Triple P America
P.O. Box 12755
Columbia, SC 29211
Phone: (803) 451-2278
Email: contact.us@triplep.net
Website: http://www.triplep.net
Triple P America
P.O. Box 12755
Columbia, SC 29211
Phone: (803) 451-2278
Email: contact.us@triplep.net
Website: http://www.triplep.net
Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® (Triple P) is a parenting and family support system that serves families with children from birth through age 16. The system includes multiple interventions that increase in intensity across five levels of service. Within each level, there is a range of delivery methods to meet different family needs and be appropriate for multiple cultures. Home visiting is one of the methods of delivering services within some levels.
No Triple P level or intervention is exclusively delivered in the home with families with children from birth through age 5. This profile is based on (1) studies of programs that provided Triple P services in the home to families with children from birth through age 5, and (2) developer input on the Triple P interventions suitable for delivery in the home with families with children from birth through age 5. HomVEE refers to the approach to delivering Triple P in the home with families with children birth through age 5 as Triple P–Variants suitable for home visiting*.
Triple P draws on social learning theory, cognitive behavioral development, and research on the risk factors associated with social and behavioral problems in children.
The system’s five levels are organized by the degree of parental need or child behavioral difficulties. Intensity ranges from Level 1, a population-wide communication strategy, to Level 5, which addresses issues that complicate parenting such as partner conflict, stress, mental illness, risk of child maltreatment, and anger management. Below is a brief description of each level, including whether home visiting can be used as a service delivery method.
Implementing agencies select the intensity, intervention, and delivery setting that reflects their organization’s priorities and budgets. For example, agencies can implement multiple Triple P interventions across levels to reach an entire population or select a Triple P intervention designed for a particular parenting group or demographic.
The following Triple P interventions are suitable for delivery in the home: Primary Care Triple P (Level 3), Standard Triple P (Level 4), Enhanced Triple P (Level 5), and Pathways Triple P (also Level 5).
Triple P also includes five adaptations for certain subgroups: (1) Stepping Stones Triple P for families with children with a disability, (2) Family Transitions Triple P for families in which parents are going through separation or divorce and have concerns about their children’s behavior, (3) Indigenous Triple P for indigenous families with children from birth through age 12, (4) Group Lifestyle Triple P for families with parents concerned about their children’s overweight or obesity and activity level, and (5) Teen Triple P for parents of teenagers through age 16. Family Transitions Triple P, Indigenous Triple P, and some versions of Stepping Stones Triple P (described in Adaptations and Enhancements) also are suitable for delivery in the home.
*In this profile, when a description or requirement is specific to delivering Triple P in the home with families with children from birth through age 5, the profile specifies that, such as by saying: “when delivering Triple P in the home…”. Otherwise, if a description or requirement applies to Triple P interventions across all settings, service delivery methods, and target populations, the profile says “Triple P…”.
Triple P was developed by researchers at The University of Queensland’s Parenting and Family Support Centre in Australia. Triple P is licensed under Triple P International Pty Ltd (TPI), based in Brisbane, Australia. TPI publishes Triple P resources, supports implementation, and provides training and accreditation. TPI subsidiary offices operate in many countries. In the United States, Triple P America’s implementation consultants support local and state government agencies and community-based organizations through all stages of implementation, including planning, training, delivery, evaluation, and sustainability.
The consultants use the Triple P Implementation Framework to support organizations, and the practitioners they employ, adopting Triple P. The consultants help an organization implement Triple P within its specific context and community. Triple P implementation consultants also offer communication support to help organizations and practitioners reach parents.
The Triple P interventions that can be delivered in the home mainly serve families with children from birth through age 16 who experience behavioral and emotional problems. For the purposes of the HomVEE review, this profile is based on: (1) studies of programs that served families with children from birth through age 5, and (2) developer input on the Triple P interventions suitable for families with children from birth through age 5.
Triple P is designed to prevent and treat the behavioral and emotional problems of children and teenagers. The system aims to equip parents with the skills and confidence they need to manage family issues without ongoing support.
