FamiliasUnidas

An Evidence-Based Preventive Intervention for Hispanic Youth and their Families

FAMILIAS UNIDAS

What is Familias Unidas?DEVELOPED IN MIAMI. IMPLEMENTED AROUND THE WORLD.

Familias Unidas is a family-centered, evidence-based

substance use and sexual risk behavior prevention

intervention for Hispanic youth and their families. It

was developed by Drs. Hilda Pantin and Guillermo

Prado at the University of Miami’s Department

of Public Health Sciences. Familias Unidas is a

multi-level intervention that targets risk (e.g., poor

adolescent communication) and protective factors

(e.g., parental involvement) at the family, peer, and

school level. Familias Unidas has been implemented

in several cities across the U.S., and is currently being

implemented in Ecuador and Chile. Familias Unidas

is being adapted for use on the internet, for obesity

prevention, delivery in primary care settings and

expanded roll-out in Latin America.

Familias Unidas targets multiple problem behaviors among youth in schools, community organizations and

the juvenile justice system. Hispanic youth in Familias Unidas report:

What is the evidence?

Familias Unidas:An Evidence-Based Intervention

Drug Use

28% Less 38% Less 50% Less 60% Less 88% Less

DepressiveSymptoms

AlcoholDependence

UnprotectedSex

CigaretteUse

An Evidence-Based Intervention withImpact

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Program Components

The multi-parent groups meet

in 2-hour sessions. Each group

has 12 to 15 parents with at

least one parent from each

participating family. Group

discussions aim to increase

The intervention, led by a

trained facilitator and co-

facilitator, is delivered primarily

through eight multi-parent

groups and four family sessions

that aim to develop effective

parenting skills. Facilitators

should speak Spanish and have

a minimum of a bachelor’s

degree.

Facilitators are taught

important engagement and

joining skills that optimize

program participation.

Furthermore, facilitators

are trained on how to use

a participatory process to

deliver program content,

including how to help parents

communicate.

Fidelity evaluations are

conducted by our team through

the use of observational

fidelity measures. These

measures help to identify

and rate core prescribed

intervention components

delivered by the facilitator.

Additionally, supervision

guidance is provided to the site

clinical supervisor throughout

the course of intervention

delivery. This includes clinical

discussion, troubleshooting

of cases, and review of

intervention fidelity.

The facilitator

The sessions

High engagementrates

Built-in evaluation

Familias Unidas:An Evidence-Based Intervention

Drug Use

28% Less 38% Less 50% Less 60% Less 88% Less

DepressiveSymptoms

AlcoholDependence

UnprotectedSex

CigaretteUse

parents’ understanding

of their role in protecting

their adolescent from risky

behaviors, such as substance

use and unsafe sexual behavior,

and to facilitate parental

investment in the adolescent’s

worlds. Additionally, four one-

hour family sessions are guided

by a facilitator and provide

parents with an opportunity

to apply the skills learned in

the group sessions with their

adolescent.

www.familias-unidas.info

Familias Unidas is ranked in the Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration’s National Registry of

Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

among the highest (3.9 on a 0-4 scale) on

strength of evidence of research quality.

Familias Unidas is also listed in the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention Compendium

of Evidence-Based HIV Behavioral

Interventions.

Additionally, the Institute of Medicine cited

Familias Unidas as one of few preventive

interventions that has been found to be

efficacious in preventing both drug use and

HIV sexual risk behaviors among Hispanics.

Endorsements andRecognitionsENDORSED BY A RANGE OF RESPECTED AND PRESTIGIOUS SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS

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Familias Unidas has been recognized as a

promising program by the highly prestigious

Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development

registry of evidence-based interventions.

Drs. Hilda Pantin and Guillermo Prado, the

developers of Familias Unidas, have been

recognized by the National Hispanic Science

Network on Drug Abuse, the Society for

Prevention Research and the American

Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

for their work with the Familias Unidas

intervention.

www.familias-unidas.info

Familias Unidas originated 15 years ago as

an intervention to address conduct problems

among Hispanic youth.

The Familias Unidas Preventive Intervention

is guided by ecodevelopmental theory,

which proposes that adolescent behavior is

affected by a multiplicity of risk and protective

processes operating at different levels (i.e.,

within family, within peer network, and

beyond), often with compounding effects.

Endorsements andRecognitions

What’s the context andhistory?

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For example, parental monitoring may affect

processes such as adolescent behavioral

regulation which is directly tied to adolescent

substance use.

The program is influenced by culturally

specific models developed for Hispanic

populations.

Familias Unidas helps to address the

persistent health disparities present in

substance use and sexual risk behaviors

among Hispanic adolescents.

www.familias-unidas.info

Testimonials

OUR LIFE WAS VERY DIFFERENT BEFORE FAMILIAS UNIDAS.

I WOULD EXTREMELY RECOMMEND THIS PROGRAM TO OTHER KIDS, BECAUSE

IT HELPS YOU INTERACT WITH YOUR FAMILY A LOT BETTER.

WE ARE PROUD OF THE WORK WE’VE DONE SO FAR, BUT THERE IS SO MUCH

MORE WE CAN DO... FOR INSTANCE, WE ARE WORKING ON EXPANDING THE

REACH OF THE PROGRAM THROUGH MOBILE DEVICES.”

FAMILIAS UNIDAS IS ONE OF FEW PROGRAMS IN THE US THAT HAS TARGETED

THE WAY THAT FAMILIES COMMUNICATE AND ALSO RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

AND DRUG USE AMONG HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS.

AS A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, I SEE THE BENEFITS OF FAMILIAS UNIDAS, AND I’M VERY

THANKFUL. IT HAS BEEN VERY POSITIVE. YES, I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND

FAMILIAS UNIDAS TO EVERY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL.

FAMILIAS UNIDAS DID BENEFIT OUR FAMILY A LOT SINCE THERE IS MORE

COMMUNICATION NOW. I WOULD ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND IT TO OTHER FAMILIES. I

THINK IT WOULD BE A VERY, VERY GOOD IDEA IF SCHOOLS BECAME MORE INVOLVED IN

LETTING THE PROGRAM REACH AS MANY PARENTS AS POSSIBLE.

THE GOAL, OF COURSE, IS TO – IN THE FUTURE – HAVE THIS PROGRAM AVAILABLE TO

ALL FAMILIES IN NEED IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT LATIN

AMERICA.

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Lidice Hernandez, Participating Mother

Brandon Raymond, Participating Youth

Dr. Hilda Pantin, Familias Unidas Program Developer

Maria Tapia, Familias Unidas Clinical Trainer

Elio Falcon, Jr., Principal, Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School

Lidiana Baster, Participating Mother

Dr. Guillermo Prado, Familias Unidas Program Developer

WHAT DO THE PROGRAM’S LEADERS SAY?

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www.familias-unidas.info

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Please contact Yannine Estrada, Ph.D.,

at yestrada@miami.edu or 305-243-6614

to learn more and inquire about

licensing the Familias Unidas program.

Please visit our Web site at www.familias-unidas.info.

More information

7www.familias-unidas.info

FamiliasUnidas