC meetings across participating Army, Navy, and Air Force installations. Support for Problematic Sexual Behavior in Children and Youth (PSB-CY). Clearinghouse pilot tested a referral tool for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) and Child and Youth personnel to apply in determining whether an incident of PSB CY had occurred. Next, the Clearinghouse conducted master reviews of all completed referral tools from pilot sites (total submitted referral tools: 107), and the Clearinghouse is currently refining an online training related to the referral tool. Family Advocacy Program (FAP) Staff Tool For phase II of the FAP staffing tool development, the Clearinghouse Team developed process maps for each position within each Service then iteratively refined them with feedback from installation staff in those postions. The Clearinghouse also collected data related to staffing and time allocation from 16 installations (four per Service). The process map and the data are currently being employed to develop a dynamic, context-specific, staffing tool that will provide manpower estimates.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). The impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and combat exposure on mental health conditions among new post-9/11 veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 12(7), 698-706. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000614
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). Use of health services among post-9/11 veterans with mental health conditions within 90 days of separation from the military. Psychiatric Services, 71(7), 670-677. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900326
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Chesnut, R. P., Richardson, C. B., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Perkins, D. F., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., & Finley, E. P. (2020). Moral injury and social well?being: A growth curve analysis. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 33(4), 587-597. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22567
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Morgan, N. R., Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Bleser, J. A., Davenport, K., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). Reducing barriers to post-9/11 veterans use of programs and services as they transition to civilian life. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05320-4
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Richardson, C. B., Chesnut, R. P., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Perkins, D. F., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., & Finley, E. (2020). Examining the factor structure of the moral injury events scale in a veteran sample. Military Medicine, 185(1-2), e75-e83. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usz129
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Papas, S., Smith, J., & Perkins, D. F. (2020, November). Improving veterans access to services through technical assistance and navigation support. [Literature Review]. Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Papas, S., Smith, J., & Perkins, D. F. (2020, October). Client satisfaction surveys for spouse employment programs. [Literature Review]. Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Papas, S., Smith, J., & Perkins, D. F. (2020, October). Is therapeutic horseback riding an effective treatment for veterans with PTSD. [Literature Review]. Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State.


Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The Clearinghouse supports military families by building the capacity of professionals who serve those families. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have completed 108 trainings with military providers including 20 trainings with FAP installation staff (250 individual) about the PSB Referral Tool. Conduct 10 national webinars on: THRIVE, Continuum, and Evidence-based How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have had 206,00 unique viistors to our website in 2019. We have completed 331 TA requests in 2019. Conduct 10 national webinars on: THRIVE, Continuum, and Evidence-based programs. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For this current proposal, the Clearinghouse will continue to provide real-time and significant implementation support to professionals who serve military-connected families. The focus of this implementation support is to bolster the Military Family Readiness System as recommended in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report (2019).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Clearinghouse has developed an objective repository of information on the evidence base of prevention and treatment programs (Perkins et al., 2015; Kare et al., 2017). Programs in the repository cover a wide range of topics. Some topics are specific to military life; others are common to military families and civilians as military families face both types of challenges. Programs are placed on the Continuum of Evidence (Continuum), which was developed by scientists at the Clearinghouse. The vetting process includes the development of a detailed fact sheet that outlines program specifics. These fact sheets are available for use by practitioners to assist them in making informed decisions for their target audience and their audiences' needs. Moreover, the Clearinghouse has established a rapid system for re-vetting programs every 5 years, - no other repository system has a systematic ongoing review process. Over the last 9 years, since 2011, more than 1,400 programs have been reviewed and placed on the Continuum by masters- and doctorate-level researchers. From May 2019 through May 2020, 23new obesity programs were vetted, corresponding fact sheets were completed, and 40 previously placed programs were re-evaluated. The Resource Center continues to build the Thrive Initiative programming and has started the development of Branch Out. In addition, the Resource Center is seeking to add supplemental modules to