Building Capacity for Youth Mental Wellness: Feasibility and Acceptability for a Mental Health Family Navigator Model for Foster Parents Phase 2

Purpose

The investigators have designed a 5-week Family Navigator Plus (FN+) educational program to support foster parents in better understanding their youth's mental health needs and in finding mental health services. The purpose of this interventional study is to assess the the program's acceptability (e.g., satisfaction, barriers to participation, and burden), utility (e.g., how useful foster parents found the program to be), and feasibility (e.g., number referred who meet eligibility, time to complete assessments, self-reported feasibility), compared to Attention Control (AC). The investigators hypothesize that our program will be acceptable, useful, and feasible for foster parents of youth with mental health needs.

Conditions

  • Family Navigator Plus
  • Civic Engagement Plus

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 99 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Foster parent, kinship caregiver, or guardian, of a youth between the ages of 6 to 17 with mental health needs - Parent adopted child from foster care - Living in Illinois, United States - English speaking - Has access to internet and videoconferencing

Exclusion Criteria

  • Participated in the FN+ Focus Groups, Open Trial or PROACTIVE Parent Pilot Study

Study Design

Phase
Phase 2
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Family Navigator Plus
  • Behavioral: Family Navigation
    Participants will attend 5 one-on-one sessions over the course of 5 weeks; they will meet with a family navigator over video conferencing software (e.g., Zoom). The purpose of each sessions are as follows: 1) Provide an overview of the program and help parents understand their perceptions of child behaviors, 2) Train parents to find, access, and overcome barriers to mental health services, 3) Build parent capacity in understanding how mental health treatment works and how to communicate with providers, 4) Help parents understand the common function of child behaviors, and 5) Train parents to find, evaluate, and use online mental health tools. Participants will complete measures of child symptoms, parent activation, barriers to treatment, and/or satisfaction with the program before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months after completing the intervention.
Active Comparator
Civic Engagement Plus
  • Behavioral: Civic Engagement Plus
    Participants will attend 5 one-on-one sessions over the course of 5 weeks; they will meet with a family navigator over video conferencing software (e.g., Zoom). The purpose of each sessions are as follows: 1) defines civic engagement within a developmental framework, and guides foster parents in discussing their child's developmental level, strengths, and opportunities for civic participation. 2) identifies developmentally appropriate civic activities and strategies to initiate and support youth involvement. 3) emphasizes goal setting, age-appropriate engagement strategies, collaboration with caseworkers, and structured problem-solving to address barriers to participation. 4) setting developmentally appropriate goals, 5) finding digital tools. Participants will complete measures of child symptoms, parent activation, barriers to treatment, and/or satisfaction with the program before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months after completing the intervention.

Recruiting Locations

Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Contact:
Heather Risser, PhD
3128483019
heather.risser@northwestern.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Northwestern University

Study Contact

Heather Risser, PhD
3128483019
heather.risser@northwestern.edu