Effective Prevention Programs for Children

As human service providers and policy makers, we continually ask ourselves, "Can we really make a difference in the lives of children and families living in dangerous communities?" Fortunately, the evidence suggests that we can. During the last decade, researchers and program developers have begun to outline effective prevention efforts for at-risk children, families, and communities. In this article, we provide an overview of their recommendations. 1. Build the program on a theoretical model and research evidence. Prevention programs need to be based on a coherent theory and research, not myths and hunches. For example, David Olds and his colleagues (1986) developed a program to prevent child abuse in which parents of newborns were given ideas and techniques for discipline, play, and language stimulation. The program was based on both theoretical and empirical results that indicate the prenatal and immediate postnatal periods are critical both to child and parenting development. The program also encouraged parenting behaviors critical for the healthy intellectual and social development of their children later in life. Evaluation of this program indicated that parents developed these critical behaviors with their children. 2. Be sensitive to environmental and cultural contexts. Effective programs consider ecologica