Phase 1: Assessment
Pre-adaptation focus group interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were analyzed by a qualitative analysis team composed of three research assistants (RAs; two undergraduates RAs and one graduate RA) mentored by a Ph.D. researcher (project director) with extensive experience in qualitative methodology. All RAs had at least one year of research experience, were familiar with the TBRI curriculum, and received training in qualitative coding in Atlas.ti from the project director. The team adopted a deductive, consensus coding approach wherein the three research assistants independently coded the answers to specific prompts on TBRI content (e.g., TBRI terminology), delivery, and relevant topics (e.g., youth reentry, family environments; see Table 2 for examples of quotations and respective contexts). The three RAs discussed discrepancies and reached consensus on coding to achieve 100% coding agreement, with any coding disagreement resolved by the project director. Information was pooled across sites to inform the adaptation, with specific nuances for individual sites noted.
Table 2
Selected examples of TBRI Life Value Terms and Level of Responses
Themes | Quotations/Paraphrase | Contexts and illustrations |
TBRI Life Value Terms (Selected) | |
Authority | "Are you asking me or telling me, sir?" | The adolescent reversed roles, but the distinction between asking and telling is important |
Offering choices | "You know what? We dropped the ball. We didn't tell you. Can you make sure that when new girls come in that they know the three B rule so that they're not caught off-guard? I'm sorry we didn't get you up front." | An officer noticed a girl wasn't dressed according to code, so they made that girl in charge of helping everyone else. It gave her importance and agency |
Offering choices | "You can come down right now, or you can come down in three minutes" | A kid was on the roof, and they used this approach to get him down. This is a good example of giving choices to adolescents |
Respect | "Can you try that again?" | This is a simple way of asking for some respect |
Level of Responses |
1. Playful Engagement | "Because if [youth name] would have had the ability to regulate himself, then he might not have pulled that trigger and gotten a double life sentence at 16 years old. And like just that, when talk that to the kids, they're like– right?" | This quote emphasizes the impact that learning how to regulate can have on a child |
2. Structured Engagement | "So the levels of engagement, I think, for staff helped them understand conceptually what does this look like > What does this mean?" | Learning the levels of engagement in a juvenile justice setting helps to humanize the kids |
3. Calming Engagement | "…if you go to security, we're going to have a special unit that two of our cities– or cities– two of our regulation units call the regulation zone, where there are calming spaces, a couple of holding spaces, in case you're making threats, but you're not being aggressive." | This facility is going to provide a space that is meant to be a safe place for youth to deescalate and regulate themselves |
4. Protective Engagement | "She was calm the entire time. She's trying to be playful. She has her OC. And she said 'I don’t want to spray you. Just put the chair down. I don't want to do this. We don't have to do this.' She did everything that we were asking to do, and then we had a very over eager responding staff literally run around the corner and spray the kid." | A youth was trying to break a window with a chair. One staff member was trying to deescalate her using the levels, and the other just jumped the gun. The situation was so much worse because that youth got sprayed when she was almost back to being regulated |
5. Sensory Processing | "It feels safer and calmer in there than in any other dorm I've been in. And so the idea that that is actually regulating for the kids, I still think people maybe struggle that that's a thing." | They painted the dorms fun colors and put in rocking chairs to make it more home-like. |
TBRI Principles | | |
Connecting | "…you're going to establish yourself as a safe adult" | The idea of designating oneself as a safe adult could be useful in explaining the role of the adult in TBRI |
Empowering | "We might go outside and scream at a tree, or find a crawdad, or whatever it takes, do some push-ups, do some kind of appropriate receptive activity; whatever that looks like– get a drink of water. But just to get you away from whatever you're fixated on that has you so distracted, and allow you to get back online so that we can have a conversation about why you're distracted." | This story is about how one officer removes the escalated individual from the situation and allows them to get that anger and stress out in a healthy way so that they can then talk and try to understand what happened. |
Correcting | "And so I would call your name, you gotta close your eyes. I would toss you the ball. In this exercise the ball represents your words. You can't see it but you can feel it, and so we teach them about how words have power…" | The interviewee is describing a nurture group that they used to teach the youth to recognize and use their voice |
Others | "I find teenagers give you the one-finger salute when you ask about the magic mustache a lot of times" | |
Qualitative analysis of the focus groups revealed individual and contextual characteristics of youth and families and provided information regarding caregiver backgrounds, family structures/compositions, the reentry process following discharge, the degree to which caregivers were involved in discharge planning, caregiver work schedules, physical distances between homes and JJ sites, and other logistical factors. For example, participants reported that when caregivers live within an hour of the facility, evening sessions are more feasible, whereas weekend sessions are preferred when caregivers must travel more than one hour. Such information was used to create a series of caregiver modules that could be delivered one at a time or bundled together, enabling the content to remain consistent but allowing flexibility in delivery across sites.
