TY - JOUR
T1 - The Baby Elmo Program
T2 - Improving teen father-child interactions within juvenile justice facilities
AU - Barr, Rachel
AU - Brito, Natalie
AU - Zocca, Jaclyn
AU - Reina, Samantha
AU - Rodriguez, Jennifer
AU - Shauffer, Carole
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge the participation of the following detention facilities in: Fresno, San Bernardino, Orange, Yolo, Santa Barbara and Sacramento, and we are especially grateful to Don Meyer, Susan Coleman, Manual Silva, Doug Sanger, and Nancy McCormack. For funding we acknowledge, the California First Five Commissions , the Van Loben Sels Rembe Rock Foundation , California Wellness Foundation and the Georgetown University Reflective Engagement Initiative Grant . For help with coding and collation of the data we thank the Georgetown Early Learning Project especially Elizabeth Brey, Paula McIntyre, Noelle Wilson and Lauren Shuck and for coordination of conference calls we thank Mamie Yee. In particular we thank the fathers, caregivers and babies for their participation in the study.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - The aim of the Baby Elmo Program is to establish a low-cost, sustainable parenting and structured visitation program for non-custodial incarcerated teen parents. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities and unlike traditional programs, this intervention is not based on increasing the teen's abstract parenting knowledge, but rather in building a relationship between the teen and his child. The sessions target the interactional quality of the relationship by introducing relationship, communication, and socio-emotional enhancing techniques. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent-child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young parents and their children, a benefit in itself. Twenty father-infant dyads, with infants ranging in age from 6 to 36. months, participated in the present preliminary evaluation of the program. Individual growth curve analyses showed significant gains in five of six measures of emotional responsiveness with the age of infant as a significant covariate. These results indicate improvements in positive high quality interactions and communication during sessions between infants and their incarcerated parents and this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the incarcerated teen and child will form and maintain a positive relationship with one another.
AB - The aim of the Baby Elmo Program is to establish a low-cost, sustainable parenting and structured visitation program for non-custodial incarcerated teen parents. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities and unlike traditional programs, this intervention is not based on increasing the teen's abstract parenting knowledge, but rather in building a relationship between the teen and his child. The sessions target the interactional quality of the relationship by introducing relationship, communication, and socio-emotional enhancing techniques. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent-child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young parents and their children, a benefit in itself. Twenty father-infant dyads, with infants ranging in age from 6 to 36. months, participated in the present preliminary evaluation of the program. Individual growth curve analyses showed significant gains in five of six measures of emotional responsiveness with the age of infant as a significant covariate. These results indicate improvements in positive high quality interactions and communication during sessions between infants and their incarcerated parents and this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the incarcerated teen and child will form and maintain a positive relationship with one another.
KW - Juvenile justice
KW - Parent-child interactions
KW - Parental incarceration
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U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.03.020
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.03.020
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79960438233
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 33
SP - 1555
EP - 1562
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
IS - 9
ER -