Early Intervention with Multi-Risk Families: An Integrative Approach

Helping families who live in environments with multiple risk factors—including poverty, domestic violence, teen parenthood, mental illness, and substance abuse—requires that professionals and paraprofessionals work together to provide the best possible interventions. This much-needed book shows service providers how to help these multi-risk families by using an integrative model that brings together the most effective intervention techniques from a variety of theoretical approaches, parenting strategies, and innovative programs. Professionals will learn how to effectively engage parents if they are resistant to intervention, and they'll discover specific, practical ways to help parents

• become more self reflective about their parenting and empathetic toward their children
• examine and gain control over their defenses and ways of dealing with stress that are negatively influencing their parenting
• strengthen their sense of competence and social support
• develop positive perceptions of their children
• deal with unresolved loss and trauma
• enhance their interactions with their children
• regulate their own emotions and those of their children
• develop good planning and problem-solving skills

Extended case studies vividly illustrate key points and techniques and present an integrated model of intervention, making this an ideal professional development resource for psychologists, social workers, early childhood educators, home visitors, and other service providers. To help program administrators ensure high-quality early intervention, the book also demonstrates how to plan and set up service delivery systems within and across individual programs, structure and train effective teams, develop sound organizational policies, and understand and address the effects of burnout and vicarious trauma on staff members. The book is also an excellent resource for university and colleges that train early intervention practitioners who work with families in multi-risk environments.