Phase 2: Decision
Decisions regarding what and how to revise the curriculum were guided by core elements of the TBRI model: (1) teach participants about trauma and how to view behavior through a trauma-informed lens; (2) train participants to use TBRI’s three principles of Connecting, Empowering, and Correcting to foster healthy relationships, promote felt-safety, and improve regulation abilities; (3) provide opportunities for skills practice; and (4) model TBRI through all interactions with participants [12]. It is important to note that core elements of this EBI were not only about the content that is taught but how the facilitator interacts with the participants (relationally, through skills practice and modeling). This is consistent with the content/structure approach to adaptation, but also with the overall spirit of TBRI as a relational intervention. Identifying these core elements ensured that the components necessary for intervention fidelity and effectiveness (i.e., the theorized mechanisms for change) remained intact while avoiding unnecessary rigidity regarding protocol adherence.
Feedback from focus groups and subsequent conversations in the assessment phase revealed needs to be addressed by the adaptation beyond the original adaptation targets listed above, including the need to (a) further revise content to be more appropriate for biological caregivers and avoid potential for feeling shamed, (b) provide youth-specific training modules to complement the training provided to caregivers in order to increase youth engagement and felt-safety, (c) help caregivers examine their own caregiving histories more deeply to increase motivation and readiness, (d) develop virtual option to increase caregiver access and participation (hybrid delivery model), and (e) develop a companion curriculum for youth/caregiver sessions to enable families to practice strategies and plan for discharge. Ultimately, the workgroup decided to adapt the original TBRI Caregiver Training into a four-component intervention package (described below).
Table 3
Final Adapted TBRI Intervention Package for Justice-Involved Youth and Families
Intervention Component | Format/ Participants | Delivery (Session Duration) | Materials | Location |
Primary TBRI Intervention |
TBRI Caregiver Curriculum | Group skills training/ caregivers | 10 modules [1 individual (1 hour), 9 group (90 min)] delivered over 4 sessions Delivered concurrent with Youth & Young Adult Curriculum | Facilitator Guide, Caregiver Handbook | Home (virtual) or JJ Facility |
TBRI Youth & Young Adult Curriculum | Group skills training/ youth | 8 modules (45 min) Delivered concurrent with Caregiver Curriculum | Facilitator Guide, Youth Workbook | JJ Facility |
TBRI Nurture Groups | Group skills practice/ caregiver-youth dyads | 4 sessions (1 hour) Follows Youth & Young Adult Sessions 2, 4, 6, & 8 | Nurture Group Lesson Plans | JJ Facility |
Secondary TBRI Intervention |
TBRI Family Coaching Curriculum | In-home coaching/ caregiver-youth dyads | 2 core sessions (1 hour) with option for Structured Coaching (2 additional sessions) or Responsive Coaching (unlimited additional sessions as needed) | Facilitator Guide, Reflection Journal | Home |
Phase 3: Prototype Development
The four components of the adapted TBRI intervention package include the TBRI Caregiver Curriculum, TBRI Youth & Young Adult Curriculum, TBRI Nurture Groups for Justice-Involved Families, and TBRI Family Coaching Curriculum (see Table 3). The first three components make up the primary TBRI intervention are intended for delivery while youth are in residential facilities. The secondary TBRI intervention, Family Coaching, provides in-home support following discharge. All curriculum components employ the core elements of TBRI described above. The four components were designed to be used in conjunction with each other as interrelated components of a comprehensive intervention package. However, to be mindful of potential accessibility issues in future distribution and a commitment to equity in access to services, each curriculum is self-contained. That is, facilitators using the Family Coaching Curriculum do not need to refer back to the Caregiver Curriculum or Youth and Young Adult Curriculum to successfully deliver sessions, nor are there prerequisites for youth or caregiver participation in any curriculum component. All curriculum components are accompanied by a standardized manual (facilitator guide or lesson plans) that describes how to deliver the intervention. For conceptual clarity, the various components of adaptation are presented in a matrix (see Table 4). Examples that highlight particular aspects of the adapted intervention are described below. In practice, however, individual adaptations are interrelated elements that do not function independently.
