Co-Principal Investigator: Alexandra Trout

Purpose: Adolescents with disabilities sometimes require out-of-home care for behavior or academic problems. When adolescents re-enter home and school settings, students typically need supports in multiple settings to make a successful transition. On the Way Home: A Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model is being developed to address this need. This project has three primary aims: to identify the child, family, and teacher/administrator training and implementation needs necessary for the successful implementation of the Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model with adolescents with high-incidence disabilities reintegrating into the home and school setting following a stay in out-of-home care; to conduct a preliminary field study to evaluate the feasibility of the integrated three-pronged intervention; and to conduct an initial evaluation of the model on the outcomes of adolescents with high-incidence disabilities reintegrating into the home and school settings following a stay in out-of-home care.

Project Activities: Adolescents (grades 8-12) with high-incidence disabilities who are departing from Girls and Boys Town will serve as participants in the Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model. The model is a three-pronged intervention designed to aid in the transition of adolescents with disabilities reintegrating into the home and school setting following a stay in out-of-home care. Three evidence-based components are combined and integrated: Check & Connect, Common Sense Parenting, and a Self-Management homework intervention. Directed by a monitor, the intervention will address the primary factors that affect negative long-term academic outcomes of this population: school dropout, poor parental support and home-school communication, and low levels of homework completion.

Products: The products of this project include a fully developed intervention designed to improve outcomes for adolescents with disabilities who are reentering the home and school settings following a stay in out-of-home care, published reports, and presentations.

Structured Abstract

Purpose: Adolescents with disabilities sometimes require out-of-home care for behavior or academic problems. When adolescents re-enter home and school settings, they may not have the appropriate supports in place to make a successful transition. On the Way Home: A Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model is being developed to address this need. This project has three primary aims: to identify the child, family, and teacher/administrator training and implementation needs necessary for the successful implementation of the Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model with adolescents with high-incidence disabilities reintegrating into the home and school setting following a stay in out-of-home care; to conduct a preliminary field study to evaluate the feasibility of the integrated three-pronged intervention; and to conduct an initial evaluation of the model on the outcomes of adolescents with high-incidence disabilities reintegrating into the home and school settings following a stay in out-of-home care.

Setting: Middle schools and high schools in Nebraska.

Population: Adolescents departing from Girls and Boys Town in fall 2009 and spring 2010 who meet the following criteria will serve as participants: enrolled in grades 8-12, enrolled in a community school within 60 miles of Girls and Boys Town, and high-incidence disability identification. Because adolescents depart from out-of-home care throughout the year, the adolescents and all families of the adolescents of the first 150 scheduled to depart during fall 2009 and spring 2010 will be contacted to obtain consent.

Intervention: The Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model is a three-pronged intervention designed to aid in the transition of adolescents with disabilities reintegrating into the home and school setting following a stay in out-of-home care. Three evidence-based components are combined and integrated: Check & Connect, Common Sense Parenting, and a Self-Management homework intervention. Directed by a monitor, the intervention will address the primary factors that affect negative long-term academic outcomes of this population: school dropout, poor parental support and home-school communication, and low levels of homework completion.

Research Design and Methods: To address the primary aims of the study, three studies will be conducted. In Study 1, nominal group technique focus groups will be conducted to identify training and support needs. In Study 2, a one-group pre-test/post-test design will be used to evaluate model feasibility. In Study 3, a small, randomized controlled design will be used to evaluate the effects of the Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model on the transition outcomes of reintegrating adolescents.

Control Condition: Adolescents in the comparison condition will receive the traditional reintegration program consisting of a final Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting, release of files, a clinical summary, and counseling center contact information.

Key Measures: Assessments will include tests of academic functioning (Homework Problems Checklist, Woodcock Johnson III), school behaviors (Check & Connect Monitoring Sheet, Teacher Report Form), family functioning (Family Adaptability & Cohesion Evaluation Scale III), and social validity (Treatment Evaluation Inventory). In addition, fidelity of implementation will be assessed.

Data Analytic Strategy: Data from Study 1 will be evaluated using traditional nominal group technique summary procedures. In Study 2, a one-group within-subjects design will be used to determine intervention feasibility. In Study 3, the statistical analysis will compare participants in the Family-Centered Academic Reintegration Intervention Model to those who received the traditional reintegration program. Analyses will include one- and two-way multivariate analysis of covariance and growth curve modeling.

Products and Publications

Duppong Hurley, K., Trout, A. L., Griffith, A. K., et al., (2010). Creating and sustaining effective partnerships to advance research on youth with serious emotional and behavioral disorders. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 21, 141–152.

Trout, A. L., & Epstein, M. H. (2010). Developing aftercare: Phase I. Consumer feedback. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 445–451.

Trout, A. L., Tyler, P., Stewart, M., & Epstein, M. E. (2012). On The Way Home: Program description and preliminary outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 1115–1120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.01.046

Huscroft-D'Angelo, J., Trout, A. L., Epstein, M. H., Duppong-Hurley, K., & Thompson, R. (2013). Gender differences in perceptions of aftercare supports and services. Children and Youth Services Review, 35 (5), 916–922.

Trout, A. L., Jansz, C., Epstein, M. H., & Tyler, P. (2013). Evaluating service delivery in aftercare for school-aged youth departing out-of-home care. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 7, 142–153. doi: 10.1080/15548732.2013.770356

Trout, A. L., Lambert, M. C., Epstein, M., Tyler, P., Stewart, M., Thompson, R. W., & Daly, D. (2013). Comparison of On the Way Home Aftercare supports to usual care following discharge from a residential setting: An exploratory pilot randomized controlled trial. Child Welfare, 92, 27–45.

Trout, A. L., Hoffman, S., Epstein, M., & Thompson, R. (2014). Family teacher and parent perceptions of youth needs and preparedness for transition upon youth discharge from residential care. Journal of Social Work. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/1468017313506134

Trout, A. L., Hoffman, S., Huscroft-D'Angelo, J., Epstein, M., Duppong Hurley, K., & Stevens, A. (2014). Youth and parent/caregiver perceptions of aftercare supports at discharge from residential care. Child and Family Social Work, 19 (3), 304–311. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12003

Trout, A. L., Huscroft-D'Angelo, J., Epstein, M., & Kavan, J. (2014). Identifying aftercare supports for out-of-home transitions: A descriptive analysis of youth perceptions and preparedness. Journal of At-Risk Issues, 18, 11–18.