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NCT Number: NCT07400497

Family Foundations for Special Education Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the program's impact on parent self-efficacy and co-parental support around (a) accessing health and educational services and (b) parenting for co-parents of children with disabilities entering the Special Education system before their first Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the program improve co-parenting support and coordination and parent efficacy in accessing services for and parenting their child? Does the program improve parent mental health, service access, engagement, and adherence? Does the program improve parenting quality? Does the program improve child adjustment (mental and behavioral health, academic engagement)? Researchers will compare pretest and posttest questionnaires from Treatment Group A with Control Group B to see if the program improves parent and child well-being, co-parenting relations, relations with service providers, ability to access services and meaningfully participate in IEP and other meetings.

Participants will:

* Complete pre- and post-test questionnaires * Treatment Group A will participate in 6 learning sessions, each 1 hour to 1½ hour long, over a 6-8 week period

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Key information

Conditions

Mental Health Behavior Personal Satisfaction Psychological Well-Being

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Public Health Management Corporation

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Parents/parental figures who are over the age of 18, and are involved in childrearing together.
  • Coparenting a child being evaluated for special education services
  • Has not yet had their first IEP meeting.
  • The target child must attend a Philadelphia elementary school (K-8).
  • The target child must be the first child in the family to go through the IEP process.
  • Co-parents must be fluent in English.

Treatment and study plan

Family Foundations for Special Education

Behavioral

Families in the intervention group receive the new enhanced supports and participate in six private virtual learning sessions focused on understanding the special education system, improving communication, and enhancing collaboration as co-parents in the IEP process. Each session lasts 60-90 minutes and will be scheduled weekly according to the participants preferred schedule, including evenings and weekends. A workbook with supporting documents for each session will be sent to each participant prior to the start of the sessions.

Other names: FF-SE

Primary outcomes

  1. Coparenting Relationship Questionnaire

    Time frame: From enrollment to the last learning session for intervention group, approximately 2 months after enrollment for the control group.

    A validated, parent-report questionnaire on key dimensions of the coparenting relationship.

  2. Parenting Sense of Competence Scale

    Time frame: From pretest to two months post-intervention

    Parent-reported, 17 item scale (Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman, 1978) assessing parent self-efficacy in accessing services for their child. Higher scores reflect higher degree of sense of competence.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Samantha A. Murray-Perdue, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

4199561701

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Penn State University

Other

Collaborators

  • Public Health Management Corporation
  • William Penn Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Family Foundations for Special Education

Acronym: SS-SE

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Feb 10, 2026
Registry last updated
Feb 10, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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