Table 4
Examples of Adaptations to TBRI Intervention
| Adaptations to Content | Adaptations to Structure |
New Contextual Factors |
Service Setting | • Added, removed, or modified activities for approved use in secure facilities2,3 • Introduced transition planning earlier to accommodate uncertain discharge dates2 • Added activities that acknowledge youth/youth and youth/staff dynamics within facilities2 | • Added monthly Nurture Group ‘booster sessions’ to accommodate extended discharge dates3 • Shortened session length and overall training duration to accommodate facility schedules1,2 • Added standardized participation guidelines for facility staff present during sessions2,3 |
COVID-19 protocols | • Modified activities for virtual delivery1,2,3,4 | • Added standardized guidelines for virtual delivery in accordance with COVID-19 protocols1,2,3,4 • Added strategies for building felt-safety in virtual sessions1,2,3,4 • Offered technical support, including addition of ‘Module 0’ sessions to prepare participants for virtual training,2,3,4 |
New Target Population |
Caregivers | • Modified discussion of attachment theory to emphasize adaptive strategies and reduce potential for shaming1,2 • Modified terminology to reflect change in population from adoptive/resource parents to biological caregivers1,2,3,4 • Added 1:1 semi-structured interview between caregiver and facilitator as tool to build reflective capacity1 • Developed translated participant materials to encourage participation among non-English-speaking caregivers1 | • Added individual sessions for caregiver who were not ready/able to join group sessions1 • Included translator during sessions as needed1 • Developed Reflection Journal to encourage participant self-reflection4 |
Youth | • Replaced Life Value Terms with activity in which youth create their own alternative terms2 • Added, removed, or modified activities to be age-appropriate2,3 • Modified language for sensitivity and inclusivity (e.g., changed ‘triggers’ to ‘buttons,’ removed ‘children from hard places’)1,2,3,4 • Modified tone (e.g., changed ‘they’ to ‘we’)1,2,4 | • Developed Youth Workbook to encourage active participation2 • Developed Reflection Journal to encourage participant self-reflection4 |
1Caregiver Curriculum, 2Youth & Young Adult Curriculum, 3Nurture Groups, 4Family Coaching Curriculum |
The TBRI Caregiver Curriculum. The TBRI Caregiver Curriculum retained 90% of the original content designed to teach caregivers about the impact of trauma, build self-reflection and relational capacity, and equip caregivers with tools to identify youth needs and provide appropriate support. The Caregiver Curriculum consists of an individual introductory module (1 hour) and 9 group caregiver-only modules (90 minutes each) delivered in 4 sessions. Curriculum materials include a Facilitator Guide and Caregiver Handbook. As the original EBI is a group skills training for caregivers, the LeSA Caregiver Curriculum did not require extensive adaptation. However, some adaptations were necessary to reflect differences in the target population. Adaptations to content included (a) modified discussion of attachment theory to emphasize adaptative strategies and reduce potential for shaming, (b) modified terminology to reflect change in target population from adoptive/resource parents to biological caregivers, and (c) modified tone to enhance sensitivity and inclusivity (e.g., changed ‘they’ to ‘we,’ removed phrase ‘children from hard places’). In addition, an introductory module called Conversations
with Caregivers, was developed as a tool to build caregivers’ reflective capacity. The new module consists of a semi-structured interview between a caregiver and the intervention facilitator to establish rapport, explore the caregiver’s own parenting and attachment history in a private context, and encourage engagement with the program. The interview is derived from more comprehensive pre-training work required for professionals receiving TBRI Practitioner Training. Modifications to structure included (a) condensed training sessions to shorten overall program duration to accommodate facility/JJ system capacity and (b) added individual sessions for caregiver who were not ready/able to join group sessions.
The TBRI Youth & Young Adult Curriculum. Consistent with the Caregiver Curriculum, the Youth Curriculum is a group skills training designed to teach youth and young adults about the impact of trauma, build self-reflection and relational capacity, and equip youth with tools to promote their transition home. The Youth Curriculum was developed to ensure that youth have the same opportunities as their caregivers to learn about TBRI and practice new
skills. The curriculum consists of eight sessions, each 45 minutes long. Curriculum materials include a Facilitator Guide and TBRI activity book (participant workbook). The curriculum covers the same key concepts, principles, and strategies as the original Caregiver Training. However, notable adaptations were made to both content and structure to fit JJ facilities/systems and address the needs of youth participants. In addition to modifications made to terminology and tone consistent with modifications made to the Caregiver Curriculum, adaptations to the content of the Youth Curriculum include (a) replaced Life Value Terms with activity in which youth create their own alternative terms, (b) replaced or modified activities to be age-appropriate, (c) replaced or modified activities for approved use in secure facilities, (d) introduced transition planning earlier to accommodate uncertain discharge dates, and (e) added activities that acknowledge youth/youth and youth/staff dynamics within facilities. Adaptations to structure included (a) condensed training sessions to shorten overall program duration to accommodate facility/JJ system capacity, (b) added participation guidelines for facility staff present during sessions, and (c) replaced participant workbook with TBRI activity book.
