Foster Teens' Risk During Transition

School Adjustment Clinical Trial

— LINKS  

Official title:

Foster Teens' Risk During Transition: Preventing Drug Use, HIV, & School Problems

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02037750
• Other study ID #: R01DA032634
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 2012
• Est. completion date: June 1, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: November 2018
• Source: Oregon Social Learning Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to conduct a randomized effectiveness trial to determine whether adding a preventive intervention at the transition from elementary to middle school is effective and cost effective in terms of ameliorating outcomes such as drug and tobacco use, participation in HIV- risking sexual behavior, delinquency, mental health problems, and school failure for young adolescents in foster care. The proposed LINKS intervention marries the goals of child welfare and educational systems. The aims are: a) to determine the effectiveness of the LINKS intervention on key behavioral health and school adjustment outcomes, b) to examine mechanisms of action; specifically the mediating effects of placement failure on outcomes, c) to examine the moderating role of fidelity on outcomes, and d) to examine cost effectiveness and cost avoidance of LINKS.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 173
• Est. completion date: June 1, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: June 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 9 Years to 13 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• the focal youth will be transitioning into middle school

• the focal youth is in either a foster or kinship care home

• the focal youth has been in the home for a minimum of 30 days (including those who are newly placed in care and those moving from another type of placement).

Exclusion Criteria:

• youth who are are considered medically fragile (i.e., severely physically or mentally handicapped)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Foster Care Disruptions
• School Adjustment

Intervention

Behavioral:
• LINKS
In the LINKS, foster/kin parents will participate in weekly group meetings led by well-trained and supervised paraprofessional facilitators (school behavioral aids and foster parents) where the curriculum is based on parent management training (PMT). In previous studies, attendance at such groups has been high, averaging about 75-80%. Missed sessions will be "made up" with an in-person visit to the foster/kin home during the week of the original session. In addition, youth in the intervention condition will receive individual skill building sessions from a Life Skills Coach to increase their competency at goal setting, refusal skills, and peer relations.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Oregon Social Learning Center	Eugene	Oregon
United States	San Diego State University Foundation	San Diego	California

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Oregon Social Learning Center	San Diego State University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Number of Placement Failures		between Baseline and 18-Months later