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Penn State Supports Incredible Years® Programs | The IY® Blog

Written by theincredibleyears | Mar 18, 2020 4:00:00 AM

Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support (EPIS) at

The Pennsylvania State University and

The Incredible Years® Program

Wally & Felicity visit the Nittany Lion at Penn State

Since 2008, EPIS at Penn State has been providing technical assistance to schools and organizations implementing Incredible Years® programs across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (PA). This includes:

  • Support of networking and learning communities for IY program directors and coordinators.
  • Knowledge around sustaining IY programming in utilizing braided funding.
  • IY trainings in PA to avoid out-of-state travel costs.
  • Professional development opportunities and networking for IY facilitators to avoid program drift, such as: IY Consultation Days and IY facilitator retreats.
  • Data collection, with results used to monitor and communicate the impacts of IY programming.

EPIS has built data collection tools and resources as well as a standardized data collection process used statewide. According to program data for IY projects funded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) from July 2010 to June 2019, 2,174 parents have participated in the IY Basic Parent Program. Of those parent participants, 1,451 (67%) completed pre- and post-surveys which showed that:

  • 1,120 (77%) reported an increase in positive parenting.
  • 1,183 (81%) decreased their harsh disciplining strategies.
  • 1,004 (69%) experienced an increase in their appropriate disciplining strategies.

Data also show that 1,115 children have completed the IY Dina Small Group Therapy program. According to analyses, 831 (75%) had pre- and post-surveys completed for them, revealing that:

  • 579 (70%) decreased aggressive or disruptive behavior.
  • 568 (68%) improved concentration/attention.
  • 577 (69%) increased emotional competence.

To obtain additional data collected by EPIS and to access its resources, and for further information on this and other evidence-based programs, please visit the EPIS website: http://episcenter.psu.edu/

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