existing Thrive programming for specialized topic areas (e.g., Exceptional Family Member).Furthermore, the Resource Center is actively researching funding opportunities to test developed products (e.g., 5210, Thrive Initiative programs) and will complete a second evaluation of Take Root online in Fall 2020.Also, the Resource Center will complete a resource for professionals on Digital Citizenship (how to use digital media responsibly and respectfully) for children. In 2014, the Clearinghouse partnered with the USDA and the office of Military Community and Family Policy to initiate the development of the Thrive Initiative. The Thrive Initiative is a continuum of evidence-informed parenting programs that are designed to empower parents and caregivers as they nurture children from the prenatal period until 18 years of age. The Thrive Initiative is divided into developmentally age-appropriate areas and consists of four universal parenting programs that are available in an online format at no cost to military and civilian families: Take Root (0 to 3 years), Sprout (3 to 5 years), Grow (5 to 10 years), and Branch Out (10 to 18 years). Note, three of the four parent programs are developed; the Branch Out parenting program is currently in development. The online, universal parenting programs are available to parents via the Thrive website: https://thrive.psu.edu. In addition to these universal parent programs, the Thrive Initiative has expanded, at the request of our DoD partners, into select parenting programs for target audiences, and these parenting programs include (1) Take Root Home Visitation, (2) Grow Selective, and (3) EFMP training module. Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) in Children II. The Clearinghouse developed and is currently pilot testing a referral tool for DoDEA and Child and Youth personnel to apply in determining whether an incident of PSB has occurred. For phase I of the FAP staffing tool development, the Clearinghouse team conducted preliminary installation site visits to gain an understanding of all FAP personnel roles and responsibilities and appreciate the time and manpower required to execute the FAP mission.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). Predictors of health services/programs among new post-9/11 veterans with mental health conditions. Psychiatric Services. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900326
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). The impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and combat exposure on mental health conditions among New Post-9/11 Veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000614
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Chesnut, R. P., Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M., DiNallo, J. M., & Perkins, D. F. (2020). Grow Online: feasibility and proof of concept study. Journal of Children's Services. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-10-2018-0026
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Morgan, N. R., Aronson, K. R., Bleser, J. A., Davenport, K. E., Perkins, D. F., Vogt, D., Copeland, L. A., Finley, E. P., & Gilman, C. L. (2020). Reducing barriers to veterans use of programs and services as they transition to civilian life. BMC Health Service Research, 5(25), 520. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05320-4
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kaye, M.P., Saathoff-Wells, T., Ferrara, A. M., Morgan, N. R., & Perkins, D. F (2019). Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Analysis and Validity of the Family Needs Screener. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519888517
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Richardson, C. B., Chesnut, R. P., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Perkins, D. F., Vogt, D., ... Finley, E. (2019). Examining the factor structure of the moral injury events scale in a veteran sample. Military Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usz129
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Perkins, D. F., Morgan, N. R., Bleser, J. A., Vogt, D., Copeland, L., ... & Gilman, C. (2019). Post-9/11 Veteran Transitions to Civilian Life: Predictors of the Use of Employment Programs. Journal of Veterans Studies, 5(1), 14-22. http://doi.org/10.21061/jvs.v5i1.127


Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:There are various audiences relatd to the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness including: (1) Military Family Readiness DoD HQ staff and Services Program Managers; (2) Providers who support military families; and (3) Military Families. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Trainings were conducted with providers related to: Take Root; Take Root Home Visitor, Grow, and Grow Online. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?All materials are available on the Cleariinghouse website including the THRIVE Parenting Initiative. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness has been located at the Pennsylvania State University (Clearinghouse) for the last 9 years. This continuation funding represents the next phase of work for the Clearinghouse Operations, New Parent Support Program (NPSP) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Phase III, Resource Center for Improving Family Health Behaviors, the THRIVE Parenting Initiative, Department of Defense (DoD) Family Advocacy Program (FAP) Support, a vetting system for online resources, Army FAP Prevention and Research Project, Army NPSP, and General Facilitation Training. The Clearinghouse will continue emphasizing the use of evidence-based programs (EBP)s and practices, improving awareness of and access to these approaches, decreasing real and perceived barriers to their use, increasing the use of evaluation as part of program implementation, and reducing the lag time between the creation of scientific knowledge in prevention/intervention and evaluation sciences and their translation to the field.