The New Beginnings Program for Divorcing and Separating Families: Moving from Efficacy to Effectiveness

Area of Science:

• Family Psychology
• Community Intervention
• Program Implementation Science

Background:

• Divorce impacts families, necessitating effective support programs.
• University-tested programs often face challenges in community-based delivery.
• The New Beginnings Program (NBP) is a proven intervention for divorced families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe research on adapting the NBP for community settings.
• To detail progress in key implementation steps.
• To outline plans for an effectiveness trial.

Main Methods:

• Community partner selection.
• Development of parent engagement strategies.
• Redesign of NBP for community agency delivery and fidelity.
• Adaptation for diverse divorcing family populations.

Main Results:

• Progress is reported across four critical research steps.
• The NBP is being modified for broader accessibility and effective community implementation.
• Strategies for engaging parents and ensuring program fidelity are being refined.

Conclusions:

• The research is advancing the community-based delivery of the NBP.
• Adaptations aim to enhance NBP's reach and impact for divorcing families.
• An upcoming effectiveness trial will validate the community-delivered NBP.