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Calheiros, M. M., Graça, J. & Patrício, J. N. (2014). From assessing needs to designing and evaluating programs: case study of a family support program in Portugal. Children and Youth Services Review. 36, 170-178

M. M. Calheiros et al.,  "From assessing needs to designing and evaluating programs: case study of a family support program in Portugal", in Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 36, pp. 170-178, 2014

@article{calheiros2014_1766671669542,
	author = "Calheiros, M. M. and Graça, J. and Patrício, J. N.",
	title = "From assessing needs to designing and evaluating programs: case study of a family support program in Portugal",
	journal = "Children and Youth Services Review",
	year = "2014",
	volume = "36",
	number = "",
	doi = "10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.11.012",
	pages = "170-178",
	url = "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740913003538"
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - From assessing needs to designing and evaluating programs: case study of a family support program in Portugal
T2  - Children and Youth Services Review
VL  - 36
AU  - Calheiros, M. M.
AU  - Graça, J.
AU  - Patrício, J. N.
PY  - 2014
SP  - 170-178
SN  - 0190-7409
DO  - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.11.012
UR  - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740913003538
AB  - In the last years, researchers have been emphasizing the importance of promoting needs-led, context-specific, user-centered services in the context of child protection. However, policy-makers and service planners around the world largely depend on US-based research evidence of what is effective in the domain of family support. This work presents, in two studies, the process of design and evaluation of a targeted family support intervention that was developed and implemented in Portugal. 
Following the Common Language Approach to needs assessment (Dartington Social Research Unit, 2001), in study 1 we screened 100 children and their families attending a generalist child care service for risk and protective factors. Four different clusters of needs were identified. One cluster was selected as target-group for the design of a service to match their needs. Results indicated that families in this cluster had socioeconomical disadvantages, a challenging family environment and inadequate parenting practices. Children were showing signs of problematic social behaviors. 
In study 2 we describe the theoretical process model and the logic model for the intervention, and experimentally evaluate the program's efficacy. Results from pre-post assessments indicate improvements in the intervention group (N = 20) in several areas of parental empowerment and family relations, comparing with the control group (N = 20). 
This approach to need-service matching seems to be a viable pathway to design needs-led, context-specific, and user-centered services, and to assess their efficacy, thereby informing policy makers and service planners
ER  -