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Clearinghouse Operations (Continuum and Technical Assistance [TA]) A total of 115 programs were vetted by research scientists, and these programs have been placed on the Continuum of Evidence. Additionally, TA requests have grown significantly and steadily each year. The average number of requests per month has increased from 29 requests in 2014 to 33 requests in 2019. From September 2018 through June 2019, TA addressed 313 requests (e.g., gathering information on EBPs, identifying data and research findings for evidence-based prevention, help in selecting the most suitable program, assisting with program implementation). In addition, as part of formal requests, the TA team completed eight rapid literature reviews. 2. NPSP CQI Pilot Project III The NPSP CQI project finished all data collection and is entering its final phase. 3. Resource Center for Improving Family Health Behaviors From September 2018 through April 2019, 24new obesity programs were vetted with fact sheets completed, and one previously placed program was revaluated. In addition, the Resource Center is actively researching funding opportunities to test developed products (e.g., 5210, Thrive Initiative programs), and Clearinghouse staff are currently developing a resource for professionals on Digital Citizenship (using digital media responsibly and respectfully) for children. Furthermore, Clearinghouse professionals are assembling a Portfolio of projects and programs for the Resource Center. 4. THRIVE Parent Initiative Take Root Take Root is now available in an online format and can be accessed via the Thrive website https://thrive.psu.edu or via the direct link https://parenting.thrive.psu.edu Online resources (e.g., Parent Toolkit pdfs, Take Root online recruitment toolkit) have been developed and included with the training modules as downloadable resources. Take Root Home Visitation II The Take Root HV curriculum was completed in May 2019 and is a manualized curriculum designed for home visitors to support their work with infants and toddlers who are at risk for child maltreatment. The full curriculum and corresponding materials are available in an online format via the Take Root HV online repository located at https://trhv.training.thrive.psu.edu Take Root HV is currently being implemented via the Army NPSP EIII evaluation project. Army NPSP home visitors (N=26) were trained in May 2019 and June 2019 as part of the Army NPSP EII evaluation project. Sprout Rollout I Sprout is for parents of 3- to 5-year-olds. This program is an evidence-informed program that is delivered through a web-based format. It is expected to be available in an online format in August 2019. Grow Rollout I The Grow curriculum is available online and face-to-face and can be accessed via the Thrive website https://thrive.psu.edu or via the direct link https://parenting.thrive.psu.edu Grow Select Phase II Grow Select is a secondary prevention program that is being developed to be used with high-risk families involved with FAP. Meetings have been held with DoD FAP Managers (FAPM) to gather information on what types of programs are currently being used and how Grow Selective may be implemented throughout the DoD. The development team is currently working on identifying parenting programs for the Common Components Analysis and setting up interviews to speak with individuals who work in the field. d. Branch Out I Branch Out is for parents of children 10 to 18 years old. The development of Branch Out has begun with identifying parenting programs and researching the health promotion literature for the Common Components Analysis. Branch Outwill be designed to support mothers and fathers in their parenting roles as they, in turn, nurture their child as he or she transitions from childhood to adulthood. 5. DoD Family Advocacy Program Support: Decision Tree Algorithm II The Decision Tree Algorithm (DTA) is a process used by the Incident Determination Committee (IDC). The first phase involved conducting multiple feedback sessions with boots on the ground providers from each of the Services and from more than a dozen observations and examinations of quality-assurance techniques.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chesnut, R.P., DiNallo, J.M., Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., & Perkins, D.F. (2018). The Grow parenting program: Demonstrating proof of concept. Health Education, 118(5), 413-430. doi: 10.1108/HE-01-2018-0005
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., Chesnut, R.P., DiNallo, J.M., & Perkins, D.F. (2018). Evidence-informed program development: Using a common components approach to develop universal parenting programs for U.S. military and civilian families. Children and Youth Services Review, 90, 166-177. Doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.05.023.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., Chesnut, R.P., DiNallo, J., & Perkins, D.F. (2019). Patterns of participation in the Grow parenting program. Journal of Childrens Services, Vol. 14(1), 27-41. doi: 10.1108/JCS-06-2018-0014
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Karre, J. K., Perkins, D. F., & Aronson, K. R. (2018). Research on fathers in the military context: Current status and future directions. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10, 641-656. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12274


Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience involves professional supporting military families. The secondary audience is military families directly. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?CQI Trainings (facilitated by Tara Saathoff-Wells, Carly Doucette, Daniel Perkins) On-Site NPSP CQI Pilot Implementation Training, 1.5 days; CEUs earned by participants through NASW (National Association of Social Workers) and PSNA (Pennsylvania State Nurses Association) October 2017, Naval Base San Diego, n=8 participants January 2018, Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Air Field, n=16 participants CQI Remote Trainings (facilitated by Carly Doucette) NPSP CQI Pilot Implementation Training .5 day via telecon (Navy) Training Materials (created by Tara Saathoff-Wells, Erica Culler, Jaemie Gyurik, and Daniel Perkins) Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, (2017). Provider manual: New Parent Support Program CQI pilot project, 3rd ed. University Park, PA: Author. Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, (2017). Web registration and navigation guide: New Parent Support Program CQI pilot project, 5th ed. University Park, PA: Author. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Several outputs resulted from this project. A progress reports summarizing the status of the work for: 5210, THRIVE, TA, Continuum of Evidence, and NPSP-CQI. A final report of DAVA that detailed the data analysis process and the results of those analyses as well as a graphic summary of the data. Finally, projects were presented at the Department of Defense stakeholders in Alexandria, VA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continuum to advance implementation of 5210 and THRIVE. For DAVA, we will work with FAP Service project managers to determine the plan of action for the next applied research study. NPSP-CQI will continue and conclude data collection and initiate analysis and report writing.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Continuum of Evidence and Vetting of Programs The numbers of programs related to the Continuum of Evidence from August 2017 - July 2018 - Clearinghouse programs vetted: 171 out of 1156 - Obesity programs vetted: 70 - Total number of programs vetted: 241 - Number of website visited: 516 Technical Assistance related to Implementation Science The Technical Assistance provide to professionals serving military families. Handled a total of 284 requests from August 2017-August 13, 2018 and the average number of requests we receive per month is 24 141 were received through email 93 were received through phone 46 were received through live chat 4 were in-person We conducted124 follow-ups in response to the 284 requests and the average number of follow-ups we handled per month is 10. Thrive Over the past year, the THRIVE project team has been actively working on implementing, developing, and revising THRIVE programs and related program materials. A BETA test of Grow Online was successfully conducted last summer, and after making revisions based on the feedback received from that implementation, Grow Online is now publicly available for all interested parents and caregivers of children 5 to 10 years old. All three program tracks for Take Root (i.e., 0-6 months, 6-12 months, and 1-3 years) have been finalized and are also now publicly available. Multiple THRIVE resources (e.g., Moving to THRIVE, facilitator training) have been revised, a training and implementation package has been developed for Grow Face-to-Face (F2F), four Grow F2F facilitators have been trained, two sites have implemented Grow F2F, and the THRIVE project's online presence has increased through blogs, social media posts, and the development of an inclusivity website (https://inclusivity.psu.edu/). The Take Root Home Visitation and Sprout programs are actively being developed, and a presentation on the Take Root Home Visitation program was well-received by the attendees of the FAP Quarterly Meeting in April 2018. Finally, three articles about the THRIVE project have been published in scholarly journals (i.e., Children and Youth Services Review and Health Education), one is currently under review at the Journal of Children's Services, and team members are actively pursuing funding from and building partnerships with external sources to help build the evidence base for the programs. Child Development Center Evaluation project summary November 2017 (beginning of funding) - September 2018 In an effort to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Defense Child Development Centers, we engaged in activities to revise and implement the evaluation plan developed in a previous phase of this project, developed materials to obtain DoD and Services approvals, refined and obtained measures, created recruitment materials, developed data collection strategies and materials, and delineated data analysis plans. Research design changes stemming from DoD approval challenges Researched and provided recommendations regarding measure changes that resulted from changing the CDC evaluation study design. Specifically, provided a cognitive development, parent-report school readiness measure to capture data lost from the teacher-report measures in the civilian child care centers. Revised the evaluation plan document to reflect research design changes. Proposed research design changes stemming from the Air Force's implementation of a new curriculum Reviewed the Early Learning Matters (ELM) curriculum and assessments and attended the Air Force ELM training in San Antonio. Developed recommendations and supporting materials for the Air Force portion of the evaluation, i.e., a process evaluation. Approvals PSU: developed and submitted IRB protocol; received determination that study is program evaluation not research. Services: reviewed and revised 5Ws memo and associated measures; calculated manpower estimates for the evaluation. DMDC/OPA: developed DMDC's Supporting Statement; developed recruitment language for parents, CDC staff, CDC directors, and civilian child care center directors; developed survey communication; prepared measures and developed instructions. Measures Finalized demographic and process questions and obtained established measures. Entered measures into the Qualtrics online survey system. Developed measures trainings for CDC staff (to ensure across-installation consistency/provide instructions for submitting assessments to Penn State). Developed Environmental Rating System training for Penn State staff. Recruitment Developed recruitment strategies and materials for CDC families, civilian child care center families, and civilian child care centers. Developed strategy to obtain buy-in from CDC directors, training and curriculum specialists, and direct-care staff. Data collection and Analysis Worked though the logistics of data collection (e.g., id numbers, participant tracking). Delineated the data analysis plan. Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate Caseload Analysis project summary August 2017 - September 2018 In an effort to inform the caseloads of Domestic Abuse Victim Advocates (DAVAs), data was collected by the U. S. Marine Corps on the amount of time DAVAs spend with their clients and factors hypothesized to be indicators of the complexity of the case. The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness was tasked with analyzing these data. The analyses resulted in a descriptive understanding of the data and a preliminary understanding of how the complexity indicators may influence the amount of time clients spent in services. After we received the data, we engaged in data cleaning. This cleaning was required to address data duplication, altered and incorrect formulas in the Excel files, discrepant data within single casefiles, missing data, and incorrect use of the data collection tool. Upon completion of the data cleaning, we analyzed frequencies, descriptive statistics, correlations, and patterns of missing data. These analyses allowed us to describe the data and provided guidance for subsequent analyses. A series of regression analyses provided preliminary results regarding factors that may influence the amount of time that clients spend in direct services. Analysis of the data pointed to several limitations that constrained the implications that could be drawn from the data. We provided several recommendations for next steps that could lead to a data driven staffing model for the Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate program.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Palmer, L., McCarthy, K.J., Perkins, D.F., Borden, L.M., & DiNallo, J. M. (In press). Online childs health assessment tool for obesity prevention programming. Journal of Youth Development.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Karre, J.K., Perkins, D.F., Aronson, K.R., DiNallo, J., Kyler, S., Olson, J., & Mentzer, C.E. (2017). A Continuum of Evidence on Evidence-Based Programs: A New Resource for Use in Military Social Service Delivery. Military Behavioral Health, 5, 346-355. doi: 10.1080/21635781.2017.1343695
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., Chesnut, R., DiNallo, J., & Perkins, F. (2017). Understanding the implementation of the Grow! parenting program: Findings from a mixed methods pilot. Children and Youth Services Review. doi 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.016.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., Chesnut, R.P, DiNallo, J. M., & Perkins, D.F. (2018). Evidence-informed program development: Using a common components analysis Approach to develop universal parenting programs for U.S. military and civilian families. Children & Youth Services Review, 90, 166-177.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chesnut, R. P., DiNallo, J. M., Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M. T., & Perkins, D. F. (In press). The Grow parenting program: Demonstrating proof of concept. Health Education.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Karre, J.K., & Perkins, D.F. (2018). Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate caseload analysis. University Park, PA: Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Saathoff-Wells, T., Karre, J., Davenport, K., Campise, M., & Perkins, D. F. (2017). Flexicution in program evaluation: Developing a multi-tier plan to address common and unique priorities across a complex organization. Military Behavioral Health, 5, 324-334.


Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The Clearinghouse reached the following audiences through TA and support: (1) DoD policy analysts and program manager, (3) Service program managers; and (3) providers supporting military families including Extension educators. Through THRIVE, a parenting initiative, the clearinghouse is supporting Military Families, both directly and indirectly. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have conducted more than 30 Webinar trainings to support the Grow! program Implementers. We have conducted two webinars to introduce Extension Educators about 5210 program and Resource Center for Obesity Prevention. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have a dynamic and growing website with downloadable materials. This past year 337,000 docuements were downloaded. We have hosted more that 30 webinars and mre than five conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue to actively dissemination the THRIVE Products and host awareness building webinars, conference presentations, and publish journal articles.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have continue to vet programs, with 50 new ones being added to the searchable data base. In addition, we have revetted 200 programs, who four year cycle occurred. Moreover, we provide technical assistance and support to 1026 providers working with military families. For THRIVE, we have done a beta roll out of GROW! parenting program and just released the online beta version.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: ? Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M. T., Chesnut, R. P., DiNallo, J. M., & Perkins, D. F. (In review). Understanding the implementation of the Grow! parenting program: Findings from a pilot study.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 20118 Citation: ? Chesnut, R. P., DiNallo, J. M., Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M. T., & Perkins, D. F. (In review). Ready, set, Grow! : Findings from a pilot study.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: Materia, F., Chesnut, R., Czymoniewicz-Klippel, M.T., DiNallo, J., & Perkins, D. (In preparation). Examining implementation feasibility of a multicomponent parenting and health promotion training program for military families.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Aronson, K. R., Kyler, S., Moeller, J. D., & Perkins, D. F. (2016). Understanding military families who have dependents with special health care and/or educational needs. Disability and Health Journal, 9, 423-430.