Crisis child care: an intervention for at-risk families.

Crisis child care programs provide parents in crisis with a break from the stresses of childrearing and provide at-risk children with a safe environment. This study describes parenting stress as the construct of measurement in a pilot project in a predominantly rural midwestern state. The Parenting Stress Index/Short Form (PSI/SF) was used to measure the amount of stress experienced by the parent as a result of the parenting role. Comparisons of the mothers' PSI/SF pretest and posttest scores indicated significant improvement in the construct areas of Total Stress. Parental Distress. Difficult Child, and Life Stress. Comparison of child maltreatment rates indicated that there was a significant decrease (X2 = 16.91, p < 0.0001) in the reported incidence of child maltreatment in the rural counties with a crisis child care program compared with counties that did not offer this intervention. Overall, these findings indicate that crisis child care is an effective preventive intervention for at-risk families. The investigator suggests that nurses enhance their collaborative relationships with these programs to provide a more seamless avenue for both receiving and providing referrals.