TBRI Nurture Groups for Justice-Involved Families. Nurture Groups are designed to immerse youth and caregivers in a safe, playful environment where they can practice social-emotional skills [28, 12]. Nurture Groups are integral to the original EBI and introduced to LeSA participants in the Caregiver Curriculum and the Youth Curriculum. In order to give youth and caregivers an opportunity to practice TBRI together, with shared opportunities to regulate, role-play new skills, and build healthy connections, four one-hour Nurture Groups were added to the LeSA curriculum. Each of the four Nurture Groups align with the topics taught during youth and caregiver training sessions and are designed to take place after Youth Curriculum sessions two, four, six, and eight. These stand-alone Nurture Groups follow the same session layout as the original Nurture Groups that accompany TBRI Caregiver Training. However, activities were adapted to accommodate the service setting, be age-appropriate for youth, and allow virtual delivery as needed. Nurture Group facilitators utilize a standardized set of lesson plans to guide the sessions, with options for alternate activities as needed.
The TBRI Family Coaching Curriculum. The final component of the intervention is designed to be delivered after youth transition out of JJ settings. The Family Coaching Curriculum provides in-the-moment support to youth and caregivers and reinforces and expands on the TBRI topics, skills, and tools taught during earlier training. Family Coaching utilizes a supportive interaction style to promote active participation and is designed to be applied in natural learning environments (e.g., at home), where the family can identify and practice skills that are important to them in their ‘real life’ [29]. Curriculum materials include a Facilitator Guide and individual Reflection Journals for both youth and caregivers. Adaptations to content are consistent with modifications to terminology and tone made to other curriculums. Each one-hour coaching session is structured to resemble a Nurture Group. Substantial adaptations to structure were needed to extend the original group training for caregivers to in-home sessions for individual families. Two coaching options were developed for the LeSA Project: a structured four-session coaching program and a responsive coaching program with no limit to session number [14]. The responsive coaching curriculum includes the same four sessions as structured coaching but offers six additional session topics as well as a customizable session template and activity bank to allow facilitators to deliver more sessions as requested.
Phase 4: Testing and Integration
The adapted TBRI curricula were pilot tested with eight youth-caregiver dyads (one of which included a Spanish-speaking caregiver and a bilingual youth) from two post-adjudicated facilities. The delivery was conducted via virtual platform because of health-related restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The session completion rates for the primary TBRI intervention ranged from 81–100% across three intervention components; the completion rate for the TBRI Family Coaching was 67%. The primary reasons for not achieving a 100% completion rate were cancellation due to COVID-related restricted contact and movement and competing family priorities (e.g., no stable housing). Post-intervention interviews with youth, caregivers, and staff suggest that participants found the program feasible and acceptable. For example, one youth stated, “I'm given voice and encouraged to speak up for my needs and learning how to communicate to my family about my needs when I go home.” Likewise, a caregiver said, “My son has opened up to me more where he had shut down and [TBRI facilitator] let him know, ‘Oh, you're free to speak the way you feel, as long as you do it in the appropriate way.” The site staff corroborated the feasibility and acceptability by stating “…[E]specially during COVID, for the parents and the kids to be able to have that time to do the Nurture Groups together exponentially just aided in these kids’ treatment.”
Theater testing revealed the opportunity to make additional adaptations to improve accessibility and retention. For example, the intervention was designed to support youth transitioning out of justice facilities, but discharge dates often change, meaning some youth continued to reside in justice facilities for an extended period after their TBRI training had ended. Booster sessions were added to give youth and caregivers monthly opportunities to review and practice TBRI skills. Further, although adaptations to accommodate virtual delivery were a necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual options for caregivers also accommodate geographic barriers for caregiver participation (e.g., caregivers live far from JJ facility and/or have limited access to transportation) and continued to be available once restrictions to in-person delivery were lifted. Finally, caregiver materials were translated into Spanish to increase participant accessibility. Theater testing with a Spanish-speaking caregiver not only provided the opportunity to get feedback on the direct translation but revealed the need for further review to improve cultural equivalence. For example, direct translation of an activity called ‘coach vs. warden’ failed to capture the difference between providing youth with supportive, authoritative guidance (coach) and authoritarian control (warden), as the terminology was culture-specific. The facilitator and translator (who is a bilingual TBRI Practitioner) discussed the terminology, asked the Spanish-speaking participant for feedback, and alternative terms were adopted in the final curriculum.