Regardless of the setting, service delivery method, or target population, all Triple P interventions teach parents strategies focused on developing positive relationships, attitudes, and conduct with children to improve behavioral problems. However, the type and intensity of services when delivering Triple P in the home vary based on the degree of parental need or child behavioral difficulties:
Session checklists outline the content the practitioners should deliver in each session.
The intensity and length of the Triple P interventions suitable for delivery in the home vary:
The recommended frequency of sessions is one per week.
Triple P can be tailored to different delivery settings, practitioners, and populations. Practitioners are trained to apply Triple P processes and strategies in different ways to a range of presenting behavioral and emotional problems and family circumstances.
In addition, three Triple P adaptations have versions suitable for delivery in the home with families with children from birth through age 5:
Triple P can be implemented by various agencies. For example, health care or educational practitioners can deliver Triple P directly to their clients, and all levels of governments (county, council, state, or national) and tribal agencies at all levels can train workforces to deliver Triple P. Implementing agencies should have experience serving children and families, and should have the organizational capacity and structure to deliver the level of Triple P they plan to implement.
Triple P does not have fidelity standards other than practitioner accreditation requirements. Triple P implementation consultants can help sites develop fidelity monitoring plans that best suit site-specific needs and are aligned with the system’s evidence related to best practices.
TPI expects agencies to implement Triple P using their existing workforce. An agency can implement Triple P with a single practitioner. However, TPI recommends staffing Triple P with multiple practitioners so they can support one another and so the organization can better manage staff attrition. TPI recommends that agencies provide supervisory staff. Other relevant staff may include a program manager or coordinator to oversee program set-up and implementation.
Staff from a range of disciplines, including “promotores” (community health workers who work in Spanish-speaking communities) and other paraprofessionals, physicians, nurses, school counselors, teachers, psychologists, and social workers can deliver Triple P in the home with families with children from birth through age 5. For more intensive interventions, staff may have regular interaction with the families through their other professional duties in addition to home visits.
TPI recommends, but does not require, practitioners who deliver Triple P, have a postsecondary degree in health, education, child care, or social services. Practitioners without a postsecondary degree in the specified areas are eligible to be Triple P practitioners if they have experience working directly with the intended population to support child or adolescent development, and have adequate clinical supervision and regular support. For Standard Triple P (Level 4), it is desirable that practitioners have knowledge of child and adolescent development to undertake training. TPI recommends, but does not require, supervisors have familiarity with the Triple P system and a master’s degree or higher in education or clinical psychology.
TPI recommends, but does not require, Triple P practitioners be supervised by Triple P-trained supervisors. Triple P implementation consultants can help agencies develop supervision plans when it is not feasible for the agencies to employ supervisors trained in Triple P. Supervisors review clients’ records, engagement, outcomes, and satisfaction, and support practitioners’ participation in a peer support program. Agencies should also continue to provide their standard supervision practices.
Triple P recommends that practitioners participate in the manualized Peer Assisted Supervision and Support (PASS) program to reinforce the model’s self-regulatory approach. Triple P practitioners meet during PASS sessions to receive structured feedback from peers on their consultation skills. PASS sessions include case reviews, discussion of implementation issues, and professional development activities. The sessions should be scheduled frequently leading up to accreditation, after which sessions should take place every four to six weeks.
Triple P requires practitioners to participate in pre-service training. Pre-service training consists of one- to four-day workshops with videos, group discussions, and rehearsals. Practitioners must be trained in Standard Triple P before they are trained in Enhanced or Pathways Triple P. TPI recommends that supervisors observe Triple P training. Practitioners must achieve accreditation by demonstrating their competency with the intervention. For a given Triple P intervention, training and accreditation requirements are the same across setting, service delivery method, or target population; however, training requirements differ across interventions. Please contact the model developer for more information about the pre-service training requirements.
Triple P does not have requirements that practitioners and/or supervisors participate in ongoing professional development.