First 5 LA makes the case for why parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) can play an important role in helping support kin caregivers in a new video released on its site.
PCIT helps strengthen the bond between parents or caregivers and their children, who are often dealing with trauma as a result of experiences that brought them into contact with the child-welfare system.
According to the most recent data about Los Angeles County foster care placement through the California Child Welfare Indicators Project, about 43 percent of all children removed from their home are living with a kin caregiver, such as a grandparent. According to First 5 LA, PCIT can help caregivers handle the challenging behaviors of traumatized children and stabilize kinship placements by building better bonds between children and their caregivers.
Since 2012, First 5 LA has partnered with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health through a $17 million grant to train mental-health therapists to become certified in PCIT, with a special focus on eligible children 2 to 5 years old and their parents. First 5 LA also works with the PCIT Training Center at the University of California at Davis through a five-year $3 million contract.
To watch the video, click here.