Session Description

Circle of Security Parenting (COSP) is a relationship-based parenting intervention that supports caregivers’ capacity for emotional attunement, attachment, and co-regulation with their young children—domains deeply linked to child safety and stability. Despite its widespread use, COSP has lacked rigorous evidence in the child welfare context, particularly studies that meet the standards of the federal Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse which allows federal resources to be used for the provision of evidence-based parenting programs. Our evaluation is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Child Care Research and Evaluation Discretionary Grants program. This Evaluation uses a quasi-experimental design to examine COSP’s impact on out-of-home placements and maltreatment outcomes, with attention to differences by race, geography, and participation level. We use linked administrative data from Nebraska’s COSP programs and Children and Family Services Division data in Nebraska from 2018-2024 to first describe families who receive COSP statewide, and second to test the relationship between COSP program participation and child welfare outcomes including permanency and maltreatment reports. Throughout the study, we engaged two Advisory Groups of parents and COSP facilitators and we will describe how we used complementary data approaches and insights to understand COSP delivery, participant experiences, and outcomes. Attendees will learn about study outcomes and implications for scaling COSP and similar relational interventions within public systems. The session will highlight how evidence-building efforts can be community-informed, trauma-attuned, and policy-relevant—particularly early childhood prevention.

Learning objectives