Document Type
Other
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
Safe, Secure and Loved (SSL) is a manualized, six-workshop, promotores-led parenting prevention program designed to strengthen caregiver resilience, protective factors, responsive caregiving, and family well-being among Latine families with young children. This single-site, community-based randomized controlled trial evaluated SSL through Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, California. SSL was delivered virtually in Spanish by trained promotores to Latine caregivers aged 18 years or older who were caring for a child aged 0–3 years or preparing to parent an infant. No substantive RCT-specific adaptations were made to the SSL curriculum, workshop sequence, participant materials, make-up procedures, language procedures, or fidelity benchmarks.
After informed consent and baseline assessment, caregivers were individually randomized to immediate SSL or to a No-SSL resource-notice comparison condition. SSL participants received six weekly, two-hour virtual Spanish-language workshops. Comparison participants did not receive SSL content, coaching, or materials during the randomized comparison period; instead, they received five weekly community-resource notices and completed post-assessments before any delayed access to SSL was offered. Cohorts 1–3 used approximately 1:1 allocation. Before Cohort 4 assignment and before any Cohort 4 outcome data were available, the Cohort 4 allocation ratio was prospectively modified to 9:1 in favor of immediate SSL in response to acute community disruption and heightened need for immediate program access.
Of 218 randomized caregivers, 180 contributed complete post-assessment data and were included in the complete-case analytic sample: 94 assigned to immediate SSL and 86 assigned to the No-SSL resource-notice comparison. All 38 randomized caregivers not included in impact analyses lacked post-assessment data; no caregiver who completed post-assessment was excluded for insufficient SSL dosage. The estimates therefore are complete-case estimates from the randomized trial, not full intention-to-treat estimates. Overall attrition was 17.4% (24.2% for SSL and 8.5% for No-SSL), with differential attrition of 15.7 percentage points; baseline equivalence was assessed on the exact analytic sample.
Because randomization occurred within cohorts and Cohort 4 used a different 9:1 allocation ratio, the Clearinghouse benchmark analyses were ten cohort-adjusted ANCOVAs estimated on the N = 180 complete-case analytic sample. Each benchmark model adjusted the post-assessment outcome for SSL assignment, the corresponding direct baseline/pretest measure, and fixed cohort indicators. All ten benchmark treatment-effect coefficients favored SSL. Five benchmark contrasts had exact two-sided p-values below .05: CES-D-10 depressive symptoms and the PFS Family Functioning/Resiliency, Social and Emotional Support, Concrete Support, and Nurturing/Attachment outcomes. The five PFS Child Development/Knowledge of Parenting item-level contrasts favored SSL in direction but were not statistically significant and are therefore classified as no-effect benchmark findings under Clearinghouse terminology. Secondary pooled ANCOVAs that omitted cohort indicators are reported for transparency only and are not used for Clearinghouse benchmark characterization.
The most rating-relevant evidence is concentrated in the benchmark favorable contrasts for outcomes identified in Section IX as adult well-being rating anchors: CES-D-10 depressive symptoms and the PFS Family Functioning/Resiliency, Social and Emotional Support, and Nurturing/Attachment outcomes. PFS Concrete Support was also statistically favorable but is treated as supportive rather than a primary rating anchor because Section IX identifies an outcome-eligibility caveat. Findings should be interpreted as short-term, complete-case RCT estimates.
Recommended Citation
Burns, Barbara M.; Amador, Veronica; Gallardo, Maria; Lopez, Martin Alvarez; Gallardo, Gerardo Uriel; and Zavaleta, Marita, "Safe, Secure and Loved (SSL): A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Promotores-Led, Culturally Anchored Parenting Prevention Program for Latine Caregivers of Young Children" (2026). Child Studies. 2.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/ls/2
Comments
Final Application to Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse Based on Reporting Guide for Study Authors (version 2)
Principal Investigator, Barbara M. Burns, Ph.D. Department of Child Studies, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Collaborators: Veronica Amador, Maria Gallardo, Martin Alvarez Lopez, Gerardo Uriel Gallardo, and Marita Zavaleta Sacred Heart Community Service (CBO), San Jose, CA.