Family Navigator Plus for Foster Parents

NCT06978959 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: STU00222882
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 12
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators have designed a 5-week Family Navigator Plus (FN+) educational program to support foster parents in better understanding their youth's mental health needs and in finding mental health services. The purpose of this interventional study is to assess the the program's acceptability (e.g., satisfaction, barriers to participation, and burden), utility (e.g., how useful foster parents found the program to be), and feasibility (e.g., number referred who meet eligibility, time to complete assessments, self-reported feasibility). The investigators hypothesize that our program will be acceptable, useful, and feasible for foster parents of youth with mental health needs.

Conditions

Intervention

Keywords

foster parents; family navigator; psychoeducation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ)

  The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) is an eight-item measure that assesses client satisfaction with services including its quality, utility, and relevance.

  Post-Intervention (Week 5) and 3 Month Follow Up (Week 18)

• Post Session Questionnaire (PsQ)

  The PsQ is a measure we created to assess utility and relevance of session content and materials, and to assess if participants intended to use skills/information learned during that session.

  After Completing Each Session (Weeks 1 - 5)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Parent Activation Measure - Mental Health

  Baseline (Week 1), Post-Intervention (Week 5), 3 month Follow Up (Week 18)

• Barriers to Treatment Participation

  Baseline (Week 1), Post-Intervention (Week 5), 3 month Follow Up (Week 18)

• PROMIS-Parent Proxy Pediatric Depressive Symptoms Short Form 8a (parent-report)

  Baseline (Week 1), Post-Intervention (Week 5), 3 month Follow Up (Week 18)

• PROMIS-Parent Proxy Pediatric Anxiety Short Form 8a (parent-report)

  Baseline (Week 1), Post-Intervention (Week 5), 3 month Follow Up (Week 18)

• Pediatric Symptoms Checklist - 17 (Parent Report)

  Baseline (Week 1), Post-Intervention (Week 5), 3 month Follow Up (Week 18)

Study Arms (1)

Foster Parents

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will consist of adult (age 18 and older) foster parents of youth between the ages of 6 and 17 with mental health needs. Participants will be located in Illinois, and be either English or Spanish speaking. Participants will attend a 5-week educational program (one session per week) that aims to support them in understanding child behaviors, finding and access mental health services, communicating with providers, and using technology to find support.

Behavioral: FN+ Intervention

Interventions

FN+ Intervention BEHAVIORAL

Participants will attend 5 one-on-one sessions over the course of 5 weeks; they will meet with a family navigator over video conferencing software (e.g., Zoom). The purpose of each sessions are as follows: 1) Provide an overview of the program and help parents understand their perceptions of child behaviors, 2) Train parents to find, access, and overcome barriers to mental health services, 3) Build parent capacity in understanding how mental health treatment works and how to communicate with providers, 4) Help parents understand the common function of child behaviors, and 5) Train parents to find, evaluate, and use online mental health tools. Participants will complete measures of child symptoms, parent activation, barriers to treatment, and/or satisfaction with the program before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months after completing the intervention.

Foster Parents

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Foster parent of a youth between the ages of 6 to 17 with mental health needs
• Parent adopted child from foster care
• Living in Illinois, United States
• English or Spanish speaking
• Has access to internet and videoconferencing

You may not qualify if:

• \- Participated in the FN+ Focus Groups or PROACTIVE Parent Pilot Study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Northwestern University: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Northwestern University

Chicago, Illinois, 60611, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Risser, H. J., Morford, A. E., Murphy, A. N., Pinkerton, L. M., Law, C., Yang, Y., ... & Boisseau, C. L. (2024). Feasibility and acceptability of a family navigator program to support foster parents of youth with mental health concerns. Children and Youth Services Review, 160, 107578.

  BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Heather J Risser, PhD

  Northwestern University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Enrollment Contact, If interested in participation

  Northwestern University email FNplus@northwestern.edu

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Heather J Risser, PhD

CONTACT

312-848-3019; heather.risser@northwestern.edu

Christina L Boisseau, PhD

CONTACT

804-332-1627; christina.boisseau@northwestern.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 1, 2025
• First Posted: May 18, 2025
• Study Start: January 12, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2028
• Last Updated: January 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: Per NIMH Data Sharing policy
• Access Criteria: Per NIMH Data Sharing policy

Locations

US (1)