Natural Helpers and PCIT

The Development and Implementation of a Natural Helpers Program to Increase the Recruitment, Retention, and Engagement of Underserved Families in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of a time-limited (i.e., 18 weeks) community health worker (CHW) intervention, referred to as the Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) plus natural helper (NH) model, on treatment engagement, retention, and child and caregiver outcomes.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Families of children 2 years of age to 12 years of age.
2. Children 2 to 7 years of age with a history of child abuse or neglect and/or child behavior problems or children ages 8 years to 12 years of age with history of or risk for abuse and the child does not exhibit clinically significant behavior problems.
3. At the time of enrollment, participants must agree that, within the upcoming six months, they will not move away to a location where they would no longer be able to regularly attend weekly sessions (i.e., moving out of Miami Dade County).

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Families with child younger than 2 years of age or older than 7 years of age with clinically significant behavior problems
2. Adults who are unable to consent and prisoners