One size does not fit all:A systematic review of training outcomes on residential youth care professionals' skills

Despite the importance of training residential youth care professionals to increase their professional competences and, by doing so, enabling them to cope with the many stressors encountered during their work – such as the serious behaviour problems of the adolescents with whom they work – little attention has been paid so far to the influence of training on the behaviour and skills of residential professionals. This study aims to gain greater insight into the effects of training on the skills of these professionals. We conducted a systematic literature review using the PsycINFO, Eric, SocIndex and Academic Search Premier databases. Within the twelve studies retrieved, the outcomes of nine different training programmes were examined. These nine training programmes include The Solution Strategy (TSS), (Professional) Skills for Residential Child Care Workers (PSRCCW/SRCCW), Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (for Youth Care Workers) (TCIYCW/TCI), Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT), a Brief Training Program (BTP), Social Skills Training (SST), Behavior Analysis Services Program (BASP), Mental Health Training (MHT), and a Brief Training Manual (BTM). Our results demonstrate that positive changes in professional skills can be obtained after a training course. TSS (in both studies), PSFCCW, SRCCW, TCI, CTRT, BTP, SST, BASP and BTM programmes are associated with positive outcomes at the individual or organisational level. However, two studies also found negative outcomes related to decreases in the perceived recognition of youth care workers’ value to the agency and a decrease in the knowledge and skills that they learned through training after six months (TSS [Hickey, 1994] and PSRCCW). In addition, other outcomes were also found. The most common ‘other’ outcome was a variable training effect on the professionals’ skills. Although we did find positive (and some negative) training outcomes on the professionals’ skills, none of the studies specified the training elements which caused these changes. More thorough empirical studies using an experimental or repeated case study design are needed to identify effective training elements which could further improve the effectiveness of interventions targeting youths in residential youth care