Strengthening Parenting Programs Through Implementation Support: An Evaluation of Provider Engagement and Outcomes

Abstract

Abstract Despite the widespread availability of evidence-based parenting programs, population-level improvements in child mental health remain limited, partly due to persistent challenges recruiting, engaging, and retaining families in services. Intermediary organizations have increasingly invested in implementation support systems to address these challenges, yet evaluations often focus on provider satisfaction rather than organizational outcomes. This study evaluated a county-wide, two-tiered implementation support system delivered by University of Miami Team COACH to strengthen parenting programs funded by The Children’s Trust of Miami-Dade County. The current investigation used a quasi-experimental pre-post design and conducted descriptive analyses, paired-samples t -tests, and multiple regression analyses to examine program reach, provider satisfaction, changes in organizational outcomes, and associations between implementation support participation and program performance. The implementation support system included a universal voluntary tier available to all funded programs and an indicated tier providing additional targeted support to programs experiencing implementation challenges. Across 78 parenting programs, 88.5% participated in at least one implementation support strategy, averaging 11.8 hours of support during the contract year. Provider satisfaction ranged from 89% to 100% across support types. Relative to the pre-implementation year, programs participating in the implementation support system saw recruitment increased from 90.3% to 95.7% of contracted families and retention increased from 61.1% to 67.7%, a statistically significant improvement, t (64) = -1.97, p = .05. In regression analyses controlling for prior-year performance and participation in other supports, Communities of Practice participation was positively associated with increased recruitment rates ( B = 0.02, p = .04), whereas live trainings ( B = -0.06, p = .01) and asynchronous online courses ( B = -0.01, p < .01) were negatively associated with recruitment rates. Similar negative associations were observed for retention. Findings suggest that implementation support systems can achieve broad reach and high provider satisfaction and may be associated with improvements in organizational outcomes, particularly when supports emphasize active, ongoing, collaborative engagement.