Susana Mariscal
Associate ProfessorCenter for Social Health & Well-being
ude[dot]ui[at]iramus
Family Resource Centers, A Window Between Worlds, Parent Cafes, Promotoras de Salud (Community Navigators), Families Talking Together (Familias Hablando Unidas)
Families Talking Together (FTT) has been recognized as an evidence-based intervention by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Adolescent Health, which has demonstrated reductions in adolescent sexual-risk taking behaviors by improving parent-child communication and parenting protective behaviors. FTT was selected in collaboration with school administrators, staff, and parents through participatory action research. To pilot this program, we collaborated with a community agency (interdisciplinary) through a novel delivery system, promotoras de salud (community health workers). We targeted one of the top 10 clusters for teen pregnancy in the U.S. (90.2 births per 1000 girls). Findings from a pilot study suggested that promotoras are trusted and knowledgeable community members capable of successfully implementing FTT in a community-based setting. Family Resource Centers (FRC) are community- or school-based, flexible, family-centered, and culturally responsive one-stop shop for support, resources, programing, and targeted services based on the needs and interests of families. Strengthening Indiana Families, a federally-funded primary child maltreatment prevention program, is implementing four family resource centers in four counties in central Indiana that in addition to core services, including evidence-informed programs (e.g., promotoras de salud/community navigators, peer recover coaches) and collocated services (parent cafes, insurance navigation, job skills building, etc.). Our FRC model will be replicated in five Indiana counties in 2023 and five additional counties in 2024.