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An Examination of Peer-Delivered Parenting Skills Programs Across New York State

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Abstract

Peers are an important adjunct to the public mental health service system, and are being increasingly utilized across the country as a cost-effective solution to workforce shortages. Despite the tremendous growth of peer-delivered support over the past two decades, it has only been within the past few years that peer programs have been the subject of empirical inquiry. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of peer-delivered parenting programs across the New York State public mental health service system. We surveyed 46 family peer organizations across New York State regarding their delivery of structured peer-delivered parenting programs. Thirty-four (76%) completed the questionnaire, and of them, 18 (53%) delivered a parenting program. Subsequent interviews with seven of the 18 organizations revealed peer organizations had been delivering eight unique parenting programs for upwards of two decades. Additionally, organizations offered multiple supports to families to participate. Training, supervision, and issues around fidelity are discussed, as well as the implications of this study for states utilizing a peer workforce.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The McSilver Institute for Poverty, Policy, and Research, New York, NY, USA

    Mary C. Acri

  2. Families Together in New York State, Albany, NY, USA

    Nancy Craig

  3. Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Josh Adler

Authors
  1. Mary C. Acri
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  2. Nancy Craig
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  3. Josh Adler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary C. Acri.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

According to the New York University Institutional Review Board, no human subjects participated in this study, and thus, this study was exempt from review. Because human subjects did not participate in this study, informed consent was not obtained.

Informed Consent

Because human subjects did not participate in this study, informed consent was not obtained.

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Acri, M.C., Craig, N. & Adler, J. An Examination of Peer-Delivered Parenting Skills Programs Across New York State. Community Ment Health J 54, 1163–1171 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0269-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0269-1

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