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The Research
Familia Adelante Evaluation
Familia
Adelante
was
initially
tested
with
middle
school
aged
youth
with
behavioral
problems
in
a
Southern
California
community
(Cervantes 1993). Results from that initial study revealed the following outcomes:
• Screening of high-risk youth through a collaborative effort between project staff and
school-based personnel (Glendale Unified School district) is possible.
• Program content which is provided in Spanish for parents, and which is culturally-responsive
appears to be an acceptable form of prevention/intervention for these high-risk families.
• The use of bilingual outreach personnel allows for tracking and retention of high-risk families.
• The use of bilingual outreach personnel allows for tracking and retention of high-risk families.
• Over 75% of participating families completed the twelve-week prevention program.
• Participating youth were noted to improve in terms of self-esteem, school performance, and
overall conduct as reported by parents.
Familia
Adelante
was
also
rigorously
tested
in
a
SAMHSA
funded
program,
the
Blythe
Street
Project
in
Van
Nuys,
California,
conducted
in
an
apartment
complex
on
a
street
of
the
same
name.
The
target
group
was
one
hundred
and
thirty-three
children
with
ages
ranging
from
9
to
14
years
old.
Two
separate
analyses
were
conducted
to
determine
the
effects
of
the
HSIP
for
participating
youth
and
parents.
The
first
analysis
relies
on
data
obtained
from
the
National
Cross-Site
Evaluation
Survey
and
was
primarily
specific
to
alcohol,
tobacco,
and
other
drug
(ATOD)
related
risk
factors.
This
compared
scores
for
participating
youth
only
with
pre-
post
data
comparisons
conducted
to
determine
six-month
program
effects.
A
second
level
of
analysis
was
conducted
for
both
parent and youth to determine 3-month program effects using local evaluation survey instruments.
In
more
recent
studies
of
FA
(Cervantes,
Goldbach
&
Santos,
2011)
research
examined
the
use
of
FA
strategies
for
reducing
multiple
risk
behaviors
in
a
predominantly
Mexican–American
sample
of
n=150
families.
Through
a
modular
approach,
participants
engaged
in
a
psycho-educational
curriculum
to
enhance
communication
and
psychosocial
coping,
increase
substance
abuse
and
HIV
knowledge
and
perception
of
harm,
and
improve
school
behavior.
Over
12
sessions,
the
curriculum
aimed
to
achieve
these
outcomes
through
an
overall
decrease
in
family
and
community-based
stress
by
focusing
on
acculturative
stress.
Findings
indicate
that
communication
and
perception
of
substance
use
harm
were
significantly
enhanced,
while
social
norms
regarding
sexual
behavior,
HIV
anxiety
and
past
use
of
marijuana
and
other
illegal
drugs
were
significantly
reduced.
Results
show
that
Familia
Adelante
improves
many
areas
of
participant’s
family
life,
and
points
toward
the
feasibility
of
multi-risk
reduction
behavioral
health
prevention approaches.
